ALMOST 200 STUDENTS PASSED SUMMER TRAINING CLASSES AT SIGMA SOFTWARE IN 6 MONTHS

July 21, 2015

In the mid-July the summer training classes at Sigma Software Kharkiv and Kyiv offices came to its end. 130 students from Kharkiv National Aerospace University, Kharkiv National Polytechnic University, Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and Kyiv National Aviation University were trained by company`s experts in the fields of .NET and Java. The winter training classes 2015 gathered 65 students, giving a total almost 200 future specialists, who passed practice at Sigma Software.

The students of the 2-4 years of study were invited to receive their first experience, as well as to get acquainted with the current processes and technologies in IT. Sigma Software experts of Senior and Middle levels mentored the students, shared experience. Apart from that, a series of seminars on usability, prototyping, and front-end development were held.

Summer internship is a great opportunity to meet the best students, get to know them personally, and select candidates for the further training. Last year about 100 students took summer training classes at the company, this year the number has already doubled. It will grow even more, as we plan to launch .NET internship in early August for the students of Kharkiv, Kyiv and Lviv universities.

“The number of students, which come at the company is growing every year. It is not only because our company is developing, opening new offices in Ukraine, launching cooperation with new higher educational establishments. It is because the level of the students becomes higher from year to year. We meet a lot of talented minds, who are pleasant to work with,” says Nataly Potapova, Head of Training Department at Sigma Software.

SIGMA SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTED A COMPREHENSIVE INTRANET PORTAL FOR A GLOBAL MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

July 17, 2015

In late June Sigma Software team in cooperation with Sigma IT Consulting has successfully accomplished the development of a sophisticated intranet portal for a leading medical technology company, which delivers innovative products and solutions that contribute to quality enhancement and cost efficiency within healthcare and the life sciences.

The portal is intended for more than 15 thousand Customer`s employees working in over 40 countries. It enables the company`s specialists to review news feed, filtered according to the office location, review colleagues profiles and learn company`s hierarchy, watch video, browse events calendar, upload documents, create and fill in online forms, conduct surveys, look through the job opportunities in different locations and apply by sending own CV. The main content is loaded on a web page dynamically, so the user doesn’t need to wait until the entire page loaded to see the content. This is really important in the areas with low Internet channel capacity.

The portal has a solid and handy search that was implemented as the mix of two Cloud services — Azure Search to search through content and SharePoint Online Search to search through people`s profiles.

The team has been working for four months to deliver the solution by the end of June. Sigma Software specialists used the whole stack of the latest Microsoft technologies, including EPiServer 8.0 and Entity Framework 6, as well as JavaScript frameworks. The portal is hosted in the Cloud and integrated with Customer`s Aсtive Directory.

Responsive design makes it really easy for all Customer`s employees to access the portal anytime and from any device. It is now in the process of deployment. In the future, the Customer plans to add even more useful features to the portal, including a forum.

“Effective information management is one of the strongest competitive advantages for businesses and organizations today. Sigma Software has an extensive experience in developing various intranet and extranet portals. We apply best practices and the latest technologies to make it really easy for our Customers to handle corporate information,” says Anatoly Kochetov, Head of Microsoft Solutions Department at Sigma Software.

SIGMA HOSTS THE INNOVATION CLUB IN HUNGARY

June 25, 2015

Sigma Software together with Sigma Technology Hungary launched the series of Innovation Club events in Budapest within the framework of Swedish-Hungarian Days 2015. On June 10th, the first Innovation Club dedicated to Usability took place, welcoming the Ambassador of Sweden to Hungary Niclas Trouvé and representatives of business.

Innovation Club is a series of events, where professionals with similar interests and focus meet up to socialize, discuss and share trends and novelties on current hot topics. The first workshop was organized by the Swedish trade and Invest Council Business Sweden, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (link is external) and was supported by Sigma, Ericsson and Electrolux.

In today’s fast changing markets, companies need to respond quickly by adapting their technologies, communication, and processes to new demands, services and consumer types. Nowadays, real-life performance and overall user experience of a product or system are not just important, but are key factors for success and even for survival of the products.

On June 10th, over 50 professionals, executives, experts and students have joined the Innovation Club in Sigma Technology Hungary’s office and contributed to lively group discussions on usability, interaction design, lean processes & project management.

The agenda included a keynote speech from Sigma Software expert, Elena Osichkina, Head of Design Department. She was talking about the definition of good design.

“Business goals, technological capabilities, fancy features — everything is quite important when creating a new product or solution, but in the end the users are those who matter. The user is the only person who really knows what is convenient and user-friendly. And we are here to find it out. UX expert is the user’s best friend, whose first goal is to make sure the product meets the main requirements defining user-centered design."

Ms. Osichkina’s speech was followed by the panel discussion, where usability experts shared their ideas about the topic, bringing examples from their respective industries. The session ended with an interactive game. Participants in teams bent to the task of designing the dashboard of a car. The jury evaluated the solutions and selected the winner.

UNLOCKING THE HIGH POTENTIAL OF UKRAINIAN-SWEDISH COOPERATION

June 19, 2015
The fourth Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum was held in Kyiv, on June 15-16th.  The goal of the Forum was to highlight Ukraine’s market potential and promote Sweden as an innovative and competitive business partner. The new Ukrainian government gave an update on the reforms implementation, their impact on running business in Ukraine, and upcoming business opportunities in different sectors of the economy.

The forum started on June 15th with the reception given by the Embassy of Sweden. His Excellency Andreas von Beckerath, the Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine, noted in his welcoming addresses that the trade volume between our two countries could be much higher.

“I find the Swedish community quite optimistic regarding cooperation with Ukraine,” he emphasized. “There are two main reasons why Sweden is giving a closer look to Ukraine today. First is the Association Agreement with European Union that promotes trade, and the second is Ukrainian reform-minded government, supported by Europe.”

One of the greatest Swedish businessmen, philanthropist and the founder of Sigma AB, Dan Olofsson joined the Forum to show support and belief in the future of Ukraine.

“There is a very illustrative quote of Winston Churchill. He once said that pessimists see the troubles in the opportunities. Optimists, on the contrary, see opportunities in the troubles. I think Ukrainian people are optimistic. Despite our two countries have a long history of cooperation, Sweden still can — and should — do more.”

The second day of the Forum started with the press-conference that was followed by the debates panel, dedicated to reforms implementations in Ukraine. The keynote speaker, Minister of Finance Natalie Yaresko, has been speaking about the ways to make Ukraine more attractive for the foreign business:

“The main steps Ukraine should take to attract investments are to stabilize economics and create favorable business conditions.” She noted some of the business-related reforms that have been put in place over the last year in Ukraine, including corruption disabling, court system reformation, steps to energy independence, tax policy review and reducing budget deficit.

The second panel was dedicated to corporate social responsibility as a competitive advantage of companies. Vladimir Beck, Board Member at Sigma Software, was talking about the activities aimed at education and professional development of IT specialists in Ukraine and within the company.

“There are many ways to demonstrate the company`s dedication to social responsibility,” he comments. “Our company pays a great attention to the preparation of young specialists. Yearly about 300 students are engaged in various educational programs Sigma conducts jointly with 12 universities and up to 10 non-governmental educational establishments in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv. We offer practical expertise in addition to general education. It`s not possible just to acquire the talent. We need to constantly participate in the ecosystem of the educational system to help this talent grow.”

The last debates panel was called to lighten the effective E-government solutions and their implementation in Ukraine. Michael Lauridsen, Business Development Manager and E-government expert at Sigma, took part in the panel, and mentioned:

“There is no need to invent technologies; these solutions were already implemented in Estonia, Sweden, and other countries. Use their experience and their knowledge. In Sweden, for example, we know the platforms, know the processes, and we would be glad to help.”

The event ended with a series of workshops powered by the partner companies. Valery Krasovsky, Sigma Software CEO, held a workshop “Outsourcing vs IT consulting” to clearly define the difference between these two terms and examine which one is applicable to Ukrainian IT export industry today.

“When the industry started back in 90th, most companies were doing outsourcing. Now the situation has changed. The IT companies have accumulated cross-industry expertise and experience with the market-leading customers in creation of the sophisticated and innovative software products and robust industry systems,” Valery states. “It is no longer the outsourcing. It is a mature and highly competitive IT consulting sector. And this sector is recognized as one of the most perspective in regard to the Swedish-Ukrainian cooperation.”

Sigma Software starts cooperation with Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University

May 28, 2015

Sigma Software marks the cooperation start with Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University. As university partner Sigma Software is going to take part in major activities dedicated to improvement of IT students’ education quality. This is the third educational institution in Odesa to partner with the company. The joint work has already been established with Odesa National Polytechnic University and STEP computer academy.

Information Technology is a very dynamic industry, every day the new technologies are coming. Therefore, knowing the latest trends is crucial for young specialists to stay highly sought on the job market. By contrast, the educational programs in universities are not always updated fast enough to correspond to companies` requirements.

Thus, the cooperation agreement between Odesa National University and Sigma Software foresees actions that can provide students with essential knowledge, valuable enough to be hired in any IT company. This includes educational program updates, regular presentations on trending technologies by the company representatives, drafting curriculum, courses and practice sessions for students of the University with Sigma Software employees as mentors and supervisors.

Eugene Yakovlev, Head of Educational Programs at Sigma Software Odesa office, shares his thoughts:

“Our company is well-known among Odesa students and last year even became a dream company to work in. This was possible due to our continuous work on education improvement in Odesa. We have been cooperating for years with ONPU and STEP academy, supported numerous user groups for students, and provided about 30 students a year with a possibility to have a practice in the company. This year we also supported two big students contests — Golden Byte, organized by STEP academy, and IT-Eureka, held within the Tempus program. We are very happy to start partnership with Odesa National University.”

“Every day more and more universities realize that without cooperation with business it is impossible to prepare professionals who will be in demand on the labor market,” adds Valery Krasovsky, CEO at Sigma Software. “It is very inspiring that business now can influence education quality, which is beneficial both for students and companies. The former can be more confident in their future and the latter can hire well-trained specialists.”

SIGMA SOFTWARE AND LVIV POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY BECOME PARTNERS

June 3, 2015

On May 26-27th the regular Tempus project meeting took place in Lviv. Representatives from Sigma Technology Solutions, Sigma Software, and professors from Linnaeus University and Lviv Polytechnic University gathered to discuss the current status and share plans for the nearest future. During the meeting, Sigma Software and Lviv Polytechnic University signed the agreement on cooperation start according to the "knowledge triangle" model.

The cooperation on the “knowledge triangle” model stands for building a strong link between educational programs, researchers and companies. The agreement foresees the joint work on strengthening university’s educational program. The activities include practical training sessions for students under company’s supervision, their involvement on real projects, competitions aiming to promote the innovative spirit among young specialists.

“We know how to build a successful partnership with a higher educational establishment. For many years we have been working with Ukrainian universities in different cities. For the students of Lviv Polytechnic University the company plans to conduct workshops, seminars, internships and many other activities aimed at helping students to strengthen their practical base. We are looking forward to meeting many bright talents with a strong will to learn and aspiration for growth,” shares Nataly Potapova, Head of Training Department at Sigma Software.

“Our Lviv office was opened last year and since then has been continuously developing. We are happy to start partnership with Lviv Polytechnic University in close cooperation with Linnaeus University and Sigma Technology,” says Vladimir Chirva, Development Director at Sigma Software. “We are always open for communication with future specialists and ready to support the university in order to enhance the level of students training.”

SIGMA SOFTWARE SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

June 5, 2015

In late May Sigma Software has signed the cooperation agreement with the Computer Science department of Ukrainian Catholic University.

Computer Science is a completely new program dedicated to preparing bachelors. It is created in collaboration with the Lviv business community and Lviv IT Cluster. The program will start in the 2015-2016 academic year. It was designed for the students interested to study a lot and willing to constantly develop and get basic skills in IT.

“We consider this program as a new standard of IT education. We attract the best academic staff, including foreign professors, keep main focus on practical skills, and pay great attention to studying English. At the same time we are going to attract IT companies to cooperate and communicate with students, starting from the first year of education. The curriculum was elaborated with the involvement of business representatives," says Jaroslav Prytula, professor at Ukrainian Catholic University.

“Sigma Software has strong partnership relations with many Ukrainian educational establishments in every city, where company`s offices are located. For many years we have been cooperating with Kharkiv and Odesa universities and colleges and accumulated a wide experience. Last year we marked the joint work start with Kyiv National Aviation University. Now we are glad to inform about laying the foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukrainian Catholic University. Their desire to implement brand new standards of IT education is a very important factor for us,” shares Vladimir Chirva, Development Director at Sigma Software.

The cooperation with the University actually started a few months ago. In fact, in May Sigma Software took part in the Open Door Day at the Computer Science department, which welcomed this year applicants. Company`s representatives talked about the company and the opportunities that the IT industry offers to the future specialists, as well as conducted a small prizes drawing among the attendees.

“At Sigma Software we always support innovating thinking. That is why we are very interested in the new approach to prepare IT professionals that Ukrainian Catholic University announced. I believe this cooperation will be highly beneficial for all the parties — students, University and company,” adds Nataly Potapova, Head of Training Department at Sigma Software.