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Nearshore Software Development & Offshore Outsourcing From Leading Software Centers In Latin America. Over 30 Years Experience & 500+ Engineers. Go!

PSL Corp.

Someday you’ll come along with an idea to create the next big app which will bring your name into repute or make you rich. First of all, you can start googling “who can I hire to build an app”. Because Google knows everyone and everything. Or, if you have a similar experience, you’ll search “outsourcing software development company”. But of course, choosing might take a few weeks to a few months before picking that one for all your development requirements. Here is the list of trusted IT Outsourcing Companies based on Quora and Appfutura research. VironIT VironIT is a custom software development company with a primary focus on delivering end-to-end software development services. Company’s core areas of expertise are development of mobile applications, web-oriented software products, business software solutions, software integration, updating, support and maintenance of developed applications. VironIT has successfully carried out over 500 successful projects to over 300 high-profile companies in eHealth, Sports, Banking, Retail, Marketing, Gaming and other industries. The company’s clients range from SMEs to Fortune 500 corporations based in Western Europe and North America. VironIT’s team consists of 100+ seasoned specialists: software developers, engineers, and scientists with expertise in different technical domains. All of the company’s members have bachelor’s or master’s degrees in sciences and rich experience in the software development field. Most of VironIT’s employees are senior or mid-level developers. Ciklum Ciklum is a software solutions company headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, with offices in the UK, Denmark, Spain, Belarus, and the U.S., and more. With about 3,000 employees, Ciklum not only specializes in software engineering but also provides e-commerce and mobile app development, application testing, IT strategy consulting, and staff augmentation. Their clients range from large multinational companies to fast-growing startups working toward an IPO. Ciklum was hired by an enterprise IT firm as the main development resource: backend and frontend developers, quality assurance specialists, and business analysts. Operating as part of the team on an ongoing basis, Ciklum developed an e-commerce platform for the IT firm’s client that resulted in $50,000,000 per year in sales. Eight Bit Studios Founded in 2008, Eight Bit Studios is based in Chicago, IL. They focus on mobile apps, customer software development, and UX/UI design. The team of 35+ employees helps key industries, including education and gaming burst business. Eight Bit Studios redeveloped a product for an augmented-reality gaming platform. They had to review the platform to learn how as operating and then piece the platform back together. They were able to ensure all code worked properly. PSL Corp. PSL Corp. is a software engineering company that was founded in 1986. With locations in New York; Medellín, Colombia; and Mexico City, PSL Corp. has more than 650 employees. They specialize in custom software development, big data consulting, cloud consulting, system integration, and web development. PSL Corp. supports mid-sized and enterprise clients across a range of industries. PSL Corp. built a marketing web application for a sales software firm. The client valued PSL Corp.’s ability to program flawless, bug-free code thanks to their high level of expertise in development. To support the client and maintain quality assurance, PSL Corp. continues to provide ongoing maintenance and support. Table XI Table XI is a mobile app and custom software developer based in Chicago, IL. Founded in 2004, they are 35 dedicated app and website builders with a flair for bespoke design and digital strategy. Table XI recreated the website of a global events company, building a video player and an iOS app to deliver content, all with no site downtime. After the migration, the app and site functioned seamlessly. The client recommended Table XI for their cost, clarity, and adherence to deadlines. Intellectsoft Founded in 2007, Intellectsoft is a full-service software partner, focusing on app development for web, mobile, and emerging technologies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, their 200+ business strategists and tech specialists collaborate across seven global offices to create digital solutions for startups and enterprises alike. Intellectsoft created an e-commerce app with matching backend infrastructure, then integrated it into the client’s blockchain technology. Transforming the given creative demands into a satisfactory product under a strenuous deadline was deemed impressive, as were their communication skills and determination. iTechArt iTechArt is a top-tier, one-stop custom software development company. 73% of its clients come from referrals. With over 800 experienced engineers, iTechArt works with startups and other fast-growing companies to create the coolest, most innovative, and successful mobile and web applications. It also provides custom software development and QA & testing services in the industry. Itransition Founded in 1998 outside Denver, CO, Itransition now has an office in Austin, TX, as well as the UK and Belarus. They bring their 20 years experience and 1500+ person team to the table for custom software development, web development, and e-commerce development. Itransition was hired by another development firm to collaborate on a project for a tourism company. They migrated 44 websites into one e-commerce platform, Magento. 10Pearls Based in Vienna, VA, 10Pearls designs and maintains apps for various companies. The company and its nearly 350 employees have experience in cybersecurity, product development, and UX/UI design. A telemedicine company needed assistance with platform development and maintenance. 10Pearls helped the telemedicine company with all aspects of platform development, creating a website and mobile app and ensuring the website’s backend was admin-friendly. LOVATA LOVATA is an IT company headquartered in Minsk, Belarus. Founded in 2008, they provide services for web development and custom software development. They have about 24 employees that serve a range of clients in the healthcare, e-commerce, retail, and financial services sectors. LOVATA designed a website to increase a publishing company’s brand awareness. Revenue rose 400% as a result of more paid subscriptions and increased audience size. RubyGarage Development agency RubyGarage is located in Dnipro, Ukraine. Since it was founded in 2011, their team has evolved to about 100 employees. RubyGarages partners primarily with small businesses. Their services are centered on custom software, mobile app, and web development. RubyGarage provides digital marketing and development services for a software company. The client noted that the team’s development services were high quality. The marketing campaigns they executed improved traction and visibility during the entire length of the engagement. Belatrix Software Belatrix Software is an app development company headquartered in Argentina. The large team also has offices in Latin America, Florida, New York, and California. Founded in 2003, the agency is known as one of the top providers for software engineering services. Belatrix Software offered front-end development services to a financial group, helping the client’s existing development team build productivity-related tools. The client lacked the necessary development resources to process a backlog of work, so Belatrix Software’s development expertise complimented their in-house development team. The project is ongoing, and the client praised Belatrix Software’s work. Wizeline Headquartered in San Francisco, Wizeline is a product development company with offices in Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Since its founding in 2014, the team has grown to over 390 employees. Wizeline specializes in custom software, web, and mobile app development and UX/UI design. An entertainment company hired Wizeline to improve their website’s CMS. Based on the team’s initial success, they fostered a partnership that’s still ongoing. The agency’s skills made them stand out from comparable firms throughout the process. The client appreciates Wizeline’s collaborative spirit and excellent communication skills. Fingent Technologies Founded in 2003, Fingent is a web and mobile development company which has offices in the United States, India and the United Arab Emirates. Its global team of 230 employees has helped hundreds of mid and large size organizations implement software solutions that increase productivity and profits. Oxagile Oxagile provides end-to-end custom software development services to SMBs and enterprises, focusing on online video management, advertising, real-time communication, and data solutions. The company’s headquarters are located in New York, with an EMEA office in London and the development center in Belarus. Oxagile offers both Scrum and Waterfall methodologies. With Vodafone among their clients and Microsoft among the partners, Oxagile is one of the top custom software development companies for video solutions for SMBs and enterprises. SumatoSoft SumatoSoft offers full-cycle app development, starting from the zero, through consulting, developing and finishing custom software. They work for large enterprises, startup companies, create B2B and B2C e-commerce, automated chatbot and more. SumatoSoft’s collaboration with Toyota was one of the biggest projects of the company. Here, they introduced new and optimized existing processes of the business, supported their marketing system, ensured an effective functioning of their offices across the world, rearranged and recreated the entire Toyota’s IT system. Praxent Praxent is not a simple custom software IT company. They have the role of an IT assistant to businesses of all sizes. By introducing custom cloud solutions to a ticket broker TicketCity, Praxent liberated 98% of their inventory, resulting in expansion of the system capacity by the whole 6800%. Moreover, Praxent gained 12,000 subscribers for Plumb’s veterinary drugs within a short time period, making the veterinary handbook easily accessible online for veterinarians across the world. Orases Orases is a modern agency from the US with standard services on their menu, including mobile and web applications development, custom software services and flexible IT solutions. They list SMBs and Fortune 500 companies as only some of the businesses they work with it. This company was involved in two industries that not many custom software IT outsource companies cover — sports and farming. Namely, they created websites for Dairy Farmers of America, Homegrown Frederick and Prince George’s County, as well as MLB Pitch Hit & Run, and several apps for NFL. FrogSlayer FrogSlayer provides growing companies with the custom software tools they need to accelerate growth and become the technology or data leader in their industry. Since 2011, its team has helped over 60 clients become technology leaders in a variety of industries. It has made commercial buildings smarter, oil rigs safer, financial crime harder, education more accessible, healthcare more efficient, and much more. FrogSlayer’s clients have generated over $350M in ROI — an average of 23x payback in 2 years or less. N-iX N-iX is an Eastern European IT company with over 16 years of excellence as a reliable technology partner for innovative companies across North America, UK, and Europe. N-iX has over 800 experienced software engineers working within development centers in Lviv, Kyiv (Ukraine), Kraków (Poland), Minsk (Belarus) and representative offices in Malmö (Sweden) and St. Petersburg, FL (USA). Hope this list of notable outsourcing companies will help you to burst your business to the next level. If you have seen any company that should be added to this list, then leave a note in comments.

Top IT Outsourcing Companies

It’s hard to imagine a business that doesn’t need any IT services today: whether you are to deploy cloud solutions, go online, or improve your data security, hiring a couple of specialists is unlikely to be enough for delivering all the necessary services on time and budget. The best solution will be to hire a team of experienced experts who will promptly devise what you need, providing solutions that fit your particular business perfectly. In 2021, the worldwide spending on IT services is expected to , which is impressive. This again proves the fact that even the most conservative companies that were unwilling to change until recently have now realized the essential benefit of new technologies, and are seeking professional IT help. reach 1.14 trillion dollars How to Choose a Perfect Partner Among IT Consulting Companies? Luckily, the market is incredibly rich with IT consulting providers—since the beginning of the 2000s, more and more companies each year try to succeed by offering their IT-related services. Still, quantity doesn’t equal quality, so those who are looking for a perfect team to work with should learn to differentiate companies and find the one that is experienced and skillful enough. If you are the one who’s in need of such a tech partner, don’t worry—we would like to ease this time-consuming challenge for you. After a thorough market analysis, we have identified the best IT services providers based on five criteria: Expertise Industries served Geographical strategy Major clients Online reviews The analysis resulted in the following list of 30 top IT consulting companies on the market that might be interesting for you. No Need to Google “Best IT Consulting Companies Near Me” — We’ve Found Them for You 1. Accenture Accenture is one of the leading IT consulting companies in the USA and worldwide. The company has offices and teams in 52 countries, including the US, Ireland, and Singapore. With more than 492,000 employees on board, Accenture was listed in Forbes’ Global 2000 and Fortune’s Global 500 in 2019. The company delivers consulting services in the fields of blockchain, technologies, supply chain, and other. They also specialize in cloud solutions and Microsoft, Workday, Oracle and Salesforce platforms. Throughout their existence, Accenture has served 6,000 clients in 120 countries. 2. Capgemini Capgemini was founded in France in 1967 to become one of the front-runners on the European IT market. Today, it’s a company of more than 211,300 team members and 200+ offices in 39 countries. In 2019, Capgemini was positioned as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data and Analytics Service Providers and Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services. The company provides a number of IT services of various types: artificial intelligence, cloud solutions, digital services, and other business solutions. Capgemini focuses mostly on Banking and Manufacturing domains. 3. Tata Consultancy Services An Indian company, Tata has been providing consulting services for more than 50 years now. Its team comprises 446,600+ professionals in 46 countries who have already worked with such enterprises as Marks and Spencer, Panasonic, and Mother Dairy. The IT-related solutions delivered by Tata range from consulting to blockchain and cybersecurity services. In addition to this, the company provides their proprietary platforms targeted at automation, blockchain and Agile solutions. Tata Consultancy Services focuses mostly on Finance, Media and Retail domains. 4. Cognizant Established in 1994, Cognizant is now one of the top IT consulting companies in the world, with headquarters in Teaneck, NJ. Cognizant has offices in 40 countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, China, Canada, and United Arab Emirates. The company provides a wide range of services, including AI, automation and cloud solutions, quality assurance, and more. Their major targets are Banking, Healthcare, Insurance and Education industries. 5. Infosys In 1981, Infosys, a small company of six engineers with nothing but 250 dollars, began its existence in India. Today, it’s a team of 243,000+ experts operating from 46 countries, the US, Spain, China, Brazil, Australia, and Russia among them. Infosys expertise comprises AI and automation, blockchain technology, data analytics, IoT, cloud solutions, and more. Infosys works with both startups and established enterprises, focusing on such domains as High Technology, Healthcare, Public Sector, Manufacturing, and other. The company’s client list includes such renowned companies as Marvell Technology Group, The Hershey Company, and Cisco. 6. Wipro Founded as a part of Western india products in Bengaluru, India, in 1945, Wipro shifted forty years later to focus on the IT industry. The company went public in 2000 and has grown 25 times since then. With 175,000 dedicated team members on board, Wipro delivers high-quality IT solutions to clients from around the globe. Wipro provides a number of services: consulting, data analytics, DevOps, and many more. Still, the company focuses mostly on cybersecurity and cloud solutions. Wipro has vast experience in working with various industries, such as Education, Insurance, Oil and Gas, and many others. 7. Datamatics Datamatics is one of the leading technology consulting companies on the market, with more than 15 years of experience in delivering finest IT solutions. Operating in seven countries—the US, UK, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Switzerland, and India—they have already worked with 200+ clients worldwide. Datamatics offers consulting and advisory services, business management, technology and big data solutions, as well as engineering services. The company also provides their proprietary platforms aimed at automation and data analytics. Datamatics has rich experience in working with Finance, Healthcare, Insurance and Transportation industries. 8. Bain & Company One of the top IT consulting companies, Bain has 45+ years of advisory experience. The company has 58 offices in 37 countries, including the US, UK, United Arab Emirates, Norway, Nigeria, China, and more. Bain provides consulting on sales and marketing, strategy, organization, transformation, digital delivery, and Agile. The company also has their proprietary platform, created for analytics, digital marketing, and design. Bain focuses on Manufacturing, Chemicals, Energy, Gas and other domains. 9. BCT Consulting BCT Consulting was founded in 1996 as a one-member firm to become one of the leading technology consulting companies on the market. Today, this American company comprises more than 70 experts working with both startups and large enterprises, such as McDonald's. BCT Consulting’s expertise includes IT, web and mobile development, maintenance, accessibility, and structured cabling. The company’s major targets are Retail, Technologies and Hospitality industries. 10. Itransition Itransition is one of the front-runners among IT consulting companies around the world. Since it was established in 1998, the company has been recognized by numerous industry ranking bodies, including as one of the fastest growing and most successful private companies of the USA by Inc. Magazine. With a team of 2,000+ specialists, Itransition is an expert in technology consulting, software engineering, UX design, QA, and DevOps. Operating from their offices in the US, UK, Poland, and Belarus, they have successfully completed 1,500+ projects for a number of clients, including such enterprises as adidas, Toyota, and Expedia. Working with startups, mid-size companies, and Fortune 500 leaders, Itransition has served such industries as Media, Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare and more. Other technology consulting companies to keep an eye on in 2020: 11. McKinsey & Company The oldest consulting company on the list, McKinsey is almost 100 years old. Since it was established in 1926, McKinsey has been focusing on providing consulting services of the highest quality to clients in the US and abroad. With 30,000 team members, the company operates in 130 cities on six continents. McKinsey & Company’s expertise comprises design, analytics, strategy, transformation, marketing and sales, and other services. The company works mostly with Electronics, Chemicals, Healthcare, Automotive, and Agriculture domains. 12. BairesDev BairesDev was founded in 2009 by a devoted team inspired by the lack of professional IT services on the Latin American market. As a result, it became one of the top IT consulting companies with a team of more than 1,000 experts. The company has offices in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and the USA. The services provided by BairesDev include cloud computing, QA, blockchain consulting, IoT, data analytics, and software development. Among their major targets are Finance, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Telecommunications industries, though the company has rich experience in working in many other domains. The most notable clients of BairesDev are Univision, Rolls-Royce, and Instructure. 13. Trigent Software A 25-years-company, Trigent is one of the leading IT consulting companies in the USA. The services provided by the company include digital transformation, QA, cloud solutions, software engineering, data analytics, and AI. With offices in the US and India, Trigent has developed more than 400 products for companies around the globe. The most renowned names on their client list are Oracle, Navistar, Aon, and eBags. Trigent’s major targets are Finance, Education, Manufacturing, Transportation and Healthcare industries. 14. Sykes Sykes is an IT consulting company that was founded in 1977 to become one of the leaders in the area, with representatives in 23 countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, Canada, India, and China. Though having experience with various types of clients, today Sykes focuses primarily on Global 2000 companies. The industries they serve include Communications, Travel, Insurance, Finance, and other. Sykes provides solutions in such areas as human resource management, customer experience, sales, and brand extension. In particular, these are risk management, AI, data analytics, social media, and customer acquisition solutions. 15. Sitel Sitel was established in 1985 and has grown into a team of 75,000 devoted experts since. The company has offices in 27 countries, including the US, Brazil, and Australia, from where they deliver high-quality IT solutions to clients from 70 countries. Sitel delivers digital, technology, training and consulting solutions. The latter mostly comprise customer experience consulting. The company has been providing its solutions to a number of enterprises, L'Oréal, PayPal and HSBC among them. 16. Attract Group Attract Group is a Ukrainian IT company founded in 2011. Throughout these nine years, Attract Group has been growing and evolving, employing more technologies, and has become a leading B2B company in Ukraine. The company specializes in software development, marketing, DevOps, UX design, QA, and project management. Attract Group works mostly with startups and mid-size businesses, focusing on Finance, Retail and Education industries. 17. Neebal Neebal is one of the top IT consulting companies on the local market. With offices in the US, India, and Australia, Neebal serves businesses from around the globe, which are mostly startups and mid-size companies. The company’s major targets are Finance, Information Technologies and Healthcare domains. The team of more than 60 experts provides cloud migration services, IoT consulting, blockchain and AI chatbot development among their services. In addition to this, Neebal offers their proprietary platforms that automate planning, management, and data analytics. 18. EPAM Established in Belarus in 1993, EPAM has evolved from a team of three young tech geeks into an international IT company with 36,000 professionals on board. With offices in the US, Canada, China, France, and 20+ other countries, EPAM delivers high-quality IT solutions to all kinds of clients, from startups to Fortune 1000 companies. EPAM’s services include design, software engineering, and consulting, which comprises automation, cloud transformation, agile development, pricing strategy, and other solutions. The company is experienced in helping businesses in many industries, but focuses mostly on Finance, Telecommunications, and Retail. 19. Luxoft Luxoft is sure to be mentioned among the best technology consulting companies due to the exceptional quality of the services they have been delivering since the company’s establishment in 2000. Operating in 15+ countries, including the US, Russia, Australia, and China, the number of the company's employees exceeds 12,900. Among the services provided by Luxoft are digital strategy development, engineering, and consulting on data analytics, software development, and technology implementation. The company focuses on Automotive, Travel and Energy domains. 20. Brennan IT Brennan IT was founded in Melbourne in 1997 to become one of the leading IT companies in Australia. Brennan IT specializes in working with mid-size companies and enterprises, mostly in Hospitality, Finance, Health and Manufacturing industries. The company delivers data-related solutions, security and cloud services, and helps enterprises with software deployment. 21. KitelyTech Established in the US in 2009, KitelyTech is a consulting, design and development company specializing in software development, QA, data analytics, AI, blockchain development, and graphic design. KitelyTech operates in five US cities: Detroit, Austin, New York, Phoenix, and Charlotte. The company’s major targets are Healthcare, Retail and IT industries. Their customers range from startups to Fortune 500 companies. 22. DLabs Started as a project aimed at helping people with diabetes, DLabs has grown into a company specializing in data science, machine learning, and AI. Since it was officially launched in Poland in 2015, the company has grown to employ 20 data science and AI experts. The services provided by DLabs include AI-related solutions, from consulting to AI-powered software engineering. The company works with startups, mid-size companies and enterprises, aiming at Marketing, Healthcare and Finance industries. 23. MicroscopeIT MicroscopeIT is a Polish data-oriented company established in Wroclaw in 2011. Since then, their small but devoted team has served a number of startups and mid-size companies in Healthcare and Finance industries. The company specializes in computer vision, machine learning, and image analysis. MicroscopeIT also provides a proprietary platform, developed to collect, process and manage data and automate all data-related business processes. 24. PSL Corp. PSL deserves to be mentioned among top IT consulting companies for the high quality of IT services they have been providing since 1986. Operating in the US, Colombia, and Mexico, the company has delivered more than 1,200 projects from clients around the globe. The services provided by PSL include DevOps, blockchain and cloud technologies, UX design, data analytics, and AI-based solutions. The company works with mid-size firms and enterprises, primarily in Government, Insurance, Financial and Law Enforcement sectors. 25. Alorica A 20-years company present in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, Alorica is an IT consulting company with more than 100,000 employees on board. The company provides services in analytics and finance, customer experience management, and healthcare customer service solutions. Healthcare is one of the major industries Alorica focuses on, alongside Telecommunications, Retail, and Finance. The company works with mid-size businesses and enterprises—70% of their clientele are Fortune 500 companies. 26. Alight Alight is a company specializing in wealth, health and HCM solutions, and financial management. They have offices in the US, Canada, Australia, India, Hong Kong, and seven other countries, where Alight has worked with 3,200+ clients in total throughout 25 years of their existence. Alight helps companies deploy navigation, management, administration, and cloud technologies. Their client list comprises both startups and enterprises, with focus on the latter, especially in Healthcare and Public Sector domains. 27. ValueCoders This is an Indian IT outsourcing company helping businesses to evolve since 2004. With a team of 450 experts located in the US, UK, India, and Australia, the company has successfully served 2,500 customers, providing solutions related to blockchain technology, AI, digital transformation, and IoT. From startups to enterprises, ValueCoders works with various types of companies. The list of the company’s clients includes such well-known names as UNESCO, Capgemini, and Thomson Reuters. ValueCoders’ major targets are Healthcare, Education, Travel and Retail industries. 28. Basefarm One of the leading European IT consulting companies, Basefarm provides their services to clients from around the world. Since it was founded in 2000, the company has launched offices in the UK, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, France, Germany and six other countries. Today, the Basefarm team includes 550+ professionals. Basefarm’s expertise comprises data analytics, cloud technologies, security and management services. They focus mostly on Finance, Retail and Public Sector domains. 29. 3i International 3i International is a US company launched in 2000. With a team of more than 70 experts, the company provides IT consulting and support in such domains as security, cloud and VoIP services, business continuity and management. 3i International focuses on Architecture, Hospitality and Finance industries above others. The company works primarily with startups and mid-size companies. 30. SADA Systems Another IT consulting company founded in 2000, SADA specializes in cloud solutions and IT strategy consulting for mid-size companies and large enterprises. The services provided by the company include infrastructure modernization, application development, asset management, and managed cloud services. Their major targets are Healthcare, Education and Entertainment industries.

Top 30 IT Consulting Companies on the Market in 2020

Top Custom Software Development Companies 2018

Despite technological advancements making software development outsourcing more efficient and easier than ever, human factors still require the most attention for successful engagements. Outsourcing software development has never been easier for companies looking to build cutting-edge technologies and launch state-of-the-art applications and platforms. In fact, among large companies, the . While more advanced technologies, cloud capabilities, and collaboration tools continue to evolve to make transnational software development viable, human factors may still present the greatest challenge to outsourced engagements. average percentage allocated to outsourcing in IT budgets rose in 2018 , a leading software development outsourcing company in Latin America, has worked with North American clients for more than 15 years. These experiences have allowed us to become familiar with the many communication and interaction nuances that come up when working with different cultures and to gather tips for overcoming cultural barriers and ensuring smooth communications in outsourced software development engagements. PSL Understanding Cultural Differences It’s unwise to assume that effective intercultural communications boil down to emails or daily stand-up meetings through video calls. As one failed interaction leads to another, teams facing completely blocked communication channels or broken pipelines usually have little understanding of where misunderstandings began in the first place. Though not entirely conscious, cross-cultural teams are set against sharp contrasts in fields spanning from hierarchy to individuality and long-term orientation. Depending on how similar or different they are in these respects, communication can be smooth or strained, which can directly affect trust among the team. For example, when comparing the cultural values of Colombia to those of the U.S., according to , we can see a few dimensions in which both cultures are very similar but a couple in which they vary radically. Hofstede’s 6-D Model Hofstede’s Insights National Culture Comparison between Colombia and the U.S. Adapted from . Hofstede’s Country Comparison Tool While similar in terms of masculinity and indulgence, Colombia and the U.S. have a deep contrast in terms of individuality. This means that for Colombians, belonging to a tight-knit circle is important, while Americans prefer individuality. However, although frameworks such as Hofstede’s may help inform country-specific traits, values held on a more personal or corporate level can vary. To understand how communication in specific outsourcing engagements can be affected, you may need to take a closer look at organizational values. Leaders can take certain steps toward ensuring successful collaboration with their outsourced development team by keeping the following tips in mind. 1. Research Your Outsourced Team’s Cultural Nuances When creating a highly complex, knowledge-based product, the human element is, at least, half of the challenge. Differences in values, mannerisms, and communication styles between in-house and deployed teams will undoubtedly impact the dynamics and interactions. Differences in values, mannerisms, and communication styles between in-house and deployed teams will undoubtedly impact the dynamics and interactions. Therefore, being aware and sensitive to these cultural aspects is essential to achieving effective cross-cultural alignment. By understanding the cultural background of a deployed team, you will be able to . anticipate and mitigate risks, as well as plan better to play to their strengths Along with Hofstede’s model, Edward T. Hall’s may offer some insights into the communication styles of high and low context cultures, as seen below. Theory of Cultural Factors Hall’s Cultural Factors explanation in terms of “Overtness of messages,” “Use of non-verbal communication,” “Expression of reaction,” and “Cohesion and separation of groups.” Adapted from at changingminds.org. Edward T. Hall’s Cross-Cultural Factors theory For example, in a high-context culture, where hierarchy and protocol are highly valued, communication will often take a deductive route and include very broad or detailed explanations before arriving at a point. To a low-context culture, where conciseness and direct communication is far more valuable, this may be frustrating or even rude. In these cases, leaders can act as bridges between a high-context deployed team and an internal one. They may also try to sensitize vendors to issues related to hierarchical structures in order to promote participation from everyone on the team, even junior professionals. And above all, leaders must do their homework and find out what makes their outsourced team’s culture unique. 2. Find a Way of Communicating That Works for Both Teams The next step to achieving effective outsourcing collaboration is getting to know your counterpart’s style of communication. Even within in-house teams, communication can be difficult, and in software development, miscommunication can be costly, to say the least. Things such as , which can either support or hinder cooperation. So, small things such as greetings in emails or misconstrued interpretations of deadlines can result in awkwardness or discomfort. gestures or a certain way of speaking can influence the way one team sees the other U.S. companies may find communication with high-context cultures, whose nature is reserved and inexpressive, awkward. For American teams, this reservation may foster feelings that their deployed team isn’t fully engaged in the project and only responding affirmatively to everything. In these cases, establishing a set of ground rules and dynamics where every member of your team — both deployed and in-house — can and should speak up, ask questions, and take part in a healthy debate ensures decisions are made together. Both sides can take advantage of the experience, know-how, and skills of everyone on the team. 3. Work on Developing Strong Relationships Ultimately, good collaboration can only be achieved when the relationship between a client and an outsourced software team is based on trust. In software development, trust is expressed when one side believes in the other’s capabilities, know-how, and that they will do the right thing ethically speaking. A way for teams to create stronger bonds is to encourage them to . build rapport and learn about each other This can be supported by in-person visits that allow team members to meet face-to-face and get to know each other better. At PSL, clients often visit their outsourced team or have some team members visit them onsite for a kickoff where everyone works together face-to-face, establishing a strong relationship from the start. 4. Agree on Processes and Methodology For software development, misunderstandings can easily be avoided by having an established methodology or set of processes that both outsourced and in-house teams agree on. Sharing a way of doing things puts everyone on the same page, establishes a roadmap for goals and expectations, and lays down some ground rules. , especially, has been shown to help build confidence through transparent and frequent progress reports. Agile development Agile is a good starting point for teams to establish some common ground, but and leverage this information to better manage their team. it’s vital for companies to first understand their deployed team’s culture For instance, cultures with a very high uncertainty avoidance index (like some Eastern European countries) may expect the client to make decisions faster than the client may want to. They also may not want to pivot the product mid-flight in order to feel comfortable in an engagement. Although this may clash with agile, leaders with high intercultural intelligence (ICI) can find ways to adapt to these cultural subtleties and still get the most out of their agile process and team. It’s important to agree on a methodology so there’s no confusion or unsatisfactory results. 5. Align Expectations on Workload and Team Dynamics Although some cultures may accept overtime work due to a strong sense of collectivism, as explained through Hofstede’s model, an outsourcing engagement should be made to last. This means treating your outsourced team with the same level of respect you treat in-house employees. So, , will result in greater productivity in the long run. valuing your outsourced team’s health and well-being, as well as respecting their religious and national holidays Comprehensive planning that takes into account release schedules, product complexity and functionality, team size, and capacity and considers any challenges that may arise must come first. Rather than counting on having a deployed team constantly burn the midnight oil, consider time employees will be taking for special holidays, vacations, and religious events from the beginning, and plan accordingly. All these factors go into ensuring release dates are achieved and teams are meeting their objectives. Move Forward With an Open Mind Overall, steps to ensure that outsourced software development teams enjoy good communication with their onshore counterpart need to be . grounded on empathy and respect Rather than focusing on the differences, it’s about finding ways to motivate teams based on their cultural values to encourage both individual and team performance. Afterward, forming a high-performing software development team is a matter of both sides making their policies, expectations, and values clear, as well as agreeing on procedures that will enable smooth development practices. Getting to a point of seamless collaboration between onshore and outsourced teams may take some time, but the payoff in terms of productivity, creativity, and momentum will be worth the wait. This article was originally published on Clutch on March 6, 2019, and was written by Camilo Gomez.

5 Tips for Effective Intercultural Communications in Software Development Outsourcing

Please tell us about yourself and the story behind ? Ishan Pandey: Debond The protocol was initially developed by Yu and Sonbo. We are both chinese born French residents, previously studying in PSL. DeBond protocol was originally conceived as an upgraded version of DEFI yield farming system, providing extended settings such as LP fragmentation and derivatives creation, etc.. We believe that the native use case of smart contracts should be the financial derivatives. Since ERC-20 token can't fulfil this task, we propose a possible solution. Yu Liu: What we think is exciting about this project is that the update of the current yield farming system will bring more changes, possibilities and believers to the DEFI system, pushing DEFI to the next stage, where a more complex economic system can be designed using the ERC-3475 bond standard. We are expecting it to go beyond the boundary of our imagination. New protocols around decentralised options, derivatives and any other form of financial product, among many existing or non-existing such concepts. It has all the potentials needed to substantially increase the efficiency and computational complexity of DEFI. DeBond is an open-ended platform by design. We are looking forward to seeing a series of applications and use-cases built on top of the ERC-3475 infrastructure. Hayek once said in an interview, “Freezing in its most primitive form, money was never allowed to be involved since its invention.“ We firmly believe that the Decentralised autonomous organisation or DAO is a possible answer to many social problems that we are facing in our current economic system. The Crypto-anarchism would allow the DeBond system to grow organically as a decentralised community. By assimilating developers and investors alike, the DeBond Eco-system will be evolving to a point that the collective intelligence will find an optimal solution to any problems that we will be facing. What is ERC-3475? Further, how does it work? Ishan Pandey: This is the new standard smart contract interface we created to make managing multiple callable bonds possible. Using ERC-3475 we can now store more information about bonds, launch more types of bonds, add new features and complete a wider set of functions as before, which is essential for the decentralized finance market. The limitation of an older generation of standards such as ERC-20 is that they require the deployment of a separate token contract for each new type of token. With ERC-2475 issuing bonds with multiple redemption data is now possible. This is a real breakthrough that will help us to create a better infrastructure for the decentralized bonds market. What are decentralized bonds? How do they work and are they regulated products? Ishan Pandey: Decentralized bonds are debt securities, having a function similar to that of a regular receipt in which the borrower receives money and undertakes to return it on a certain date. The fulfilment of obligations is guaranteed by a smart contract. Yu Liu: By issuing bonds, companies borrow money and then pay it back with interest. Of course, the company could take a regular loan, but then it would need to agree on the terms with the bank. As a rule, when it is necessary to raise debt capital, companies more often opt to issue bonds over loans. For individuals, traders and investors, decentralized bonds are a way to diversify portfolios and take control of risks, since a smart contract guarantees the fulfilment of obligations by the issuer of the bond. Decentralized bonds are regulated in the same way as other cryptocurrencies. If your country allows you to legally buy and sell cryptocurrencies, then you can safely use bonds. This promising product is an integral part of DeFi, but it is possible that it will be regulated in the future. A qualified investor status may eventually be required to purchase them. How does the smart contract for a bond work? Ishan Pandey: Debond is a standard interface for contracts that manage multiple callable bonds. A single contract includes any given number of bond classes, bond nonce, bond balance of an address. This standard provides independent functions to read, transfer any collection of bonds, as well as allow bonds to be redeemed from the bond issuer if certain conditions are met. This token standard can replace current ERC-20 LP token. ERC-3475 has a more complex data structure, which will allow the LP token to store more information, and allow the developer to build more sophisticated logic for the redemption and reward system of the DEFI project in question. Yu Liu: This API standard allows for the creation of any number of bond types in a single contract. Existing LP token standards like ERC-20 require deployment of separate factory and token contracts per token type. The need of issuing bonds with multiple redemption data can't be achieved with existing token standards. ERC-3475 Multiple Callable Bonds Standard allows for each bond class ID to represent a new configurable token type, and for each bond nonce to represent an issuing date or any other forms of data in uint256. Every single nonce of a bond class may have its own metadata, supply and other redemption conditions. Current LP token is a simple ERC-20 token, which has not much complicity in data structure. To allow more complex reward and redemption logic to be built, we need a new LP token standard that can manage multiple bonds, store much more data and is gas efficient. ERC-3475 standard interface allows any tokens on solidity compatible block chains to create its own bond. These bonds and derivatives with the same interface standard can be exchanged in the secondary market. And it allows any 3rd party wallet applications or exchanges to read the balance and the redemption conditions of these tokens. ERC-3475 bonds and derivatives can also be packed into separate packages. Those packages can in their turn be divided and exchanged in a secondary market. New functions built in ERC-3475 Multiple Callable Bonds Standard, will allow the users to economize their gas fee spend. Trading and burning of ERC-3475 Bonds will also multiply tokens market cap, helping it to recover from recession period. Existing structures, such as AMM exchanges or lending platforms can be updated to recognize ERC-3475 bonds or derivatives. ERC-3475 is a tokenized exchangeable asset. A bond contract can store the data of $2^{256}-1$ bond classes and of each class $2^{256}-1$ bond nonces. Unlike a typical ERC-20 or ERC-721 token, an ERC-3475 bond is semi-fungible and  multi-dimensional. Any bond nonce of a class is non-fungible from another nonce or class. It has an identified uint256 array, in which we can store the redemption time, interest rate, redemption conditions and other info. Tell us about your views on Web 3 and how is it different from Web 2? Ishan Pandey: The difference is in the level of user engagement and the ability to get bogged down more deeply than today. The first version of the Internet had very simple sites, with contacts and text information posted exclusively by the resource administrator. The second generation of the Internet made it possible to post music, videos, photographs, information about yourself, and much more, completely independently, without the participation of their administrators. Yu Liu: We can listen to music, watch videos and communicate while staying on the same site. If another action is required, we need to leave the site at least for some time, for example, to turn on the washing machine, go to the banking application, check a messenger, go to work or school. To understand what Web 3.0 will be like, just imagine that you can do all of these actions within a single site or application called the metaverse. What are your views on Solana as an alternative to Ethereum for launching NFTs? Ishan Pandey: Blockchain technologies and the cryptocurrency market are developing and moving forward thanks to the colossal competition and inexhaustible enthusiasm of many projects that are not afraid to do something new. Users benefit when young platforms such as Solana compete with Ethereum to solve the problem of scalability. At the same time, I have some scepticism about altcoins intending to become an alternative to Ethereum. Many Ethereum Killers were created but, since then, nothing has been heard of them. Yu Liu: : What are your views on Metaverse? Do you think it will break societal construct like social media? Ishan Pandey Social networks? They are in agony now, losing their audience. This is partly due to their privacy and monetization policies and partly due to pressure from messengers. This means they may die even before the launch of the first metaverses if they do not have time to reformulate themselves. As for social structures, here you are right, they will be rebuilt practically from scratch. We can imagine how this might happen, for example, by looking at the explosion of remote work services at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Not everyone liked working and studying online, and using Zoom instead of meeting in person, but today people are getting accustomed to shopping and working without the need to leave home. Yu Liu: All social interaction is being transformed for online implementation in the vastness of the metaverses, and here ethical questions will inevitably arise that will lead to a reassessment of moral norms, but perhaps this is an integral part of progress. Previously, online dating seemed like something inferior, but now many people find partners on the Internet. According to you, what new trends are we going to see in the blockchain industry? Ishan Pandey: I don't think that in the near future, DeFi, NFTs, and the metaverse will fade into the background under the pressure of new trends. Nevertheless, I expect the emergence of popular cross-chain solutions, thanks to which different blockchains will be integrated into one network. In the future, this network will be the basic infrastructure for Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Yu Liu: Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence, asking the right questions, and equipping readers with better opinions to make informed decisions.

What is ERC-3475? Exploring Bonds on Ethereum Blockchain - A New Token Standard 

Tokenization creates countless innovative opportunities for professional sport teams, leagues and athletes to interact with their Fandom. I love sports and I thank my dad for teaching me its precious values. I have done it all my life since I was 5 or 6 and still do it, everyday, well...almost. And to watch, there is nothing better than American sports. And this is not about the sport itself - for instance I love watching rugby which is not big in the US - but it is about the ability that Americans have to put up an outstanding show, a great entertainment. Nothing equals superb spectacles such as the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs or a big UFC bout. Above all American sport has always been big business. Big money was involved well before it did anywhere else in the world. Maybe starting with the construction and financing of large venues and stadiums which - of all the sport ventures - is the biggest and the most complex. In that respect the tokenization - which can be used as an effective vehicle to raise finances - is a technological development which will impact heavily the future of fund raising also in the sport business. And I am sure we will soon see the first examples of tokenization in the Sport business. How Stadiums are financed in the USA - The Personal Seat Licenses So far, the construction of stadiums and large sportive venues, has been largely financed by a mix of public and private funding.  The portion relating to the government funding has been historically quite large and effectively amounts to a granted to privately owned team/franchises . tax-payer subsidy which rip the most economical benefits This is usually done in the form of municipal bonds, tax exemptions or below market interest rate loans. But the claim that all of this is for the good of the local economy and its residents - which has been cleverly sold through dubious studies about the economic impact teams will have in their cities - . is now more openly challenged thanks to a number of new studies More on that issue and . here here The consequence is that even if the share of public funding is not entirely gone, at least it is likely to be reduced and the owners will have to make up for the difference in some other ways. Therefore this requires more financial efforts on the part of the privately owned teams/franchises to complete their infrastructure projects. One of the most important avenues which American franchise owners have pursued in the recent years to raise financings for such infrastructure projects - especially in the - are the so called . NFL league Personal Seat Licenses A PSL is substantially an option right granted by the franchise to the fan to buy match tickets for a specified seat location for a number of seasons. A PSL varies in time duration, price, seat location and ancillary rights attached to it, such as access to hospitality services, VIP lounges, fan engagement activities, special events, etc. PSLs are substantially different from Season Tickets - which are commonly sold to fans by European football teams. PSLs in fact can be usually resold and a for trading such "option rights". secondary market has developed Whether can be disputed. A good account of PSLs history and their functioning . this amounts to a good investment you can find it here . PSLs have been traditionally a very effective way for NFL teams to finance their stadium projects. The sums raised are quite impressive More recently, the new , which is home to the , has cost US$ 1,5 billion of which US$ 1,1 billion has been privately financed by the franchise. Mercedes-Benz sponsored Atlanta stadium Falcons This is 73% of the total cost.  Of that portion, the Falcons were able to generate more than US$ 250 million with PSL sales. That´s an important 22% contribution towards all the private funding. If in the past the record price for a PSL license was paid by Dallas Cowboys fans at US$ 150.000, the new record will be set by the which are expected to sell PSLs for up to US$ 225.000 to contribute towards the US$ 2,6 billion cost for the . Los Angeles Rams new SoFi stadium With a degree of prudence and having regard to demographics and other important local economic data, the strategy of selling PSLs to finance franchise ventures is increasingly experimented also by a growing number of teams in the NBA, MLB and NHL leagues or large venues such as the F1 and Moto GP . Circuit of the Americas How stadiums are financed in Europe In continental Europe instead there is generally less innovation. In Italy for instance, most football/soccer stadiums are still publicly owned by local councils and then concessions are granted to the teams to use them. Therefore, considering that local governments have generally tight budgets, issues always arise whenever restructuring works or entirely new construction projects are necessary. This is currently happening in the city of Milan where, the two local football clubs Internazionale F.C. and Milan A.C., are arguing with the local council about their respective contributions towards the construction of either a new stadium costing up to € 1,2 billion (€ 650 million for the stadium, plus the development of a "sport city" nearby costing additional € 550 million) or the renovation of the old "San Siro Meazza" costing approx € 550 million. While this is worth noting. is the owner of the which was built by the franchise in 2009 under a 99 year land leasehold granted by the local council. The same for a couple of smaller teams such as Udinese and Sassuolo. the norm for Italian football there are a few exceptions Juventus Torino Juventus Allianz Stadium In the UK instead taking the US model even a step further. It seems that their new stadium is almost entirely privately funded. (Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Rothschild & Co and HSBC) to lend the balance of the GBP 1 billion total cost for the project. the Tottenham Hotspur are leading the way The club has acquired the land worth GBP 340 million and it has assembled a syndicate of lenders However, without a mechanism such as the pre-sale of the PSLs, the Tottenham Hotspur owners are bearing the brunt of the risk. Which advantages can bring the tokenization . My colleague explains why . Professional sports are the perfect candidate for the tokenization Thomas Euler in this article . Simply put, the tokenization is a tool that can be efficiently used within complex ecosystems in order to reduce points of friction and align incentives and interest of multiple stakeholders As far as the financing of complex sportive infrastructure projects is concerned, we deal with multiple stakeholders such as the local government, the team, the sponsors, the media and large communities of citizens/fans. All of them have different interest and incentives. . A crypto-token is therefore a great technological innovation which can help to both raise the finances needed to build a new stadium as well as to align the interest of all the above stakeholders by creating the right incentives and reduce frictions The term “ tokenization " indicates the "creation of a crypto-token which is a digital representation of an asset, right, claim, data or monetary value which is stored and transferred using public-key cryptographic encryption on a DLT/blockchain infrastructure. This is done by deploying so called "smart contracts", which consist in transposing the terms and conditions of the underlying agreement for such rights and assets into lines of computer code which will be automatically executed by the software upon certain pre-programmed conditions. The key here is automated trustless execution". In more simple terms, for those not familiar with topics such as blockchains and cryptoassets, this technology makes it possible to literally "pack" into a digital container/instrument (i.e. the token) the PSL contractual agreements, match tickets, rights to access special events and fan engagement options, and substantially any other contractual right. The token could be then stored in a digital "personal wallet" by its owner (in his mobile for instance) and could be easily exchanged with other persons directly (peer to peer) fast and securely. This technology makes also possible that some contractual terms and conditions - say for instance the fact that the PSL has some transfer restrictions - can be directly programmed (i.e. encoded) in the token and automatically enforced. TPSLs are the natural evolution of PSLs Therefore Tokenized Personal Seat Licenses (TPSLs) will be soon coming and they are the unavoidable and natural evolution of PSLs. They will have a number of key advantages: will have to evolve and become more efficient. The liquidity will increase allowing peer to peer direct transfer of TPSLs and corresponding payment options with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. existing secondary markets , which are today difficult for the teams to enforce, can be easily programmed into the tokens and automatically enforced (smart contract encoding). In particular objective criteria such as a cap on the sale price of the TPSL or on the underlying match ticket (to stop expensive resellers) can be easily enforced by monitoring the transaction on the blockchain. transfer restrictions it will also address . counterfeit issues easy and straightforward which can be deducted as "gas-fees" from the transaction price. automatic enforcement of any applicable transfer-fees in case the buyer has financed the purchase of the PSL with a loan from the team, the and, at the moment of the sale of the PSL, it could be transferred automatically to the wallet of the new owner without need of any paper shuffling between the team, the buyer and the seller. Moreover, any interest payments could be automatically deducted from the buyer wallet and any sum due could be also locked into a crypto-escrow to guarantee future interest payments to the team by the buyer. very same loan could be packed into the token Is there potential for TPSLs in Europe? Top European football clubs certainly have the demographics, the spending capabilities, the wealth and income of their local communities to be able to successfully issue TPSLs. If not in the hundreds of thousands range like their NFL counterparts most certainly in the tens of thousands range. At least the numbers are there. Except for the Dallas Cowboys - which are the world´s top financial performer with US$ 420 million operating profits per year - the revenues and operating profits of all the other NFL franchises are more or less in the same league with the top European soccer/football clubs. Source Statista.com According to this Real Madrid beats the competitors with over € 750 million revenue. In order to compare this data with the above NFL team data we should find the operating incomes of European teams. 2019 Deloitte Football Money League Report Statistically the operating income is roughly 50% of the total revenue. Hence we can estimate that, comparing apples with apples, the operating income of European clubs, according to the chart below, ranges approximately between € 325 million for Real Madrid and € 98 million for West-Ham Utd. Ergo, as far revenues and operating income are concerned, the top 20 European soccer/football teams are more or less in the same league with their top 20 NFL American counterparts. It would be useful also to compare the data regarding the season tickets annually sold by European clubs.  Manchester United sold all of its 52.000 season tickets in 2019. Italian Serie A top teams like Internazionale, Milan and Juventus season tickets in 2019.  Thus, even in this respect, European top teams are likely to be successful in selling TPSLs and follow the American lead to finance their own projects. sold respectively 41.000, 30.000 and 29.300 Token-economy and Sport business But tokenization can bring much more to this complex ecosystem than solely tokenised PSLs. Tokenization enables countless new opportunities for the franchises to interact and engage with investors, fans, sponsors and the media. This applies to both the whole sport ecosystem and generally, the entertainment business. More likely the stakeholder´s creativity will be the real limit: to let investors or lenders have more skin in the game and thereby allow franchise owners to share with them some of the venture risk. This can be done by issuing so called security tokens, which for all purposes are securities and are subject to applicable securities´ regulations for their issuance and transfer. Fans might also want to have some skin in the game and own more than a seat at the stadium. They might want to own a small piece of their beloved team. The team´s creativity is the limit as to what the content of such a token can be for its . profit participation rights can be tokenized fandom . Take for instance the above mentioned Tottenham Hotspur land purchase from local city council for GBP 340 million. The club owner could have instead offered the local council say GBP 240 million and a number of newly issued security tokens representing a profit participation to the venture. The team owner would have lowered its risk exposure to the venture and the local council could have shared in the venture´s economical potential upside local governments might also benefit from more skin in the game tokens can offer unlimited with special events, access to hospitalities and VIP areas, merchandising and sport-star memorabilia, fantasy games, participation to decisions/voting on team issues such as adopting a new jersey, uniform, etc. opportunities to engage fans team could sell directly to its fans which can be paid in tokens thereby avoiding traditional media broadcasts or its own expensive and now obsolete TV channel exclusive media content during a match or an event. Imagine if a sponsor could target directly the fan-token-owner few seconds after a score with something like: "Congrats buddy we´ve SCORED!!! you´ve just won a free drink!! Come celebrate with us". Blip, the fans personal wallet has just been credited with a token to get the free drink from the stadium drink stand.  Or a discount for team merchandise or just anything else.  Again, creativity is the only limit here. tokens can enable in-time micro-sponsorships Conclusion TPSLs are the natural evolution of PLSs and we will likely see the first examples very soon. . But because of the mentioned benefits that will accrue to the whole professional sport ecosystem the tokenization is bound to become the mainstream solution to create incentives and align the interest of multiple stakeholders such as teams, sponsors, fans, investors, media and the leagues. We will see a lot of creativity and new ideas being implemented and not only in football/soccer but everywhere in the sport and entertainment businesses Soon security tokens will be launched to raise finances and/or share profits in the ventures with both investors and fans. An entire new world of opportunities is opening up before our eyes to make the sport showbiz bigger and more entertaining. It will be even more fun to watch... You can contact me here: ********************************************************** https://www.bianconiandrea.com/contact/ : The website and the information contained herein is for general guidance only and it does not constitute legal advice. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with lawyers on specific issues. All information in this paper is provided "as is", with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or warranty of any kind, express or implied. Legal Disclaimer : The website and the information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice or credit analysis with respect to the material presented, and the information and/or documents contained in this website do not constitute investment advice. Investment Disclaimer (c) www.bianconiandrea.com - 2019

Stadium Financing and Tokenization as a Viable Alternative

If you’re looking to move to Microservices, I have some extremely helpful advice for you that we have learned during our migration from a monolith to a scalable, maintainable microservice . architecture Background We’ve been building our platform now for over 18 months. It started off relatively simple. We had a go server (using ) with a number of REST endpoints. It looked a little bit like this. small Gin https://oursite.com/api/v1/placeshttps://oursite.com/api/v1/usershttps://oursite.com/api/v1/bookings Every resource had it’s own versioned URL. They would each support , , , as necessary. We had 2 seperate mobile clients connecting to these APIs and we had a centralized database. We used for user authentication and everything was going fine. We were handling a fair number of requests per hour. However, we needed to change our platform. The mobile apps weren’t working out. POST GET PATCH DELETE JWT This is where we started to hit issues. We had a large number of new requirements involving 2 web applications. There were two choices, only one of which was to be viable. We could either rewrite our entire architecture and spend a number of months writing a new server with required functionality — or we could use our existing server and add new functionality to it. Given our time constraints, we used our existing server. After a few weeks, our legacy code was already starting to grow and we were starting to encouter issues. Changing models was becoming difficult, We couldn’t keep this up much longer and we came to another turn in the road. Our choices were now either: keep building the current server and encounter hard problems upon scaling migrate to a more scalable approach that was also maintainable. A , if you will. everything seemed like a chore. or silver bullet What are Microservices? Microservices are not a by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t believe there are any silver bullets when it comes to . If someone tells you there is, be skeptical. Basically, microservices do what they say on the tin. They’re small, isolated services that represent an equally small portion of your business domain. silver bullet software development Everybody has a different opinion on how a microservice should work and communicate but some beliefs are more common than others. To say that they’re simple would be a huge understatement. The concept of a microservice architecture is simple and ideal. The initial execution? Far from it. The diagram above explains the difference between a monolithic architecture and a simple microservice architecture. With a monolithic architecture, you have one large server responsible for handling all the requests. This is going to hit you at scale. It’s going to hit you hard. Microservices, however, can balance traffic due to your business’ needs. If you are receiving a large number of payments, you can scale up your payment service and keep the other services using a smaller number of resources. It’s at it’s finest. very, very horizontal scaling Microservices sound great, why are they hard? Microservices are very idealistic and you hear a relatively small number of large companies preaching the benefits. I feel as if a large number of smaller companies mistakingly take this information as gospel. These large companies such as , , , amongst others can execute microservices well because they are . They have the resources and time to invest into building this architecture. Uber Google AirBnb Square absolutely loaded When you start looking into Microservices, you enter a rabbit hole that’s absolutely massive. It makes Alice in Wonderland seem like a piercing. You quickly learn that you will need to manage all of these microservices and balance the load whilst monitoring everything that is happening. Oh, don’t forget that you’re going to need to test each service locally when you’re building new features. After a few weeks of research and testing, here is a list of responsibilities for each service and tools I would recommend researching small Containers ( ) Docker Orchestration ( ) Kubernetes Management ( ) Forge Api Gateway / Canary ( ) Ambassador Edge Proxy ( ) Envoy Monitoring ( ) Prometheus Local Testing ( ) Telepresence Looking at that list, it’s a lot to ingest for one simple service. However, being able to monitor interactions between services and orchestrate them is immensely powerful. There are some terms in there that might seem confusing. I’ll cover the most confusing ones. — An edge proxy is a process that runs alongside your service and proxies your services traffic through it’s own internal system and usually uses some kind of middleware (such as prometheus) to monitor and track this traffic. Ambassador is built on Envoy and provides more functionality. Edge Proxy — You’ve most likely heard of Docker by now. It’s the container standard on the web. It’s actually a play on the meaning of the word container. You can think of docker containers and small shipping containers that are running your application in the cloud with an orchestrator moving them around and optimizing them. They also use linux containers directly under the hood. Containers — Kubernetes is the most popular orchestrator and it works extremely well with Docker. It essentially takes your docker container and looks after them to make sure they’re all working in an efficient manner. Orchestration I’ve heard I can use any language for each micro service, is that correct? Sure**.** You can use any language for a microservice in the same manner that you can run a marathon in boots. It’s possible but it doesn’t mean it’s effective and you’re probably wasting your time. The key to creating a stable and scalable microservice architecture is to make sure that it’s maintainable and that it follows a general trend within your business. Your architecture should have solid foundations. If somebody was to work on your project, you should be able to say: Generally, our services are written in {main language}. They use the following frameworks: {list of frameworks}. If you think a service should use a different language, you will be responsible for ensuring it has the same functionality as our existing services. This keeps consistency within your projects. Sure, there are exceptions. If you had a service that was performing complex mathematics and was handling a lot of traffic, you might want to opt for a language more suited to that task. It won’t be a simple task, however. If you have dependencies in your PSL (primary service language), then it might be an investment of time to rebuild such in the new language. How do microservices communicate? One of the major concern of microservices in the past had been latency issues. Making a number of HTTPS requests between a number of services could cause a fairly noticeable delay to the client. This isn’t a feasible approach and it’s certainly not lightweight. A new approach was needed for microservices and along came our saviour: . gRPC is an RPC framework that is highly efficient and is designed with speed and efficiency in mind. Binary data is sent through the wire at high speeds, alongside rapid serialisation/deserialization. gRPC Using gRPC, you define your models using a definition, which is fairly simple and they have a protobuf compiler for many common languages. Using gRPC has calmed fears about latency. protobuf However, using these protobuf models comes with some confusion. We’ve been looking into this the past few weeks, wondering how different services can share the same protobuf models (for example, a user model). We’ve had ideas such as keeping the protobuf models in a versioned git repository but we’re not convinced. We’re currently investigating the best mechanism for this. Versioning. There are also issues with using gRPC. You will also likely have to maintain a standard REST API for standard web clients to access. We’re making progress in this area using envoy and . It’s still a complicated issue that doesn’t seem to get much coverage in the microservice world. grpc-gateway Migrating If you’re considering building a microservice architecture to begin with, I would not recommend it. You’ll spend way too much time doing premature optimizations for domains you don’t really know exist yet. To create a solid microservice architecture, you’ll need to know exactly why you’re doing it and nobody can really tell you that. However, if you’ve already got a monolith and you’re looking to migrate, here’s some advice. Identify your (bounded contexts) business domains Research Docker, Kubernetes and Envoy thoroughly Research monitoring and testing tools Spend a lot of time creating demos That’s our personal experience. We spend a lot of time in the Google Cloud Platform creating different architectures with new tools, discovering what works best for us. We are currently using the following stack: Primary Service Language: GoPrimary Service Datastore: PostgresqCloud Platform: Google CloudContainers: DockerContainer Orchestration: KubernetesEdge Proxy: EnvoyLocal Testing: TelepresenceMonitoring: PrometheusManagement: Forge It’s been an exciting number of months completing our migration. It’s been difficult. However, more recently we stumbled across a company that smashing the complicated entry barrier building a microservices architecture. They’ve created a number of tools to help you get started with microservices and through our limited experience, we’re enjoying using them. The team are also highly respectful, knowledgable and responsive. Give them some love at . Look at their products and read through their docs. You’ll come out knowing a lot more about Microservices. https://www.datawire.io I would love to know what you think and would appreciate your thoughts on this topic. If you could give us any advice from your experience, do let me know. I’d also be happy to answer any questions about our experience.

PSL CORP.

pslcorp.com

501-1K employees

Since 1985

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PSL CORP.

EVERGREEN INDEX #8796

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PSL CORP.

pslcorp.com

501-1K employees

Since 1985

COMPANY RANKING

PSL CORP.

EVERGREEN INDEX #8796

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