I’m a developer. We’re not well known for our communication skills; at least I know I had my problems. Most of them came from the fact that my natural tendency is to ignore emotional cues and to dwell on facts alone. In many cases, that works fine. Sometimes, though, it creates unnecessary friction and can upset people. As a consultant, mentor and coach, I had to communicate better. Practice makes perfect. I strongly advise you to do it. However, if you like to stay the way you are, but oil your interactions with non-geek entities a bit, I have a pattern for you. 

Software development exists, in the end, to solve Business problems and bring as much Business value as possible. If our role is the one of “Business Analyst” in a software company, we feel not meeting our goals if we are not able to identify the real Business needs and if we are not able to prove the Business value delivered by the applications or features to be developed. Is it enough to have a number set as “Business value” for each user story? Should we also be aware of the real Business value behind that number? Would this help us and our teams provide the best possible solution and do things right from the very beginning?

Larry Wall is most widely known as the creator of Perl. We were happy to have the chance to talk with him while he was in Cluj for the annual Perl conference, YAPC::EU (22nd – 25th August 2016).

A while ago, I wrote an article addressing some important aspects in the world of client communication, or at least that was what I thought I was doing. I talked about how important it is to find a common ground when talking to somebody, especially if the people involved have different backgrounds. I also talked about the importance of emphasizing the value of what we are communicating, to point out what our ideas are bringing to the game. Since then, I have continued to improve my communication skills and I have discovered how important it is to pass these messages in a very efficient manner, especially when there are time constraints in the game. This is almost always the case when discussing with a client. There have been a couple of game changers for me lately, which I think have really helped me improve my efficiency when communicating. In this article I want to pass along these additional teachings.

The tremendous success and spectacular adoption rates of modern mobile platforms are tightly connected with the number and quality of the mobile apps that run on these platforms. Given the tough, competitive context of the app stores, time to market and flexibility are some of the demanding selection criteria in today’s mobile developers’ world. As a direct consequence of this, we are witnessing a spectacular rise and development of technologies that enable the development of quasi-simultaneous versions of a mobile app on multiple platforms using the same code base (also known as cross-platform technologies).

Established 10 years ago, 3Pillar Global is one of the fastest growing IT service companies in Transylvania, this year’s goal being to reach 450 employees in Cluj-Napoca and Timişoara. Actively involved in the Romanian business landscape since 2009, 3Pillar Global brings together nearly 400 professionals in two offices located in the best IT centers in the country. We are talking about highly skilled engineers who are currently developing Web (Java, Python, Ruby on Rails, Front End) and mobile applications (iOS and Android). The company is an expertise hub which brings high added value to various customers in the US or the UK.

We entered the Fall season which is marked by a soaring activity in the startup area as well. A few accelerators and funds are searching the market, scouting for startups to invest in (check the meetups coming up: StartupYard and Hub:raum. On the programs/competitions side, Imprezzio Idea Challenge and Startup Spotlight – paired with How to Web conference) have their application deadline at the end of this week. And one more thing: the new Cluj Startups website is up and running.

I’m sure everyone who’s worked in a software company has, at least once, heard this question or maybe even thought about it. Analyzing a bit further, it becomes obvious that the question makes no sense as the two types of tests don’t perform the same function. We need acceptance tests, and in modern times we’d like them to be automated. The actual question you might have heard is “Who will implement the acceptance tests?” and the answer to this will vary depending on your company / team direction. In my opinion, which happens to coincide with the company’s and the team’s opinion (yey!), everyone in the team should do it.

Arvato Romania, the contact-center services provider, extended its presence on the Romanian market this year, with the opening of a new support center in Cluj-Napoca. Initially, the company was looking to hire 200 people in the new office by the end of the year. However, more than 100 employees are already working in the offices, located in Liberty Technology Park Cluj. Due to this success, the company plans to end the year with a more numerous team, not only in Cluj, but also in the other two offices, located in Brașov and Sibiu.

As we've accustomed you for the past three years, November marks the Cluj IT Days event for the Today Software Magazine team. This is one of the largest events for developers, testers and managers in Cluj and Romania. This state of facts was acknowledged by the attendees who came from as far as Brașov, Iași, Craiova or Bucharest. We were glad to find out that our event has had a significant contribution to the following state of facts: large IT conferences and events are pretty hard to find, especially in other cities.