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At the beginning of 2020, Scalefocus invested in a new development center in Skopje, Macedonia. So we’ve decided it’s time to share with you some of the awesome people from our Skopje team in the People of Scale rubric. Keep reading to learn all about Aleksandra Shumkoska. On her journey so far My name is Aleksandra and I work as a Software Engineer at Scalefocus, Skopje. I grew up in Slavej, but after high school, I moved to Skopje. I didn’t always imagine becoming a Software Engineer when I grow up. It was a set of circumstances that made me pursue that path. From an early age, I was very good at both natural languages and technical disciplines such as Maths and Physics. However, I realized that it won’t be an easy task to get a job in either of those fields, especially in my country. In a way, programming languages combine both natural languages and tech, so it made sense to go for it. Hence, I ended up in IT. On her path at Scalefocus Skopje I joined Scalefocus’ Skopje office about 2 years ago as a Software Engineer. Currently, I am part of the Data team. When I first heard about Scalefocus, I imagined it as a place of many opportunities and that is why I decided to join. I was not wrong! Mainly I work on projects related to Data Engineering and Data Science. My daily activities include software design and development, code reviews, data analysis, planning as well as daily meetings and discussions. However, those responsibilities vary depending on the client or the project that I am assigned to. Whenever I have the time, I get involved in some of our internal projects. Right now, I am helping with the Data Analytics within Scalefocus Academy. Last but not least, I actively participate in organizing different events and activities as part of the Spirit of Scale initiative. On her team My team is full of kind and smart people that are willing to share their knowledge and always give you a hand when you need it. They are good drinkers too. How can one not like them? I am a relatively new member of the Data team and so far, I am happy to be part of it. I believe I will grow to like them even more. On most important qualities for a Software Engineer There is not one single quality a person should have to succeed in this line of work, it’s a mixture of many. If I have to choose, I would say that the ability to learn and to adapt to new things is key. Each project is a different story, new tools and technologies pop up all the time and if you are not willing to keep up, you can’t succeed. On dealing with fear and doubt I’ve had many such moments in my life, especially in my career. What is important is not to give up. I believe that anything can be achieved if you put enough time and effort into it. Having people who believe in you even when you don’t believe in yourself also helps. Sometimes we just need a little push to move forward. On taking risks The biggest one was letting go of a job that I really loved in order to pursue personal growth. It was a tough choice, but I ended up loving the new job. Plus, I gained the personal growth I was striving for. I can’t know what would have happened if I had chosen differently at the time, but I like where I am right now. I certainly made the right choice. On her favorite tech stack We are using Python to develop a platform which is a wrapper on top of Apache Airflow. The solution integrates multiple different types of databases, warehouses, and cloud storage. We are extensively using Amazon Web Services. During my career, I have used different tools and frameworks depending on the project, but Python was always there. So, I am going to stick to Python as my number one. On inspirations and interests There are a few people close to my heart who have truly inspired me throughout different stages of my life. Each of them has made a big impact on who I am as a person and as a professional. I am a person of many interests. There are days when I feel hyperactive and can’t even find enough time to do all the things that I like. On the other hand, there are days when I just want to crash on the sofa and binge watch some shows on Netflix. One of the things I enjoy most is cooking. I love spending time in the kitchen both cooking and eating. To compensate for all the eating, I try to keep myself physically active. I like running, cycling, yoga… Recently, I started training kickfit which I find very beneficial for both physical and emotional health, but due to the COVID-19 situation, I had to put it on hold for a bit. Another thing I enjoy is traveling. I like seeing or even just hearing how people live in different parts of the world. So far, I have mostly visited European countries, but I can’t wait to explore more. I like music too. Everything seems better with a good prog metal playing in the background. On advice for young IT specialists Get ready to read and google a lot. On her projects & routine Currently, we are developing a data platform that will help our users to move data from one place to another. My workday starts with a daily catch up with the other members of the team where we discuss the tasks for the day. After that, I focus on my tasks which usually include the development of new features and testing. Throughout the day I participate in additional meetings where we discuss ideas as well as potential issues or improvements in our work. The Work From Home period hasn’t had a big impact on my work so far. My team is located in another country anyway, so our communication has always been virtual. I do miss hanging out with my local colleagues though. On mentors Since my start at Scalefocus, I have had a few different mentors which are worth mentioning: Krasimir Kostadinov, Goran Stojanovski, and my current mentor – Nikolay Petrov. Such inspiring professionals, and even better people. And no, I am not saying this just because they might read the article. On the most important lesson of 2020 Things don’t always go as planned. If you want to become a part of the awesome Scalefocus team in one of our many locations, click here to see the current openings.

Deploying technology within the insurance sector involves solid long-term strategy regarding investments, time-to-value, optimising operational costs and ensuring sustainable and scalable IT infrastructure adequate to the new market requirements. To transform, technology must be integrated into all areas of an enterprise so the focus rests on the customer. With few exceptions, insurance has become a commodity, and the price is key. About 70% of consumers do research online before buying insurance. They may look at comparison sites or ask for recommendations through social media. There is an increased shift in customer loyalty driven by improved offerings and new innovative players on the market. If insurance companies want to strengthen customer loyalty, they must add value to the customer experience. Incorporating insureTech can improve customer experience and increase customer loyalty; however, technology can only accomplish that if it is used to meet customer expectations. If not, technology fails the fundamental test for digital transformation -- focusing on the customer. What Are Customer Expectations? Recent surveys found that customers are looking for: Seamless Experiences Self-Service Options Personalized Experiences It’s good to know that 67% of customers are willing to pay extra for these experiences. So, how can insureTech help deliver an exceptional customer experience? Seamless Experience A seamless experience is a chain of interactions that follows a natural and efficient process that generally avoids repetitive actions for the client. Insurers need technology that can store all customer interaction in one place. Customer relationship management or CRM solutions are designed to collect and store customer interactions from initial contact through ongoing support. With CRM technology, a customer service representative can say "I see you had this problem last week" instead of "Can you explain your problem again?" Meeting customers where they are is part of delivering exceptional customer experiences. Customers expect a seamless hand-off between technology and humans. About 85% of respondents believe that a sales or service agent should be aware of what transpired through a chatbot. Consumers are looking for self-service before human service, so companies need to know what the customer has tried on their own before talking to a human. Self-Service Options A recent study by McKinsey found that during 2020 consumers developed different online shopping behaviours. About 65% of respondents indicated that they planned to incorporate these changes into their shopping routine. McKinsey also found that consumers preferred self-service features over live customer support. Consumers may be using more digital channels to interact with insurers, but they are dissatisfied with the quality of service. In fact, the insurance industry ranked last in customer satisfaction across all sectors. Hard-to-use tools were the primary friction point. Many tools were not designed for an omnichannel delivery, making solutions difficult to use on mobile devices. Applications can deliver a uniform digital experience regardless of the device. Consumers know they can use Facebook and news sites on a laptop or phone without struggling to read the displays. If insurers do not adopt similar technologies, it will be difficult to develop customer loyalty. Personalized Experiences Customers want personalized service. They don't want to be categorized as millennials or seniors and treated as a group. No one wants to feel like a number. Instead, people want insurers to understand where they are in life and what they need without having to tell them. For example, knowing the overall lifestyle, social activity and economic footprint of the consumer can assist insurers in offering a custom product that reduces the overall cost for the client and brings added value. Analytics and predictive modelling are two technologies that can highlight past behaviour and identify future trends. Finding innovative ways to address future needs is another way to personalise experiences. Delivering innovative solutions to the right market segment lets them know you understand their willingness to try new things. What About Employee Experience? Digital transformation is customer-focused, but it cannot ignore the employee experience. According to the Harvard Business Review, a one-star uptick in Glassdoor employer ratings corresponded to a 7.8% to 18.9% increase in long-term valuation. Improving Employee Experience InsurTech isn't only for customers. Deploying better technology makes it easier for employees to succeed in their jobs. Automation can replace routine tasks. Keying the same data into multiple systems not only introduces errors but takes up valuable time that employees could be devoting to customers. An end-to-end solution that centralizes data ensures a single source of truth throughout the enterprise. When information is inconsistent, employees do not use it. With a trusted source for data, employees have the confidence to perform to their highest level. Technology to Meet Customer Expectations Insurers need to understand what is the right infrastructure for their organization that fits the company’s’ strategy for digitalization. Part of that is the ability to share data across the enterprise. Cloud-based solutions can help deliver information to any device at any time. Integrated solutions that allow data to be accessible in direct support of the customers can also provide information to big data for analysis and predictive modelling. Insurers can use data to make decisions quickly instead of waiting days for reports to be generated. That data means being able to pivot faster to meet market needs. At ScaleFocus, our mission is to empower the digital transformation in the insurance sector. We focus on delivering omnichannel customer-centricity. End-to-end value creation by implementing coherent digital insurance cycles, based on a modular, scalable, and future-proof platform. Conveying for our clients easy to launch digital products and adopt innovative technologies (IoT, Al). Be a champion in the connected digital ecosystem. Tap into our expertise and transform your enterprise into a digital success.

Penetration testing (also known as pen testing) is a simulated cyberattack that a business conducts on its network/software in order to identify system vulnerabilities. In most cases, pen testing is done in order to meet compliance regulations or to satisfy the needs of a customer. The problem is that so much misinformation surrounds penetration testing, the use of it creates an overtone of penetration myths that may be dangerous to your business's health. Not to mention that it is expensive. Pen Testing Provides a One Time Security Snapshot One-off security audit penetration testing or vulnerability assessment, just to meet а regulation or to cross it whit a checkmark on your to-do list, does not make you secure. One of the benefits of penetration testing is that it gives you a snapshot in time of your current exposure. The downside is that tomorrow your exposure most likely will be different. If you use PenTesting as more than a snapshot at a given time, the effort does not help you. It could hurt the determination of your cybersecurity exposure. To gauge to an accurate degree the extent of your assets' exposure to cyberattacks, you need a thorough knowledge of all your businesses' assets and appropriate visibility. Appropriate visibility tells you what you need to know: Where each of your assets is located Who has access to your assets Any type of assessment will give you only partial overview of what is going on, since the information provided in the report after the test will be limited to the ability of the Ethical Hacker to gain knowledge about your system for the given time of testing, and again it will be only for this moment in time. What all of this means is that infrequent PenTesting provides only a short-term assessment. If you want to maintain a strong security stance, you need frequent or regular assessments that provide more than a single snapshot in time. The right way to do security is continuously, and once you set that process up, it is not that hard to maintain it either. Pen Testing May Cost Less — But More Efficient and Cost-Effective Alternatives Exist Cyber savvy security professionals understand that before spending any money, smart businesses start by adopting an overarching cybersecurity business strategy. An effective cybersecurity strategy strives for accuracy in the results so the strategy must base its outlook on three things: Company size Type of assets to protect Interactions between clients and vendors Developing a cybersecurity strategy does not add anything to your existing business expenses but the knowledge a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy furnishes your IT professionals will demonstrate PenTesting's deficiencies. From there, your IT professionals can take the next step which comes when IT learns where and how to implement corrective measures. Some smaller businesses invest in one-time PenTesting because it costs less. Larger enterprises with more substantial discretionary revenue may choose to implement a Security Operations Center (SOC) or Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) software. SOC teams monitor and analyse a network's security on an ongoing basis. SIEM software provides an integrated look in real-time at what's going on the network. To take advantage of either of these options, companies may invest thousands of dollars in SOC and SIEM services. SOC, in particular, is quite expensive but it gives an accurate response when an intrusion event occurs. Let's face it. The general understanding is that staying one step ahead of cyber hackers and maintaining cybersecurity is expensive, but actually, if you do not have the budget of a big Enterprise to maintain a SOC team, there are actually some controls, security mechanisms and tools that can secure your business on a reasonable price. They can be implemented with minimal effort and in exchange for your small investment, those solutions and controls yield value and a robust defence. Consider implementing prevention and awareness measures before expending a considerable investment in monitoring and response-only systems. Pen Testing Makes Remediation More Difficult When pen testing uncovers an issue, a limited window of time opens within which the IT professional must act, because you actually have a very small window in order to fix the gaps which were found, so the Ethical Hacker can retest your system. The difficulty comes when the IT professional's knowledge, which needs to fix the system, does not extend to an accurate analysis of the pen test result. The identified issue may require further, more extensive research or specialized knowledge outside the IT professional's understanding. In that case, the IT staff may transmit the pen test result to an outside professional for validation and assessment. All of that takes time, a valuable commodity in the cybersecurity realm. Remedial actions must occur immediately following the pen test's identification of a vulnerability; a slow reaction might give the cyber hacker enough time to steal the business's valuable data and cause a substantial financial loss. Outdated Systems and Poor Asset Management Outdated systems. In the fast-changing world of cybersecurity, sometimes companies have outdated, legacy software that they mix with new applications. Such mixing does not engender an accurate pen test result with respect to the company's security posture. Those companies with mixed legacy and new applications would do well to take the following wise advice: Take the time to update the system. That of course sounds easier said than done. So if you don’t have the ability to update your whole system, for one reason or another, you should at least have visibility over it, monitor its behaviour over time, and know what is your exposure from maintaining an outdated system. In this way, you will be able to calculate your risk score on the different assets and see if you can tolerate the risk, or you need to find another solution, to maintain your defence. In either way, you will know where the problems are and you will be able to control them according to your business needs. This is one of the many problems that pen testing will not save you from, it might give you just some partial overview of what is going on. Poor asset management. It makes sense that larger organizations have large data collections to secure. Even more critical, large companies often store that data in various locations. That is, enterprise data is not limited to one single server, workstation, or platform. It follows then that a company in these circumstances cannot generalize the security posture of all network facets from one single pen test. Each server, workstation, or platform is unique and requires monitoring over time. Moving Forward If you find your company considering a pen test to determine its cybersecurity position, remember this: pen testing provides a mere snapshot in time while other cost-effective tools provide constant awareness of security exposure with easier remediation. You probably won't have full confidence in your system's cybersecurity position if your system passes all its penetration tests but the testing only covers 55% of the existing system. The CsRM platform leads the way toward cybersecurity based on awareness, visibility, continues assessment and it manages your cybersecurity risk over the long-term. We cordially invite you to schedule a free trial so you can see how CsRM can help you tame your cybersecurity issues.

If we estimate that the average salary per employee for application maintenance support is 3500Є, and considering that the team is usually made up of at least a few specialists – QA, DevOps, infrastructure and security professionals, the maintenance cost can amount up to 14000Є. That’s quite expensive, wouldn’t you agree? Businesses need to be knowledgeable and aware of their third-party maintenance options in order to choose the right partner for them that will deliver the best service possible at a reasonable price. Keep reading to learn what maintenance costs are made up of, as well as how Scalefocus approaches pricing its ACC solution. Types of Maintenance Costs Before you settle on a price range you are comfortable setting aside for third-party maintenance, it’s good to have a general understanding of how it’s broken down. Application maintenance costs can be separated into four main categories. Preventative maintenance: Efforts made to prevent software deterioration (i.e. running patch updates, optimizing code, updating documentation) Corrective maintenance: Fixing discovered issues after the software’s initial launch (i.e. replacing broken modules, fixing bugs and glitches) Adaptive maintenance: Changes applied to the software so it adapts to evolving business environment and meets new requirements (i.e. expansion to compatibility with other OS and devices, integrations with new technologies) Perfective maintenance: Modifications with aims to improve overall performance and maintainability (i.e. refining, adding or removing features, UI/UX changes to improve user journey) We Believe in Fair and Flexible Pricing It’s pretty simple. Our ACC solution offers fair and flexible pricing according to your application’s software complexity and the ultimate goals you’d like to achieve. The support and maintenance style is of course discussed with us prior to agreeing on a price and tailored to deliver optimal results to your business. Preventive and Corrective cost depends on the current state of the software that can be assessed and that is why we can provide fixed pricing. To put things into perspective, the cost of Preventive and Corrective maintenance of an application with basic tools and functionalities on a single platform would start from €2900, whereas one with a wider set of features and tools on multiple platforms, from €4900 and above. The cost for Adaptive and Perfective Maintenance is calculated in a different way and depends on the specifics. This usually creates long communication cycles between the business owner and the vendor and big overhead on both sides. Instead of the ineffective time-estimation Change Requests model, we propose simple categorization in three bundle options (Small, Medium and Large). The pricing starts from €200 for a small Change Request. What You Can Expect from Us The promise we make and keep as your application support partner is to ensure complete software continuity and maintenance through a professional support team that is both reliable and fast to act. Our Swarm Team of specialists work as first responders until each issue is resolved, and you are made aware, by keeping clear and constant communication. Apart from maintaining the state of your software, we offer the option of 8/5 or 24/7 support according to your business needs. Check out more details here. Curious what our clients think about us? Read their stories. We’re thrilled that more businesses are trusting us to accelerate the capabilities of their application support and maintenance. We hope that you join us in this transformative journey. Let’s Get Started! If you would like to upgrade your application maintenance to a trusted, proactive and effective environment, we’ve got your back. We understand that the maintenance of software is an integral part to the success of any digital business, and that is why we take full accountability when extending ACC as the right solution to our clients. Are you ready to take the leap? Shoot us an email to book a meeting and find out how ACC can boost your application maintenance to the next level.

Data hackers and cyber security professionals are currently in an arms race against each other. As newer cyber technologies continue to emerge, such as AI, cloud computing, and machine learning, cybercriminals continue to find more sophisticated ways to exploit these systems. Since the data and technology industry is expanding so rapidly, that makes it particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. If you own or operate a business with digital infrastructure, you need to be on top of the latest cyber security threats. When you know the latest cyber threats, you can adequately prepare your business for a cyber-attack. Here are the six latest cyber security threats your company should know in 2020. 1. IoT Attacks As internet-connected devices become more omnipresent in our everyday lives, more opportunities arise for cybercriminals. Statistica projects that the number of IoT devices will reach 75 billion worldwide by 2025. IoT devices include anything and everything from monitors, smart-phones, laptops, webcams, smart-TVs, medical devices, security systems, smart cars, etc. The list goes on and on. There is no doubt that connected devices are handy for businesses, their workers, and the average consumer. For businesses, they can provide vast amounts of useful and insightful data to help optimize operations. And for consumers and workers, it makes tasks more convenient and painless. However, IoT networks with more connected devices make it far more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Cybercriminals can wreak havoc on IoT networks once they gain access, which is why you need to take all the necessary precautions to ensure all of your devices are secure. 2. Cloud Vulnerabilities Network computing is currently one of the fastest-growing digital technologies. However, cloud vulnerabilities will also be one of the largest challenges technology providers and businesses must face for years to come. The reason why these networks are so vulnerable is that many businesses use cloud operations to store sensitive business data. This data could include anything from a business operation’s information to employee information or even customer information. Although the cloud is definitely useful and important, it is creating many new security challenges for business. Today, over 83% of enterprise workloads are on the cloud. Some top cloud security threats include DDoS attacks, data breaches, misconfigurations, malicious insider threats, and more. Likewise, not even the most sophisticated cloud companies are immune to cyber-attacks. 3. AI-Enhanced Cyber-Attacks Along with cloud computing, AI and machine learning are two other technologies that are currently booming. AI assistance has already had a profound impact on many high-tech businesses. Likewise, machine learning is an incredibly powerful tool at helping businesses streamline operations, as well as making AI assistance more powerful. Albeit both technologies are incredibly useful for businesses, they can be useful for cybercriminals too. With AI and machine learning capabilities, cybercriminals can now launch much more sophisticated cyber-attacks than previously imagined. These include AI-enhanced malware attacks, AI fuzzing attacks, and machine learning poisoning. 4. Smart Medical Device and Medical Record Attacks The healthcare industry is currently going through a major transformation process, as most hospitals and other healthcare providers around the country have already moved all patient information online. Likewise, there is currently rapid advancements in smart medical devices and other technologies. Although digital transformation is important for hospitals to undergo, there are legitimate concerns about patient privacy and other cyber security threats in the industry. Confidential patient data and information become more susceptible to being stolen as more devices become connected to a clinic’s network. However, what is even more concerning is the remote-hacking of smart medical devices connected to a patient. These attacks could have dire consequences on the patient. A hacker could theoretically disable vital monitoring, change dosing, and even send electrical signals to the patient. That is why the healthcare industry must spend immense amounts of resources to curtail the threat of cyber-attacks. 5. Social Engineering Attacks Cybercriminals use social engineering attacks to trick victims into surrendering their personal information, such as their credit card information, social security number, login details, etc. Although most companies have security measures in place to prevent phishing attacks, cybercriminals are coming up with increasingly sophisticated phishing methods to commit financial fraud and steal business information. In fact, Verizon revealed that phishing remains the common cause of a data breach around the world. SMS phishing is another variation of a phishing attack expected to gain prominence fairly soon. Cybercriminals can use popular messaging apps like WeChat, Messenger, WhatsApp, among others, to trick victims into downloading malware onto their phones. Many SMS phishing hackers target victims through fraudulent messages, with many disguised as fundraising initiatives, donations for a particular cause, etc. 6. Internet-Connected and Semi-Autonomous Vehicles As the prospect of fully-autonomous vehicles grows closer, so does the threat of hackers completely controlling these vehicles remotely. However, even now, internet-connected vehicles and semi-autonomous cars face the same vulnerabilities. These vehicles contain numerous onboard sensors that could be easily controlled by an outside person. As car technologies continue to evolve, internet-connected vehicles will only become more prevalent. Hackers use these evolutions to exploit vulnerabilities in the vehicle’s system. Hackers can steal sensitive data or even take control of the vehicle, meaning there are serious personal and physical risks involved. Likewise, as more car companies rush newer technologies to the market, the opportunity for cyber-attacks will only grow. How to Protect Your Company from Future Cyber-Attacks Although there are cyber criminals out there that will stop at nothing to target vulnerable businesses and technologies, there are also cyber security experts that stop at nothing to keep your business secure. To prevent cyber-attacks, you need cyber security solutions that can provide visibility over your security posture and pinpoint your vulnerabilities in order for you to be able to manage your risk over time, and make informed business decisions Here at Scalefocus, we are IT experts who will help you integrate the right software for your business. We understand the importance of cyber security, which is why our software solutions are designed to help you constantly track your risk and vulnerabilities. If you would like to learn more about Scalefocus and how our security solutions could benefit your company and business, visit our website. Also, feel free to check out our blog, where we post the latest insights on business and cyber security topics.

Scalefocus Academy has started its admission of students in an evolved, entirely online environment. The newly enrolled students will receive free three-month training from the best specialists in the field. They will have the opportunity to work on real projects, with multiple exercises, lectures, and personal meetings with an individual mentor. Students can join from everywhere by applying and attending an online exam on the 16th of November. Opening The Door to an IT Career Scalefocus Academy is not only filling the gap between theory and practice in the software field but also paving the way for the start of their IT career. The curriculum is highly intensive and in order to move forward, trainees need to perform well in their 3-month long training and complete multiple assignments, code reviews, and exams with high grades. The program will cover Java, JS, and .NET courses, and in order to enroll in the Academy, the students need to have basic knowledge in programming, data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming. During the training, students at Scalefocus Academy will acquire the ability to solve complex technical problems and develop software "from scratch" within the scope of real projects. The goal of the Academy is to help the professional development of enthusiasts with fundamental knowledge in programming who want to start working on a real project right away. The training is designed in a way that provides enough practical exercises, in addition to theoretical knowledge, and helps the students delve deeper into their chosen IT field. For three months, dedicated lecturers will act as personal mentors to students and will guide and assist them in their professional growth. Scalefocus Academy will once again help IT enthusiasts transform into software engineers ready to work in a real environment. Get Ahead of the Competition In addition to being free and accessible from everywhere, Scalefocus Academy will give students that show the most promise and excellent results the opportunity to start working at the company right after graduating. So far, more than half of the students who have completed the program in previous editions have been employed at Scalefocus based on their high exam results. Several of the professionals currently employed in the company are top-performing students from the Academy in 2019. Some of them have joined the team right after graduation, while others began less than three months after receiving their completion certificate. Scalefocus Academy gives every student the opportunity for rapid development and professional growth as an IT specialist. Hurry up and submit your application on the website.

Yep, it’s that time of the year. November is here, so Scalefocus is jumping straight into an initiative that is a bit familiar, a bit cool, and meaningful as a whole. That is not all - IT Beards is now open to all men in the IT sector, aiming to involve as many people - and beards - as possible. Because when it comes to a good cause, every beard and mustache counts. Meet IT beards… Аgain As we said, IT Beards is now an open initiative for anyone in the IT community who wishes to join a charity campaign and make an immediate impact. This year, we partnered with the WIN OVER CANCER Foundation and the donations will go directly to them. The foundation provides reliable information on oncological diseases, coordinates with leading specialists in the country, and provides support to patients and their families by organizing events that help with prevention and treatment as well as with awareness and psychological support. The funds raised will be used for an awareness and prevention campaign for prostate cancer in major cities in the country in 2021. Each man who uploads their beard or mustache in November and shows the progress for four weeks gets in the race that wins votes, and each vote donates money through bought points. So don't let the opportunity to show off your beard and help people at the same time, slip under your nose. What's next? First and foremost - stop shaving. Take a quick selfie. And join the bearded IT men in the race. IT Beards is not about who has the coolest looking beard on the block. Even though – let's face it, men with beards look good. IT Beards is about bringing awareness to an illness that makes a lot of people struggle. You can participate in two ways: Register аs an active participant. You can join by snapping a selfie of your beard or mustache and registering HERE Upload it in one of two categories - Fresh Start of Already Stylish Share the initiative with your friends in the IT sector to get more votes and win the race - it's for a great cause. Join the page on Facebook and share our content to spread awareness. Register as a benefactor. You don't need to grow a beard or mustache to help the cause. Register and buy а bundle of 5, 10, 25, or more points. This allows you to vote for your favorite participant in the IT Beards race. Your bought bundle votes will directly go to the WIN OVER CANCER Foundation And third. You can always share the cause with your friends to raise more donations. Several other companies and partners are already supporting the initiative - you can see who they are here. Good luck to all - and may the best beard win!

Throughout the summer, a community-driven service in Sofia ran impeccably with software support from Scalefocus - easing the traffic, tackling pollution, and just being a cool addition to our capital’s everyday life. Scalefocus’ software engineers helped to create the application that boosted the use of Nula.Bike - the first service for used bikes available for usage throughout the city. Nula.Bike is currently expanding and will have much more to show its users in the upcoming year. Read below. Go Green or Go Home Scalefocus once again upped its green credential in the most innovative way. Nula.Bike is a close to zero waste initiative that involves picking bikes from secondhand shops, refurbishing them, and putting them out there for anyone that enjoys an active lifestyle with zero carbon footprint. Ride With the Experts Scalefocus PHP experts built on an open-source platform through reliable technologies and managed to accomplish in just 3 weeks the expansion of the platform for the service. That included: Booking and tracking Payment provider integration Personal wallet and vouchers Photo verification, through the camera QR reader and many more features Thanks to the dedication and quick work of our specialists, the service was made accessible in a short time and is now available as a responsive web application. After the astonishingly successful launch and popularity of Nula.Bike, it goes without saying its usage will continue and develop well into 2021. Astonishing Results The usage of the app is simple: the user needs to register, then put money in the wallet so that a bike can be rented. Then, simply look at the map, locate a bike conveniently located, and receive a code that unlocks the bike. Afterwards the user is ready to pick the bike, ride it and leave it on the designated stands. This green initiative received an overwhelming response from around. There were 1500 registered users only within 3-4 days of the launch, with 70% of them submitting card details and top-up a voucher. As green initiatives go, Scalefocus is proud to be involved in something so meaningful. The initiative will inevitably continue into next spring when the service will be enriched with a mobile app and more bikes to jump on.

Many companies are currently trying to overcome the challenge of providing high-quality application support. The negative effects of this dilemma are often amplified by a fourfold: a high attrition rate, an unmotivated internal team, knowledge getting locked down, and the high costs for 24/7 support, especially for small businesses. In this brief post, we discuss the reasons organizations are turning towards third-party application takeovers and how our ACC’s approach is able to confront and solve the issues head-on. High Attrition Rate The Quality Assurance & Training Connection (QATC) conducted research showing that the annual turnover rate for call support agents in the United States ranged between 30-45 percent. This is more than double the average compared to other occupations. As a result, this is causing many companies high training costs, lost time and lower productivity, as well as a decrease in motivated staff. Disengaged Employees Another common problem businesses face on a daily basis with their internal support team is disengaged staff. Gallup’s 2020 report on the State of the American Workplace, concluded that only 33% of US employees are engaged at the workplace – that same figure remains unchanged since 2017. So what may be leading to this upsetting trend? Well, the same report shares that only 21% of employees believe that “their performance is managed in a way which motivates them to do outstanding work.” These findings are pushing both HR and senior management departments to strategize and think of clever ways to increase the motivation and willingness of employees to improve their skills and performance. High Cost for 24/7 Support Did you know that 33% of Americans polled shared they would consider switching companies after a single poor service experience? (American Express). That number reached 60% after 2-4 poor service instances. When the same group was asked how support could be improved, 40% answered, “Take care of my needs more quickly.” Consequently, the price tag for high-quality support that is both professional and available round the clock is steep. Knowledge Lockdown The most prevalent symptom of an organization’s support team experiencing knowledge lockdown is when one particular person holds all of the software know-how. This creates a dangerous vacuum and a strong dependency on the individual leading to a chaos of misinformation in effort to rush towards quick resolution time and overall poor productivity. Our ACC’s Approach to an Application Takeover Swarm Team expertise: Our collaborative support management model prevents knowledge lockdown. We create clear, concise documentation using Confluence. An engaged workforce: Support specialists that are motivated to excel at their job and whose skill development is encouraged through professional guidance and mentorship opportunities. Fast response and resolution: A competitive return time according to application complexity.

Last week, Scalefocus’ Marketing Director, Alexander Dimitrovski, attended IAB Digital Day, where he spoke on a topic all too interesting and connected to the times we live in. Alek took the time to get in-depth in the Work From Everywhere strategy- but from a digital marketer’s point of view and managed to delve into the subject that marks a new era in b2b marketing in the COVID-19 year. But how does Work From Everywhere changes the game for the better? The Eye-Opening Year In 2020, Scalefocus, like the rest of the world, had to adapt in the midst of the pandemic. This adaptivity was situational but in the case of Work from Everywhere, it led to some good strategizing. “In 2020, the usual channels of communications in b2b marketing were not the same anymore”, says Alek, “and where marketers and salespeople could usually personally meet their potential clients, now there is a void.” And when the situation asks the question: Is this a problem or an opportunity, the answer usually shows the way to the future. But “businesses are great at adaptation when they have exhausted all other options”. Alek shared that currently, at LinkedIn “51% of b2b marketers are adding ”working from home” and more flexible working as one of the greatest positives to emerge from the crisis and 42% of marketers overall add the opportunity to attend a wide range of online events to the range of positives. The Two Strategies Ahead In Alek’s presentation, he shared that there are usually two strategies to talk about when waking up for digital transformation: to focus intently on one thing or throw plenty of things around and see what sticks. In the WFE (Work from Everywhere) scenario, b2b marketers can go wider and experiment with wider audiences to potential clients”. Why? “Because in a digital work-from-everywhere scenario, the cost of talking to a million people may be not greater than talking to ten.” Yes, turns out that in this scenario, larger audiences actually do not cost more than a small one. Therefore, we go to the term Quantum Marketing. Like in the atom’s core, we imagine the decision-maker in a business sitting in the middle and people around him gathering information in all channels. But what is that is no longer applicable? “Decision-makers can be a lot of people, the focus can move a lot and there are many opportunities to follow. The tasks and priorities change, some needs disappear and others arise. So what we have here is the quantum model - the chaos that curiously makes everything click together. “There is no such predictability anymore. That’s why WFE works - it gives a reach, flexibility, and different type of function.” So Work From Everywhere Actually Works According to LinkedIn, every four years around 40% of members of the network change their industry, seniority, function, company size. “The people b2b marketers want to reach are everywhere”. And the scope can be endless. Because a Chinese symbol for the crisis contains “danger” and “opportunity”. And, as usual, it’s inevitably better to go for the opportunity.

On the 10th of October, we rolled up sleeves to make our cities more pleasant to live, work, and play in. Forty-seven colleagues from Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Skopje took part in the green initiative "Team Up to Clean Up." Оur CEO, Ivan Ivanov, also supported the cause and worked side by side with all volunteers. Together, we filled more than 150 trash bags. In addition to the positive impact, we also had a great time together.

In these dynamic times, businesses have acknowledged that adaptability is the new competitive advantage. Data centres are moving off-premise; application architectures are shifting to a cloud-native approach, and our workplace is now anywhere with a stable Internet connection. These changes are calling for a smart course of action that will ensure a smooth, secure and cost-effective delivery of applications and protection of software enterprise systems. We are proud to announce that Scalefocus has now officially launched its Application Continuity Center which is able to decrease support and maintenance costs by 50% while significantly improving the performance of internal systems. What is Application Continuity? Companies are investing a lot of money and time to establish complex enterprise systems and applications, yet often disregard what happens after launching them. How will their operation be supported, maintained, what efforts will go towards patch updates, fixing critical errors, improving the UX? These are all questions whose answers will all impact the TCO, potential risks, and software agility. Application Continuity helps maintain business operations 24/7 and keep an organization focused on adjusting all elements to reflect its current business needs. The ACC allows for continuous application support for resolution of all potential bugs at a low cost and helps address any software support situation with a fast response rate. We claim full ownership of the software we develop and take responsibility for maintaining and supporting it, which allows us to form long-term and stable partnerships, and achieve high client satisfaction. Our Swarm Team The ACC at Scalefocus is led by a Swarm Team which consists of application support specialists, QE, DevOps, infrastructure and security professionals. Their job is to collaboratively maintain the state of the application, identifying and resolving bugs effectively. The Swarm Master is dedicated to managing and resolving the client’s issues at hand, escalating the issue to developers when necessary, and checking SLA compliance throughout the entire process. Software Auditing and Application Upgrades Our ACC is able to perform initial auditing of your applications and entire enterprise system to take your business to the next level. A detailed assessment will give you the chance to realize opportunities for enhancements or focus on areas that need improvement. Additionally, we will provide continuous monitoring of performance and support, while ensuring all applications are regularly upgraded. Trust Us to Take Over We get it. Sometimes things don’t work out as intended and businesses need to think fast how to turn in a new direction. Our ACC performs third-party application takeovers, shifting the gears to meet your direct objectives. Is your software not aligned with its purpose, outdated, pushed aside and unfinished? Has the developer you contracted given up on your idea? If you find yourself in the above situations, reach out to us and we’ll discuss the takeover process in detail. Here is a brief overview. Handover: The client’s team transfers their knowledge to the ACC. Our ACC performs a complete architecture and code audit as well as a review of all documentation. Functional and performance testing follows. Resolve: The ACC performs various remedy activities including bug fixes, performance tuning, revision and updates in documentation. Support: Clients take advantage from an online helpdesk and support services around the clock. The ACC performs scheduled and on-demand updates, backup and recovery tasks. Meanwhile, our Swarm Team handles all issue tracking and rectification. Reasons to Count on Us Our customer-centric approach remains the cornerstone of our success as a company, and our delivery of the Application Continuity Center is no exception. By choosing Scalefocus as your strategic partner, you’ll be able to meet your business goals with full transparency and efficiency. Check out the companies that trust us and read their stories. Here are some additional reasons to consider implementing our ACC solution: Focus on what’s important. We’ll do the rest. Cut costs, reduce incident and support resolution time by 50% with our Swarm Team so your attention stays on innovation and growth. Engaged and proactive IT maintenance using the latest technologies. Simple integration using JIRA allowing for fast ticket response and resolution. 24x7x365 availability to support and answer any questions you may have.