employée en télétravail à la maison en temps de pandémie

Pandemic and Telework – reflections of an entrepreneur

The pandemic forced us all to review our priorities and, by the same token, how to go about things like work structure, management style, production chain, supply logistics, etc… oh yes, and our Human Resources Management!

In short, while everything was going well in the best of worlds, we all discovered how fragile our happiness and our businesses were!

We will soon complete a 2nd year of distancing and exceptional hygiene measures to stop the pandemic and we all hope that all this will be behind us for good in the fall of 2022, although some prognoses suggest otherwise.

So, we thought it would be a good idea to take stock of how far we’ve come since then and to share some of our personal thoughts on the subject.

 

Organisational Challenges in Times of Pandemic

 

HOW TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES?

It was not easy, because for many people, the initial shock of the pandemic created apathy followed by uncertainty, uncertainty about their future on many levels; personal, health, family, job, income, etc. These emotions were further exacerbated by the isolation and curfew imposed.

Despite this, many managers were able to react quickly and compensate for this initial effect with one-on-one and ZOOM meetings (Teams, Google Meet, etc.) to stay on course… and focused.

Many managers then discovered that managing the troops remotely is no easy task and goes far beyond the management of assigned tasks, because connecting with an employee at home also means connecting with his or her personal universe… which often had to be dealt with!

And we also found that many employees were not properly set up at home to perform at their best.

 

HOW TO KEEP PRODUCTION GOING?

The problem gradually became apparent as many companies closed down because they simply could not get supplies. For many, this was due to the lack of personnel at the suppliers due to COVID-19 outbreaks and government subsidies, but for many others, this pandemic highlighted their unhealthy dependence on a few suppliers or even on Asian suppliers… on the other side of the world!

Out of sight, out of mind; they say!

Miracle recipes had to be found and quickly. And then came the notion of essential services and products that essentially covered the food, energy and health sectors, of course.

Was it a warning shot or a stroke of genius? It depends…

Some took advantage of the opportunity to reorient their production chain or add a new one, others found local or closer suppliers and are still happy about it today.

But for the vast majority of us, this shock was an opportunity to become aware of the need to drastically reduce our socio-economic dependence, mainly in terms of health and food. In terms of energy, we are already among the best in the world thanks to our hydroelectricity and our transition to renewable energies should ensure our security for the distant future.

As for the service sector, it was definitely the “lucky one” of the lot, as it is the one where teleworking is most applicable.  And this episode is sure to be a turning point in the future of how things will be done.  “Hybrid”, you say!!!

 

HOW TO MAINTAIN SALES IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC?

For the Services sector, in addition to the slowdown in business due to the… slowdown in business, the return to a new normal followed the gradual control of outbreaks.

For the Goods sector, it was a different story. For the smart ones, it was the return of the good old days as soon as supply resumed and thanks to online trade; for the others, it was an emergency turn to online trade. This period also saw a proliferation of new delivery services!

For many other companies in the Hotel & Restaurant, Culture & Entertainment and of course Tourism sectors, it was a disaster.

On the services side, here again, another realization for many entrepreneurs who were hit hard by their digital lag; some would say that they had to pay their “technological debt“!

 

Lessons of entrepreneurship in times of pandemic

This pandemic has changed us all, inexorably, and most likely permanently!

These upheavals have brought to light fundamental traits of human nature, the social fabric and the importance of quality of life for both.

The fact is that there is no going back; therefore, we must already plan for the return to normal and face this new normal.

And what will this “new normal” be made of?

First of all, there is the work environment to consider, because the vast majority of workers do not want to go back to the office full time. And even though one’s head is in the company, when one’s body is at home, it can be difficult to concentrate if one does not recreate a minimum of isolation similar to the company. The home does not offer the supervision or structure of an office. It will be necessary to accompany the employees in the creation of effective work bubbles.

There is also the human dimension to consider more than before, especially in a situation of labour shortage. We will have to learn to deal with different personalities at a distance, in telecommuting mode, some people need discipline to function and perform, others need comfort and warmth, still others simply need a directive and a clear objective, etc. Clearly, performance objectives will need to be redefined and incentives and bonuses will need to be creative.

Critical decisions are on the horizon: what actions and investments should you prioritize to optimize both human comfort and maintain performance in this new hybrid work environment.

In short, the company will have to adapt to employees.

 

Final Remarks

Update applications and software’s… it’s urgent!

Zoom/Teams will never replace the conference room.

It’s hard to read body language from a distance.

The home is not the office.

 

Last Words

And of course, this pandemic has also allowed us to test the effectiveness of our processes and collaboration tools in terms of security, connectivity, real-time collaboration, project management, quality control, etc.

With more or less happy results depending on…

And this will be the subject of our next post.

le rendement de votre Équipe de Développement se compare-t-il à la performance du Bitcoin

How can you evaluate the performance of your IT Development Team?


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How can you evaluate the performance of your IT Development Team?

The question is worth asking and not easy to answer; how can you evaluate the performance of your IT development team with certainty?

Evaluating the performance of an IT Development team is not as easy as it sounds. The fact is that IT projects vary greatly in scope, budget and schedule; in this context, it is difficult to compare!

In this post, we will not discuss “mathematical” methods such as the “function point” (FFP) method that allows you to evaluate the necessary load associated with a development in terms of points.  This evaluation gives constant results, what changes is the number of hours required by the development team to program a function point. Unfortunately these methods are not very common.

We will talk about some of the basics…

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embaucher des ressources TI à l'interne ou une firme externe: le dilemme de tout projet TI

Hiring internal IT resources or hiring an external firm: the dilemma of every IT Project


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Hiring internal IT resources or hire an external firm: the dilemma of every IT Project and a key decision for the Project Manager.

It is true, a new IT Project always calls for a fundamental decision from the Project Manager: should I hire internal IT resources or hire an external firm?

Every IT Project is first and foremost a Management and Logistics challenge. In the sense that each IT project brings its own challenges, its own customer requirements and, at the same time, its own needs in terms of expertise and resources.

The Project Manager must first clearly define the nature of the IT development project to match it with the expertise of his Development team.

 

The Challenge of IT Resources Scarcity at the Dawn of the 21st Century

The magnitude of the Software Development Project Management and Logistics challenge should not be underestimated. In fact, many companies have been involuntarily slowing down their growth in recent years due to bottlenecks in their internal processes, mainly because of resource scarcity.

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Il faut constamment évaluer la capacité de vos ressources à livrer vos Projets TI

IT Project: the constant challenge of assessing the required capacity and expertise


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Every IT Project is first and foremost a challenge to evaluate the required capacity and expertise. Indeed, the Manager must constantly re-evaluate the adequacy of his Development team to deliver the next IT Project; both in terms of capacity and expertise.

Information technology tools and technologies play a key role in achieving the growth objectives of companies. More specifically, the automation of certain critical processes can generate a dizzying increase in productivity or a significant improvement in the quality of products and/or customer service.

Consequently, any decision in terms of IT development will have a major impact on the company’s competitiveness and profitability.

In this context, more than one IT Director will spontaneously turn to commercial software to meet the software development demand required to support the company’s growth objectives.

So, in many ways, it seems to us that this is an easy solution for the IT Director and we understand these reasons well:

  • The IT Director believes he can quickly fill a capacity gap with a tool that automates certain processes
  • The IT Director relies on a known and recognized solution to minimize the risk associated with a Development Project
  • The IT Director hopes that the implementation of the commercial solution will be done in a shorter time frame
  • The IT Director hopes to minimize his risk by using a solution already developed

While this all sounds very logical, we argue that there is another option that is just as viable and perhaps more profitable; that of the external software development firm.

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Gestion de la Relation Client dans un Projet de Développement logiciel chez Analystik

eMalaya or the Benefits of Projection in Project Management


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eMalaya is a Project Management and Time Sheet entry tool that calculates projections; that is to say, it accumulates the hours executed and the “remaining work” to be done of a Development Project. And this calculation brings a new perspective on Project Management for the greater benefit of Project Managers, Administrators and Clients; the knowledge of the true state of a Project.

IT Projects are almost always complex, involve many resources, and often take several months to complete. And over time, the vast majority of IT Projects will face potential pitfalls or new Client requests, both of which will result in schedule and cost overruns.

In this context, it is not easy for the Project Manager to monitor his Projects in real time and evaluate the performance of Development Team.

In order to get a clear view, the Project Manager must almost always collect project data from different systems. Moreover, the main Project Management software (DevOps / Jira) only looks to the future; that is to say, it only calculates the Remaining Work without taking into account the hours executed.

These different estimates will have important repercussions for all stakeholders of a Project: Developers, Managers, Administrators and Clients.

So how do you know where you really stand in terms of performance of the Development Team, the Budget (Billing) and the Schedule?  How can you get a clear real-time vision of a Project?  Is it possible to objectively evaluate the actual status of a Project; that is to say, to know precisely the actual hours executed by the Developers plus the estimated hours of work remaining to be done by these same Developers for all of their Tasks?

In fact, we are talking here about a new concept in Project Management; the Projection, that is to say the addition of the real time work done plus the remaining work to be done. Interesting, isn’t it!

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Sprint d'une Équipe de Développement d'un Projet logiciel

New Perspective on Project Management: Remaining Work (RW) vs. Projection


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Isn’t it time to offer managers a new perspective on Project Management that would allow them to adequately monitor Projects in real time and, in addition, to properly evaluate the performance of the Development Team?

The fact is that the Manager has to take up more than one challenge in the Management of Development Projects, software or other; the task is arduous!

Indeed, IT Projects are almost always complex, involve many resources, and often take several months to complete. In addition, to obtain a clear vision, the Project Manager must almost always collect Project data from different systems.To obtain a clear picture, the Project Manager must almost always collect project data from different systems.

Thus, almost all software development teams use two systems daily:

  1. DevOps or Jira
  2. Time sheet entry application

And almost all Project Managers and Clients complain about the same things:

  1. Lack of visibility on the degree of progress of the project(s)
  2. Lack of metrics
  3. Having to deal with cost and schedule overruns

What is a Projection?

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Gestion de Projet de Développement logiciel chez Analystik

3 challenges of Software Development Project Management


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The Services company faces more than one challenge in Software Development Project Management. Unlike a product company, a Service company must constantly match its sales to its ability to deliver.  The goal is to serve customers well while avoiding “non-billable” time.  Project / Production managers in a company generally face 3 main challenges:

  1. Capacity management
  2. Timeline
  3. Budget

Let’s analyze each of these challenges!

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Eliminating paper-based business processes; it’s now or never!


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Eliminating paper-based business processes from your company may be one of the best software development projects to undertake in times of pandemic!  Have you thought about it?

We have written in previous posts that Digital Transformation is taking place on two main poles or towards two main goals, if you prefer:

From these two main poles a large number of Communication, Marketing & Sales and Development projects and activities are derived in organizations, but unfortunately, many of these projects and activities still rely on paper business process.

 

Paper-based Business Processes in Customer Experience

Being able to communicate in real time and at any time with Customers allows you to ensure Customer / Consumer Satisfaction and also, to benefit from invaluable Customer Intelligence.

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processus non performants

How to identify non-performing processes with high performance gain potential?


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Not easy to identify non-performing processes with high performance gain potential because not all non-performing processes are created equal; some show higher earning potential than others.

In fact, the challenge for an IT manager is not only to identify non-performing processes, but also to identify the processes that will bring the most gain to the business when optimized. As an IT Director, you need to be able to recognize the performance improvement indicators that are important for your company.

 

Clues to identify non-performing processes with high earning potential

What are these revealing elements, indicating a major hassle that can lead to significant performance gains?

First of all, let’s mention a common plague in the workplace, a remnant of the last Millennium, which reflects a deficient way of doing things; that is Excel. Not that we condemn its use, far from it, because Excel is a formidable and powerful office automation tool. However, if you use a complex Excel spreadsheet for the management and/or calculation of critical data or processes in your company, which only a few insiders master; then you should strongly evaluate its performance!

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How do you identify your software development priority in times of pandemic?


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How do you identify your software development priority in times of pandemic as several companies are currently experiencing its repercussions.  As the Prime Minister said, some are “on pause” while others are unable to find the necessary employees to meet demands.

One thing remains though, what did not perform well before the pandemic, is still not performing well during the pandemic and will not perform well afterwards.  However, we will return to performance issues in a context of pandemic and economic downturn in a future post.

Of course, you could also embark on the Digital Transformation project, which we have already discussed at length in previous posts, or on an Agile Transformation project, i.e. the integration of Agility into the enterprise. These projects are certainly very worthwhile, but we have something else in mind for you.

Identifying software development priorities in times of pandemic?

For some companies, it will be a question of doing more with less, while for others, it will simply be a question of doing better?

Indeed, any IT manager will seek either a gain in productivity or a gain in performance.  However, there is a third path that is less obvious but certainly just as profitable, the path of Intelligence (not artificial, that is ?).

So, if your company is on idle, why not take advantage of this time to recover Business Intelligence? Such a Business Intelligence-oriented software development project, while requiring good thinking, will not sideline your critical applications. Moreover, whether it is Financial or related to your Customers, this Business Intelligence will prove to be an invaluable competitive advantage in the recovery.

Now, is Business Intelligence identified as a software development priority in your company? It should.

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processus

Automation of a Process Within Digital Transformation


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Here are a few considerations for the automation of a process within Digital Transformation.

In general, a digital transformation plan will be a multi-stage process that will affect many aspects of the organization.  For example:

– Implementing or replacing a CRM

– Implementation or replacement of an ERP

– Implementation or replacement of a management system

– Automation of a particular process through custom development

– Creating a Data Warehouse

– Implementation of a platform or security layer

Your transformation plan may not consider all of these aspects, each organization has its own budget, priorities, capacities, etc.

In our last post about digital transformation, we identified 9 considerations in replacing your CRM and we ended by indicating that at Analystik, our role is often to automate business functions following the creation of an opportunity.

 

The true nature of process automation

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Replacing Your CRM, 9 Considerations Within Digital Transformation


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You are replacing your CRM, here are 9 considerations within Digital Transformation.

In general, a Digital Transformation IT plan will be a multi-stage process that will affect many aspects of the organization. For example:

  • Implementing or replacing a CRM
  • Implementation or replacement of an ERP
  • Implementation or replacement of a management system
  • Automation of a particular process through custom development
  • Creating a Data Warehouse
  • Implementation of a platform or security layer

Your digital transformation plan may not consider all of these aspects, as each organization has its own budget, priorities, capacities, schedules, etc.

 

Main considerations in replacing your CRM

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Why the Digital Transformation?


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Why the Digital Transformation has been on everyone’s lips for some time.  Is it the Buzz Word of the hour?  Definitely!

Will it soon be replaced by another Buzz Word? Definitely!

For now, the Digital Transformation seems to be perceived as a panacea for productivity and profitability!  And governments have decided to offer different types of assistance to businesses in their quest for Digital Transformation.

The fact remains that if our governments have decided to invest in companies to help them perform better, it is certainly because they detect a malaise.  Unsurprisingly, our national productivity rate is a good indicator of this.*

 

What is Digital Transformation?

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Security and Enterprise Agility: Constraints and Solutions


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Security and Enterprise Agility do not usually go hand in hand. Also, the impact of security and compliance on Agility in today’s technological environment, which requires many companies to take such measures to ensure the integrity of their operations and preserve data confidentiality, should not be underestimated.

Definitely, the constraints that certain security and compliance measures impose suggest that Security and Enterprise Agility can hardly go hand in hand.

But, no matter how many developers there are in your organization, it is possible to do software development in Agile mode. Hundreds of writings praise the merits of this development methodology, so here are some of the most important points:

  1.       Better match between deliverables and needs;
  2.       Minimize the risk of slippage by splitting the project into “sprints” and these into “tasks” of short duration;
  3.       Better communication between the various project stakeholders;
  4.       Emphasis is placed on identifying and categorizing the functionalities that will have the most added value for the organization;
  5.       In the “cost, time, functionality” trilogy, the challenge is to develop as many of the most important features as possible in the time allocated, even if it means removing features, unlike the Waterfall mode, which emphasizes features, all features, even if it means exceeding them over time.

 

Plan Management vs Value Management

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The 4 fields of Enterprise Agile Transformation


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There are countless companies that have started their Enterprise Agile Transformation in recent years. With good reason, because no one would question the benefits of the Agile Method today; this is an obvious fact that is unanimously accepted in all sectors of activity.

So, contrary to what one might think, Agile is not the one who wants!

Not all organizations are ready for Agility considering that this implies giving more autonomy to business units and work teams and creating cross functional teams as well. Moreover, not all business leaders will necessarily welcome Agility with open arms.

Thus, more than processes, the Agile method calls for a work philosophy that encompasses both the personnel and structure of the organization.

The Agile Enterprise therefore calls upon a profound transformation of the organization. This comprehensive transformation will affect all facets of the Organization including Personnel, Organizational Structure, Strategy and Technology. That’s the path to a successful Agile Transformation.

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