Symphony Solutions is among the first businesses to have supported the healthcare initiative to provide medical care and rehabilitation services.
Symphony Solutions is honored to be among the first five companies to endorse this project. The company has already donated 100,000 euros of its own profits as well as funds raised by the Stand by Ukraine charity initiative that will be allocated to purchasing diagnostic and rehabilitation equipment. We have also successfully purchased the two available bionic hand prosthetics created using AI technologies developed by Esper Bionics, an American company with Ukrainian origin. The lightweight self-learning prosthetics will serve as a way to help amputees get back their quality of life and independence. Realistic and high-tech, they leverage AI and enable the patients to regain function and fine motor skills to perform such everyday tasks as writing, playing sports, using tools, etc.
About “Stand by Ukraine” Charity Initiative
Stand by Ukraine was created by Symphony Solutions in the first days of the war in Ukraine as a charity initiative and later set up as foundation, that aims at fundraising donations and helping purchase life-saving medical equipment, protective gear, and humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian military and civilians caught up in the senseless war against Russia.
About National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN Ukraine
UNBROKEN is the National Rehabilitation Center for the Ukrainians wounded in the war against Russia, that will be created within the First Territorial Medical Association in Lviv with the support of the Ministry of Health in Ukraine. The rehabilitation center will provide physical care, including reconstructive surgeries, prosthesis care and manufacturing, as well as psychological and social rehabilitation to help patients fully reintegrate into society.
On the 7th of July 2022 Symphony Solutions gained the ISO 27001:2013 certification on information security with the scope of certification being cloud and agile transformation services and full life cycle digital development services.
The certification process acquirement started last year March with the Information Security team working to rebuild the way of the working process to suit the certification as well as benefit the company by increasing internal security and information security.
The ISO:27001 certification will win new business opportunities and hone company’s strategic advantage. Not in the least does the ISO 27001 certificate assist Symphony with demonstrating great security practices, subsequently working on improving connections and retaining existing clients, however it likewise gives a proven marketing edge against the competitors. As Cyber assaults are growing in quantity and power daily, and the economic and reputational harm as a result of an ineffectual information security posture may be disastrous. The business now will also comply with business, legal, contractual and regulatory requirements which in fact will make it easier for clients to work with Symphony Solutions. As well as improving the workflow within the company by clearly understanding who is responsible for each information asset and nullifying information related risks.
About ISO 27001:2013 certification
ISO/IEC 27001:2013 specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system within the context of the organization. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks tailored to the needs of the organization. The requirements set out in ISO/IEC 27001:2013 are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size or nature.
ISO 27001 framework is a combination of policies and processes for organizations to use. ISO 27001 provides a framework to assist organizations, of any size or any industry, to shield their info during a systematic and efficient way, through the adoption of an info Security Management System (ISMS).
Client satisfaction is our highest reward for what we put in to build fulfilling business relations – our expertise, agility, and hard work. That’s why Symphony Solutions is so proud that our clients expressed their willingness to refer Symphony Solutions as a service provider at a whopping 4.92 out of 5 according to the company’s Clutch clientrating.
Based on the ratings of twelve of our former and existing clients, the high Clutch rating is the recognition of the high level of service that Symphony Solutions delivers every day. We ‘wear’ the stars proudly and carry on the good attitude into each new partnership and project.
Clients’ trust is the backbone that holds us up and helps set the standard for high-quality service and product delivery. Some clients have only recently got on board with the company, others have been our trusty partners since the inception of Symphony Solutions.
Why is it important? Each new client and project challenge us to create exceptional value. Each success story passes on the good experience, as satisfied clients are happy to refer their partners to the company that they know is ready to take on the job and do it right.
About Clutch.co
Clutch is a leading platform for providing reviews and ratings for IT, Marketing, and Business service providers. Client ratings and testimonies on Clutch provide an insight into the companies’ level of service and established business practices, allowing to get an accurate overview of performance when choosing your reliable service provider.
Symphony Solutions is a Dutch-based IT company with its largest delivery center in Lviv, Ukraine. Since day one of the war, we have been standing ground with Ukraine, helping our Symphonians get to safety, and supporting Ukraine through our charity initiatives.
We’d like to share the charity initiatives that we have launched as part of our Stand with Ukraine campaign.
Symphony Solutions Lviv office has been operating in Ukraine since 2008, when Theo Schnitfink, founder, decided to leverage the IT talent of Ukraine and bring his great vision to fruition. Since then, Ukraine has always been the home of the biggest delivery center of Symphony Solution.
Now, as Ukraine is under brutal and unprecedented attack, we feel obligated to stand up and speak up for what is right. The war disrupts the normal way of life – people get displaced, infrastructure destroyed, uncertainty in tomorrow rising. We cannot wait and see if tomorrow comes. We make sure that there is a tomorrow. Symphony Solutions stands with Ukraine!
Offices Turned into Shelters
One of the devastating realities of war is how people lose their homes and get displaced as they are fleeing to safety. Symphony Solutions is turning its offices into shelters to take in Symphonians, their family and friends.
The Lviv office was the first one to adapt to the new reality and welcome people coming from Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities. It is open 24/7 and has all the necessary conditions – shower, kitchen, fresh hot meals from our catering partner. The Lviv office has already welcomed over two hundred guests, some staying overnight, some for a few days.
Theo Schnitfink, CEO of Symphony Solutions, who brought humanitarian aid to Ukraine, even stayed in the Lviv office shelter overnight to test it out and suggest some improvements. Theo was quite satisfied with his inspection and made a list of ideas for shelter coordinators and volunteers on how to make the place more comfortable for the people coming here.
The Polish offices in Krakow and Rzeszow have been turned into shelters as well and started taking in guests and providing all basic needs for their comfortable stay.
Symphonians volunteer to take care of the shelters and coordinate people coming there. Refugees are further assisted with finding apartments so that people could move in and stay where they are more like home afterwards. As it’s almost impossible to find a flat via regular channels now, Lviv Symphonians help get people settled in their own homes, or that of their friends and neighbours.
Relocation
We are also assisting Symphonians who choose to move further west with their families. Our Polish team has done an impressive job being present 24/7 for those who crossed the Polish border providing help with transportation and accommodation in various cities in Poland.
As of right now, Symphonians are scattered around the Globe – in countries of Western and Central Europe, Turkey, the USA, and even Sri Lanka – and yet we feel more united than ever before. We assist our colleagues and their families in relocation, ensuring their safety and allocating the necessary resources: logistics, transportation, accommodation, shelter, and legal support.
Company values are fundamental for us at Symphony Solutions which are now giving us the strength to remain stoic and vigilant in the face of adversity. These ideas bind us with the deepest sense of belonging and support. Wherever we are, we can communicate, work and support our families – that’s the agility in action, that’s the spirit of unity, that’s the spirit of Symphony Solutions.
Charity Initiative “Stand by Ukraine”
The charity initiative “Stand by Ukraine” was created by Symphony Solutions specifically for the purpose of raising funds and providing humanitarian and emergency aid to Ukraine.
This was an emergency initiative that we have prepared and launched in literal days. To make it as efficient as possible, Symphony Solutions has registered the charity foundation “Stand by Ukraine”. We have already purchased and delivered in bulk the most needed protective gear and other necessary equipment for Ukrainian people and the Army.
This is an initiative for anyone outside of Ukraine who is willing to help and support Ukrainians in their fight for freedom.
Supporting UNBROKEN Rehabilitation Center
Symphony Solutions was one of the first businesses to support the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center, a healthcare initiative aimed at providing medical assistance to the injured in the war in Ukraine. The rehabilitation center provides reconstructive surgery, prosthesis care, psychological, and social rehabilitation – the full cycle of care required for the affected civilians of military personnel to regain their health and get reintegrated into society.
Symphony Solutions has committed to donating all the profits generated by the company in Ukraine to the needs of the Unbroken center. Keeping in close contact with the hospital, we stay informed of their immediate needs and provide support where needed. The funds donated by Symphony Solutions have already been used to purchase rehabilitation equipment and diagnostics devices for the center. Essential multifunctional equipment has been installed at St. Luke’s Hospital in Lviv – MOTOmed Viva2, Verticalizer, Ceiling lift GHI, TREADMEAL, and Gloria Aria – and with its help the doctors and rehabilitation specialists will be able to help up to 30 patients per day in their recovery.
Symphony Solutions has also purchased two bionic hand prostheses for patients of the center, soldiers injured in action. The innovative AI-powered hand prostheses were developed by an American-Ukrainian company Esper Bionics.
Over 329 000 EUR Raised
Before anything else could have been arranged, Symphony Solutions has launched fundraisers understanding that there is no time to lose. Altogether, we have gathered a staggering three million Ukrainian hryvnias which were donated for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as separate military units which we are supporting. Here is what we have accomplished:
Symphony Solutions donates all profits
80th Air Assault Brigade
Since the start of the hybrid war in 2014, Symphony Solutions has been supporting the 80th Air Assault Brigade due to us having personal connections with the brigade through one of our Symphonians. We saw it as our duty and contribution to the fight for regaining a sovereign and peaceful Ukraine. When Russia started its full-scale attack on Ukraine, we knew that we needed to act fast. So, in just two and a half days, Symphonians raised a total of 301 364 UAH to cover all of the immediate needs of the brigade.
Unity Fund
This is a Fund for Symphonians and from Symphonians. It was set up as a way to help Symphonians who are willing to put on hold their work on the projects and join the Armed Forces of Ukraine and defend the country on the battlefield. Symphonians from other locations have also joined this initiative. Macedonian Symphonians even went as far as putting on hold all team-building activities and donating to the fund instead.
Currently, we have raised more than 50,000 EUR.
Symphony Solutions clients donated 220K EUR
Symphony Solutions clients stepped up and donated 50K EUR for the needs of Ukraine. Moreover, the teams on the client’s side matched the donation and raised an additional 50K EUR, and continued donating bringing the total sum of the donation to 220K EUR. This amazing generosity and care for Ukraine are truly humbling and inspiring.
And that’s not the limit to our clients’ big hearts. Since the first days of the war, many offered to relocate their teams located in Ukraine to Poland, Macedonia, Belgium, Germany, and even France.
Our Brave Soldiers, Symphonians
With all the tremendous work that Ukrainian soldiers are doing to defend the right of Ukraine to exist in freedom and peace, Symphonians have focused on supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, what’s even more fantastic and admirable are the Symphonians who have set aside their projects, picked up arms, and went to fight for their country and loved ones.
In fact, Symphonians who have been mobilized to the army continue to receive compensation which is funded by the contributions to the Unity Fund of fellow Symphonians, clients and Symphony Solutions, understanding the gravity of the proverbial “feeding your own army”. Moreover, each of our soldiers is provided with a Symphony Security Package, which includes safety equipment, a first aid kit, and other specialized items as requested.
While our Symphonians are fulfilling their duty on the battlefield, we are supporting them with all we have, anxious for them to come back to their peaceful civil lives after the war.
Dattalion
Dattalion is the digital ‘data battalion’ that fights for truth. Created by Ukrainian women, the initiative has launched a database of photo and video evidence of russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, both on the frontlines and targeted civilian territories. Dattalion amplifies the truth and empowers global media to tell what is happening in Ukraine.
A team of seven Symphonians joined the Dattalion initiative in the early days of the war. They helped create the ‘face’ of the initiative, designing its brand identity, building the website, and helping it establish a strong social media presence. Symphony Solutions provided its development and marketing services to Dattalion pro bono as part of the company’s charity initiatives for Ukraine.
RebuildUA Project
Symphony Solutions joined the initiative RebuildUA to help leverage innovations and AI technologies in creating an extensive database of satellite imaging and records of wartime damage in Ukraine. The project aims to prepare for the future restoration of the civilian infrastructure, which would require providing solid proof and reliable data reports in order to assess the situation and engage the global public, including communities, authorities, and specialized foundations.
Civil Healthcare and Combat Medicine Initiatives
People’s lives are our number one priority, even more so in times of war. That’s why we have started or participated in a number of initiatives to help prepare the civilians and medics for any emergency situations that may occur. Always hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
Manual for military medical personnel
Symphony Solutions collaborated with the Center for Education and Supply for Combat Medics, temporarily residing in the Lviv office. Symphonians provided their expertise and helped create a manual that will be used by military medical personnel.
Preserving human life and wellbeing is the most important mission under any circumstances.
Medical professionals cannot afford to lose their calm and risk breaking medical protocols. The aim of the manual is for the medical team to always have a concise reference guide at hand when they find themselves in a critical situation. The manual will help medics with retaining professional knowledge, regaining their skills in non-dominant areas, and let the medical team be prepared for any case scenario.
The project was initiated by the Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine.
First aid training in the Lviv office
We have conducted first aid training for Symphonians and office guests currently staying in Lviv. The practical course focused on developing the most necessary skills in providing first aid – CPR, how to stop bleeding, basics of treating wounds, etc. Symphonians and office guests got a chance to brush up on general medical knowledge and practice first aid procedures on a mannequin.
Welcoming Doctors without Borders in Lviv office
We are truly humbled in these trying times by the support that we receive from all parts of the globe. Just like that, the team of the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières are now located in the Lviv office of Symphony Solutions. The volunteers of the organization are involved in helping people stricken by conflict, pandemics, or natural disasters. These are professional healthcare workers, logistic, and administrative staff. The volunteer team that has come to Ukraine is provided with a comfortable place to stay and office space that they can use for work, while they are performing their noble mission of helping Ukrainians afflicted by war.
Taking care of Ukrainians distraught by the war
Symphony Solutions cares about Symphonians’ mental health on any regular day. We have always offered free psychological consultations as a benefit. Now, as we are living in unprecedented times, the toll on the mental health of Symphonians in Ukraine seems unfathomable. One can never be quite prepared for the dread and anxiety that comes with war. Therefore, our corporate psychologists are always available for a personal talk. On top of that, regular group sessions Talk to Me are being conducted for Ukrainian Symphonians who need some extra support in dealing with the stress of wartime.
Symphonians Volunteer for Ukraine
While Symphony Solutions has launched numerous initiatives in the haste of time, Symphonians in Ukraine have taken upon them volunteering. These are fantastic people and top professionals who continue staying on top of their tasks and resist the stress and uncertainty of an active war. And still, they find the time and resources to do so much more than that! Supporting the army, joining territorial defense forces, evacuating refugees from the hot spots, helping orphanages, communicating with friends from abroad on how they too can contribute to our fight for good. Symphonians in Ukraine told their stories of how they volunteer and help out while they stay in the safety behind the backs of the brave Ukrainian warriors.
Fighting on the Information Front
Symphony Solutions stands up against disinformation distress. Our “Marketing Army” stepped onto the information front with the mission to bring truth to the surface, fight misleading and harmful information, and disrupt the echo chambers of propaganda. We have initiated promo campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. Our marketing campaigns target Europe and Belarus, to raise awareness and let the world know ways to help.
Our fight is silent but persistent!
Theo Schnitfink was interviewed by one of the largest Dutch media sources De Telegraaf, whose journalists Remco Geerdink and Mischa van Diepen visited Lviv. Symphony Solutions’ founder told them about the truth of this war that is tearing apart Ukraine and the importance of understanding the whole gravity of the situation.
To further support our commitment to the truth, Symphony Solutions is sponsoring an initiative that aims at gathering valid information about the war crimes of Russia in Ukraine and bringing it forth for the news media and every person in the world to witness.
We come together as a community to find peace of mind and mutual support in our struggles. That is how we become stronger in our unity. And it goes well beyond Ukraine, as we have now had the chance to see that there are caring and supportive people all around the globe, and first of all our Symphony Family.
Theo Schnitfink, Founder of Symphony Solutions, shares his thoughts on the role of cloud computing during the pandemic at Forbes Technology Council
Over the last couple of years, the healthcare industry has been under a lot. What with the pandemic, and the incredible strain it has put on the system in the aftermath, the pressure of rapid vaccine development, and issues with an effective response to COVID-19. And even before 2020, the industry has had enough on its plate – much-needed digital transformation, telehealth adoption, not to mention worries over cybersecurity.
But as a silver lining the COVID-19 challenges have led to a speedier digitalization of the industry and one of the cental roles in this process belongs to cloud computing.
A short article recap:
The adoption of cloud computing has accelerated. What was planned to achieved in 10 years is now a 3-year goal;
Cloud offers numerous advantages, such as improve IT infrastructure, reduce costs, speed up innovation and much more;
However, the transition does come with a few challenges, some of the most serious are: security, compliance, culture shift;
There are numerous healthcare organizations from testing facilities, vaccine development companies to hospital that are successfully leveraging cloud’s capabilities which not only helps their business but also leaves a huge social impact and helps healthcare live up to its name by putting the ‘care’ in healthcare.
SpoedtestCorona, a chain of Covid-19 testing centers that Symphony Solutions has been supporting as a technical partner has been recognized by honorable mention in the pandemic response category of World Changing Ideas 2022.
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards and its pandemic response category distinguish programs, products, policies and anything else designed with an intention to reduce the health effects of Covid-19 or economic effects of lockdowns during the second year of the pandemic.
SpoedtestCorona app was created to address the urgent need for testing that is accessible, affordable, and allows people to get results in a matter of minutes, not days. Thus, the service provides an extremely reliable rapid test that makes it clear within 15 minutes after the test has been carried out whether there is an infection or not.
Rapid Covid testing service works in 4 simple steps. Via the app, a person can select the location date and time to get tested. All the necessary information and confirmation are then sent by email. At the appointed time the person visits one of our testing facilities to collect nasal and throat swabs. The encrypted email with the test results is sent as soon as possible.
The rapid testing method not only works for the sake of the comfort of an individual who wants to get tested and go on with their life but also allows eliminating the risk of asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers spreading further the virus, endangering people around them without even as much as suspecting it.
Leveraging cloud-native technologies allowed to create a solution that keeps up with the high level of compliance and data security, and is highly scalable taking into account the need to serve corporate customers with thousands of employees to be processed.
About World Changing Ideas Awards
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas awards honor products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet. 2022 marks a fifth year of honoring large companies, sustainability initiative and any projects that might help solve world problems we are facing.
This year ideas were recognized in 38 categories. The entries were considered by a group of designers, venture capitalists, thinkers, social entrepreneurs and Fast Company editors and were judged on the scale of impact, design, scalability, and ingenuity.
We are honored to announce that Symphony Solutions has been once again nominated for EGR B2B Awards. This year we will be competing with industry leaders in two categories: Live casino supplier and IT supplier.
The EGR B2B Awards recognize the leading companies in the online gaming industry. It celebrates the major achievements of service providers across all major egaming disciplines. This includes betting and gaming software, networks, mobile, payments, IT and infrastructure.
Over the years Symphony Solutions has proven to be a premier provider of custom iGaming solutions. Our cooperation with leading industry providers and products is a testament to our achievements dedicated to bringing the best iGaming experience on the market. Symphony has also been an EGR nominee last year.
The EGR Awards will be hosted in person at The Brewery in London on June 15th, 2022.
About EGR
EGR Global is the online gaming industry’s leading information and membership networking group, combining business-critical news and analysis with a range of prestigious events. Membership to EGR provides businesses with a holistic range of services tailored to suit their needs. EGR Global annually hosts the most prestigious Awards for B2B companies in the iGaming industry.
EGR B2B Awards celebrate the very best of the service providers in iGaming. The nominees compete in 39 categories with four new categories introduced just this year. A team of independent judges is selected, each assigned to a specific market sector aligned to their expertise in a way to avoid a conflict of interests and create a selection process that is objective and unbiased
Symphony Solutions “Stand by Ukraine” charity initiative is dedicated to raising funds and providing humanitarian and emergency aid to Ukraine.
As you are reading this, Ukraine is in the midst of a senseless war, which has disrupted the normal way of life – infrastructure, postal services, commerce. Ukrainians may be fine with provisions for now, but we can’t be sure about tomorrow. We refuse to wait till tomorrow. We take up initiative in purchasing emergency aids and shipping them off to Ukraine right now. Let’s make it so that there is a tomorrow.
Why we have launched this initiative
Symphony Solutions is a Dutch IT company with delivery centers around Europe, but its biggest one is in Lviv, Ukraine. That should have said it all, yet there is so much more to it.
Symphony Solutions has been operating in Ukraine since 2008, but our heartfelt relationship with the country started a long time before that, ever since Theo Schnitfink, founder and CEO, first had the idea to take his great vision of a company to this country and let the talented Ukrainian IT crowd bring it to fruition.
History repeats itself
We have been through so much together. We hoped that the horror would be maintained and stagnate in 2014. It was then that Russia first started showing its aggression towards Ukraine and weaving lies about the nature of the conflict. For eight years, Ukraine was forced into a hybrid war. Ukrainians never asked for it, but Russia has a track record.
Since the start of the hybrid war of 2014, Symphony Solutions has been supporting the 80th Air Assault Brigade and donating to their needs. It was our duty and contribution to the fight for regaining a sovereign and peaceful Ukraine.
Then, February 24th happened. Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Symphony Solutions has doubled and tripled its charitable activities. Now, as Ukraine is fighting off the aggressive and unprovoked attack, we can’t stand in the back and watch the world begin to fall into ashes.
Some of our latest initiatives
We take action immediately. Symphony Solutions couldn’t stay idle and watch as Ukrainian’s suffering seemed to be doubling by the hour. Here are some of the already undertaken initiatives:
35K€ raised among Symphonains in a few days Symphonians and the company collectively raised over 35K euros as emergency help to support the 80th Air Assault Brigade, the Unity Fund created for the sake of Symphonians, who joined the army or territorial defence force, and for other urgent needs. We continue running the fundraiser internally and allocate the funds to further support various charity causes and the Ukrainian Army.
Profit donated
The company decided to donate all profits generated in Ukraine.
Shelter&Relocate Symphony Solutions has turned its Lviv office into a shelter for people being displaced by the war. Close to 100 people from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian cities have stayed there and were provided with a comfortable bed, hot food, and all the necessities. We help transport Symphonians and their families (women and children) over the border with Poland, where they get assistance with temporary apartments or permanent relocation. Poland offices in Kraków and Rzeszow are in the process of being turned into safety shelters and will be welcoming people in the nearest time.
It’s a war on truth Disinformation distress is wreaking havoc all over the internet. Standing up for truth and stopping the lies is another fight worth having. Since day one of the escalation, we have been launching promo campaigns aimed at Europe and Belarus to bring awareness of the situation and raise funds for Ukrainian Army. Our next campaign is asking for a ‘green corridor’ to evacuate Ukrainians trapped in Volnovakha, Schastia, Nova Kakhovka, and other cities. This fight will be silent but we are persistent.
These are just some of our initiatives. Symphonians are volunteering and dedicating their time to helping displaced Ukrainians with transportation, informational support, working at volunteer centers, and just being there as an extra pair of helping hands. We are strong and united!
Donate to Symphony Solutions charity initiative “Stand by Ukraine” and contribute to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Working away from work, or in other words ‘workation’, is the ability to reinvent your workplace. Also called a ‘workoliday’ or ‘woliday’, a workation is exactly this – working while on vacation. It’s combining work and leisure, sending emails while sipping your fizzy drink in the park, or hitting targets while hitting the beach, anywhere in the world. Working the hours while relaxing. Symphony Solutions now offers this great chance for us, and there are Symphonians who have already taken the advantage of such an opportunity.
Let’s find out what their experiences were… We have asked them a few questions and they shared their stories.
Matea Kochovska, Intermediate Recruiter
Yuliya Kurpita, Facility Coordinator
Olha Kutniv, QA Engineer Intermediate
Kateryna Kuchyrenko, People Partner
Iryna Chaban, Learning & Development Lead
1. Where did you go on workation and why did you choose that location?
MK: My workation was in Mavrovo, Macedonia. My family owns a lake house there, so my husband and I went for a little escape into nature. My dog Bailey enjoys the place the most, as he can roam the free terrain and get all that puppy energy out.
YK: I chose Turkey because there are amazing landscapes – the sea and mountains. What can be better? And of course, there were the least restrictions due to Covid.
OK: I’ve been workating since August 2020. The first time, it was at Bukovel, Ukraine. Then I understood that working in a nice place with great landscapes around doesn’t affect my work at all. During wintertime in Ukraine, my husband and I took a decision to try workation in a warm country in the Southern Hemisphere. And this country was Brazil. Why Brazil? Because I’d always dreamt about living in a tropical country during cold weather in Ukraine and Asia was closed because of COVID-19. Plus, the time difference with Ukraine was acceptable in Brazil (5 hours). After I came back to Ukraine, I’ve proceeded with workation in Slavsko, the Carpathians. I managed to climb three of the most famous mountains in Slavsko during that period plus had a nice rest time swimming, reading books, barbecuing and gathering blueberries.
KK: It was Georgia. In this country, you can find a lot to discover. Starting from architecture, both from the past and modern ones, monasteries, ropeways, and mesmerizing landscapes to the amazing sea, canyons, and waterfalls.
IC: We had a car trip to the southern part of Ukraine. First, we visited my husband’s family in Nova Kakhovka, then spent a few days at the Azov Sea. For several years we were planning this trip, but it never happened before. Frankly speaking, I have always been quite a sceptic about the idea to spend full vacation time on such a trip. Thus, it was a real chance to use Workation opportunity for this sort of journey.
2. What were your requirements for the place?
OK: My two major requirements for the workation place:
good internet
kitchen with cooking facilities (for long-stay places)
Additional:
seaside or swimming pool nearby
possibility to hike nearby.
IC: First of all, I fully realized that the most time of the day I will have to spend working and having job-related meetings. Therefore, a perfect internet connection was the main priority. Secondly, it was crucial for me to have a separate location spot during working hours, so the apartment had to be spacious and well-furnished and equipped. And to balance it all out, it also needed to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye – I work more effectively if nothing around irritates me. For the reasons mentioned above, we rejected the invitation of our relatives to stay at their place – now I confirmed my thoughts that I would never survive in one flat with their two kids, a dog, and a cat.
MK: I just need an internet connection and some peace and quiet. Luckily, we have a huge yard where you can lay in the grass and spend the day relaxed with nothing but your laptop and nature.
3. How long should a perfect workation be, or it doesn’t matter?
YK: It depends on location and type of activities. As for me, one week is enough.
KK: A month, at least. Honesty, taking a workation is a very effort-consuming model of spending time, when you try to catch all the moments to discover new places and at the same time dedicate yourself to working during the day. It is important to have time for work, for walks, and some rest as well.
4. What are the pros and cons of workation, in your opinion?
OK:
Cons:
usually, workationing is more expensive than staying at home;
you can’t visit your parents and friends as often as you used to;
it takes time to adapt to a new country, and there is nostalgia after you come back home.
Pros:
you visit new places, meet new people, try new activities, experience new cultures.
MK: A workation can be very different for different people, as we saw in the photos. This is one of its better qualities for me, as you can really find your happy place and work in a new setting. This keeps you on your toes as you adapt to your new conditions. After work is when the real fun begins as the beach or mountains can be just a few minutes from your new office. The only con I can think of is that, eventually, you have to come back to reality.
IC: Workation gives you an opportunity to broaden your horizons, both figuratively and literally. I also noticed that I was concentrating more and setting stricter deadlines to finish the tasks in Workation mode because there were so many interesting adventures to start after work! So, my efficiency was extremely high. On the contrary, I believe it would’ve been impossible to work at all if we had gone to some classical vacation place with emerald sea and breathtaking views. So, in my opinion, Workation is a perfect option for quiet places or locations where you can quench your thirst for sightseeing within a few restricted hours in the morning or/and in the evening. Or you might consider Workation as a starting point for the full Vacation, then it will work perfectly as a combination, and the time spent at the place you like might be longer.
5. Can you share any funny stories from your workation?
MK: So me and my husband, Neno, were sitting in the yard, me on my laptop and him laying on a blanket and reading. Suddenly a couple of dogs enter the yard ready to play, so Neno gets up to go find some food for them. He comes back 15 min later and finds that the dogs have already found some food of their own. One of them was chewing on the cover of his book. So now he always has a souvenir to remember our time in Mavrovo.
YK: It was fun at the airport when the customs officer asked me why I need a laptop if I’m going on vacation. Then I told him about the workation. He looked at me sympathetically, and I realized that workation sounds strange to other people.
KK: Once, I didn’t check if I could pay by card in the restaurant. I ordered the food and the moment I started to eat it, I realized that I have only $50 (1 bill) and no Georgian lari. I ordered food for $10 and almost paid $50. But at the end of the day, after a long discussion, we found some compromise and went together with the waitress to exchange the money. BTW, it was already 10 p.m. and they were preparing to close the restaurant. I met people from other courtiers in the city centre, they asked about the road to one place. They tried to guess my nationality and I said “Слава Україні”. At that moment one stranger who was passing by answered “Героям Слава”. It was really funny and I was so proud. Ukrainian people are everywhere! Workation is full of funny stories…
6. Any recommendations and pieces of advice you could give to Symphonians planning workation in the future?
YK: Plan your day in advance and you’ll avoid unnecessary stress.
MK: I would go with renting a bigger place, preferably with a yard because the privacy really makes a difference. Macedonia has some beautiful lakes, mountains, and even waterfalls, so pick a place that will really recharge your batteries.
OK: Check entrance and staying rules for the particular country, get vaccines against particular diseases if you plan to visit exotic places; don’t change locations too often – better spend this time visiting new places.
KK: The only recommendation is to start travelling more and get some fresh air and motivation from it. Regarding locations – Google and YouTube are great helpers here.
IC:
Differentiate between Workation and Vacation. Keep in mind that it is still more ‘work’ than ‘relax’.
Combine Workation with Vacation. It will bring more opportunities to explore and will let you adapt better.
Choose the place to live thoroughly. It should be comfortable as if you stayed at home. A perfect internet connection is a “must”; your colleagues shouldn’t suffer from technical issues.
Be ready for unexpected situations and face them with joy!
As you can tell, so many Symphonians have already had an excellent first run of the Workation program. With the new benefit, you can get the best of both worlds – in a true definition of “work hard, play hard” – positively change the way you work and set out on your personal journey to discover the world, how you like it and when you like it.
Beyond booking a holiday with a tour operator, workation has so much more to offer, as it gives you more say in where to go and how long to stay. It gives you that much-needed freedom once you get tired of going in and out of the office, and opens up new horizons to discover.
Reading these stories is enough to boost your spirits and make you excited to try a workation of your very own. Read more about Symphony Solutions benefits and get to planning your next adventure!
Health Tech Digital Award 2021 received a record number of applicants, and the winners were selected by the board members of Health Tech Digital. Symphony Solutions received high recognition for its contribution to addressing the global health crisis.
Symphony Solutions has been working in close cooperation with Spoedtestcorona Nederland, a chain of testing centers for rapid Covid-19 testing, since 2019. Through leveraging cloud technologies, the company created an application that allows to register for the test and get results with minimal human contact necessary, manage sensitive medical data and deliver a scalable solution. Spoedtestcorona provides 15-minute screening tests to individuals and companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. Since their launch in the late 2020, they have made over 1.5 million tests across 35 testing facilities. Spoedtestcorona collaborates with Netherlands governmental portals and provided tests to schools, other institutions, and big public events.
About Health Tech Digital
Health Tech Digital is a digital health magazine dedicated to UK healthcare technology, digital health and NHS technology news and information. Health Tech Digital Awards were established in 2019 to recognize and celebrate the advancements of software development and technology solutions for the healthcare sector in the UK and worldwide. The winners receive a customised trophy award in the post and digital badge.
Just last week, on July 19th, Symphony Solutions was announced among the finalists in the App Developer Awards 2021 in the category for Best Health App Development Project.
Symphony Solutions entered the App Developer Awards 2021 with their most challenging and ambitious project, the health application for rapid COVID testing developed for SpoedTestCorona. Symphony Solutions is a leading provider of Cloud and Agile transformation services in a broad range of industries, such as healthcare, eLearning, gaming and betting, retail and more. The SpoedTestCorona project attests to the excellence of the company’s top experts, who have delivered the MVP in a record two and a half weeks.
The winners will be determined by an independent panel of expert judges and announced at the online awards ceremony on July 29th, 2021, which will be held via Zoom and live broadcast to Youtube and Facebook.
About App Developer Awards
The App Developer Awards are an annual event in the global app development industry hosted by the App Promotion Summit to recognize and celebrate the world’s leading app developers, development teams and agencies. It promotes excellence, creativity and innovation in its efforts to discover the best tech solutions.
Symphony, who has recently been short-listed for the EGR B2B Award 2021 in the IT Supplier category, is planning to schedule some one-on-one meetings with iGaming executives to discuss how they can leverage technologies, such as Cloud solutions, to facilitate their business growth.
ICE CONNECT has been transforming the gaming landscape for quite some time. After over a hundred offline summits the event, to protect its participants during the pandemic, has gone online. The five-day summit will include talks delivered by industry’s leader. It will cover various topics, such as tracking consumer trends and player behavior, ways of innovating the payments process in the age of cryptocurrency, the evolutions of e-sports, and many other. Another part of the summit – 30-minute one-on-one meetings, tailored to focus on solving a specific problem.
Join us during the event to discuss possible partnership, learn more about our extensive iGaming expertise or how we can help you implement your Cloud strategy or make Agile your company’s mindset.
About ICE CONNECT Virtual Summit Summer 2021, North America
ICE CONNECT Virtual Summit, North America points a laser focus on partnering influential decision-makers with leading suppliers. The event is invitation-only for decision makers across all industry sectors in land-based and online gaming. It caters to specific challenges of its attendees and creates a community of leaders driving progress in the iGaming field. It’s the only online event customized to help participants with their challenges, as well as learn from industry veterans and connect to the solutions needed.
What if we told you that you can work and go on vacation all at the same time? Not possible, you may say. Well, we beg to disagree.
Over the last year, we’ve observed Symphonians keep up with their work and ace those tasks, all this while not having the opportunity to go to the office every single day. The new “work from home” reality soon enough translated to “work from anywhere”. Not only did we see no decrease in performance of our teams – on the contrary, our Symphony culture turned out to be the right one for those who are passionate and dedicated to the work they do but also appreciate having the opportunity to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
So, why not work from Turkey in winter or Croatia in summer? Or perhaps visit your family across the country? Take a road trip or go on a cruise! Explore the world and see new places all the while committing to your duties as the top professional that you are. See how easy it can be to remain an integral part of your team while basking in the gorgeous sun of the Mediterranean.
For this reason, we have launched the Workation program at Symphony Solutions to support our teams in working from Anywhere. We are walking the talk when speaking of the work-life balance and wellbeing of our Symphonians. You are not obliged to come to the office but can instead enjoy the out of office hours, at the seaside or hiking in the woods. Ah… on top of that, why not arrange for the whole team to go to one of our gorgeous locations in Macedonia, Ukraine or Poland and explore the benefits of work and leisure someplace new?
And that’s just the start of it – we are working on making it even a better program in the near future. We want to make sure that your work and life are blended in naturally, so that you can get the best out of both worlds.
What’s in a Workation? How it works
While others are slowly starting to come back to the office, we say: Come on, summer just started! There are so many things to do, so many places to visit.
“Well, yes, but the summer is so long, and my vacation days are limited…”
That’s no reason to sulk. Use your Workation!
“Woah! Workation? What is that?“
It’s the perfect blend of work and vacation when you get to choose your own schedule.
Be in charge of your time and still get all the things done. That’s a Workation alright!
Last year showed how responsible Symphonians are. We had no doubt in you, to begin with, and still, we were impressed. We are sure that your Workation schedule will not have any influence on the results of your work. We hope that you are just as excited about the new program and will make good use of it. So, now is the right time to plan your Workation! Don’t forget to share your happy moments with us on social media with the hashtags #Workation #SymphonySolutions
We are excited to share the news that Symphony Solutions made the shortlist for the EGR B2B Award 2021 in the IT Supplier category.
Symphony Solutions is a premier provider of custom iGaming, Cloud and Agile transformation solutions.
Over the last year, we have faced the adversities of the global health crisis yet continued to grow as a company, nurture strong relationships with our clients, and push forward with groundbreaking projects and innovations. And now we are celebrating a recognition of these accomplishments in a nomination for the most prestigious award in the iGaming sector.
This year, we have a tough competition of over 230 B2B companies in the online gaming industry. Staggering 700 entries were submitted for the award making it a record number of entries this year.
The Awards ceremony is set to take place on July 6-7, 2021, in London, UK.
About EGR Global
EGR Global (eGaming Review) is a leading B2B publisher and global membership networking group that connects experts from the online gaming and gambling industry. EGR Global features on their platform exclusive news, expert commentary and insights from leaders in the sector. EGR Global annually hosts the most prestigious Awards for B2B companies in the iGaming industry.
EGR B2B Awards celebrate the very best of the service providers in iGaming. The nominees compete in 39 categories with four new categories introduced just this year. A team of independent judges is selected, each assigned to a specific market sector aligned to their expertise in a way to avoid a conflict of interests and create a selection process that is objective and unbiased.
Another Clutch recognition Symphony Solutions is taking home, this time the company is placed among top 20 in the list of 100 leading IT services providers in Poland.
Symphony Solutions has a long-standing reputation of delivering the highest quality of service and expertise to their clients and positive client feedback IT has been receiving can attest to that. The company is a leading provider of cloud application development and agile transformation services in the variety of industries that ranges from healthcare and retail to gaming and betting among many other.
About Clutch.co
Clutch is the leading ratings and reviews platform for IT, Marketing and Business service providers. Each month, over half a million buyers and sellers of services use the Clutch platform and the user base is growing over 50% a year. Clutch has been recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States and has been listed as a top 50 startup by LinkedIn.
After the latest update in Clutch.co ratings on April 19, Symphony Solutions ranked among the top-10 IT Outsourcing Companies in Ukraine, in a tough competition of over 400 companies.
Symphony Solutions is a Cloud and Agile Transformation company, headquartered in Amsterdam and delivery centers in Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands – the Lviv office being the first established and its largest delivery center as of now. Symphony Solutions provides its clients with a broad range of services with its main focus on Cloud Transformation. In fact, in 2020, the company joined AWS Partner Network as a Select Consulting Partner and continues to help its clients to leverage the benefits of cloud computing for their business.
The high achievement can be contributed to Symphony Solutions’ continuous close collaboration with its clients, both new and long-standing. Symphony professionals demonstrate a high level of expertise and excellent work ethics which is frequently remarked in the client reviews.
Clutch is a leading B2B market research firm that provides a ratings and reviews platform for IT, Marketing and Business service providers. Their algorithm analyses client reviews, the company’s market presence and experience to compare and rank companies in different industries, focus areas, and locations. The rankings are regularly updated to correspond to the changing nature of the IT market and always provide the prospective client with the latest information on the “who” and “what” of the industry leaders.
This year Symphony Solutions, as a software solution partner of Spoedtestcorona, started an important collaboration with Dutch government to deliver rapid antigen tests for the schools of the Netherlands.
The pilot kicked off at secondary and practical schools throughout the country, where students were tested in a targeted manner. This makes it possible to detect infections with Covid-19 earlier and to take measures in time. To ensure that this pilot runs smoothly, the ministry has entered into a partnership with Spoedtestcorona.
The project is aimed to show whether the use of rapid tests is effective in combating the number of infections. As younger people often have a few or no symptoms of Covid-19, they can spread the virus. With the rapid test, students will know within 20 minutes after a nasal swab whether they are infected and pose a risk to fellow students and teachers.
“We are proud that we can and should contribute in this way to reducing the number of Covid-19 infections, which is exactly why our testing facilities were started. The pilot was a great success – we managed to provide rapid testing for schools across the country and the government is satisfied with the results and quality of the service”,
says Jeroen de Jong, director of Spoedtestcorona.
The importance of this project is great. Mapping whether the number of infections can actually be reduced by using rapid tests is valuable data in combating the pandemic. Data that may be important in the decision-making process regarding the reopening of secondary schools.
Spoedtestcorona along with Symphony Solutions have developed its own platform that is used for processing all test information. During its development, great care has been taken in the design of data traffic as well as meeting the high standards of security and compliance to guarantee the protection of personal data of their patients.
“We are proud to partner on such an important project and contribute to it with our cloud native development expertise that allowed us to set up safe and clear way of testing and getting the results in record two weeks. Consequently, this became a major differentiator in the project’s success’,
says Valentina Synenka, Chief Marketing Officer at Symphony Solutions
As a solution partner, Symphony designed and developed a solution that consists of three parts: B2B, B2C, and recently B2G solution. The team managed to deliver a cross-platform web application on the market in record two weeks. The list of tasks that had to be completed included building an application integrated with test labs software capable to update available time slots for testing, and an admin portal for test lab employees to enable them uploading the test results, minimizing human mistake factor, while keeping the high level of compliance and data security. The application also had to be highly scalable, taking into account the need to serve corporate customers with thousands of employees to be processed.
“By choosing cloud native development we were able to achieve our goals faster and with higher quality. Integration with the AWS Cognito and AWS Simple Email Service has saved a lot of time we might have spent on building secure authorization service and email service configuration”,
says Oleg Chekan, Head of Technical Pre-Sale and Service Delivery Manager at Symphony Solutions.
Spoedtestcorona, a chain of testing centers offering rapid screening tests for Covid-19 to individuals as well as companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. The company also co-operates with the Dutch government and offers antigen testing at schools across the country. The service provides an extremely reliable rapid test that makes it clear within 15 minutes after the test has been carried out whether there is an infection or not.
Clutch.co, a B2B market research firm headquartered in Washington D.C., has listed Symphony Solutions among leading business services companies in Western Europe in its latest report.
In a detailed report of top-ranking companies in 14 Western European countries, Clutch lists Leader Award winners in each country across a variety of services. Symphony Solutions, a top cloud solutions and Agile transformation company, ranked in top 10 firms in the Netherlands for providing exceptional service, as well as for their creativity and technical skills.
In order to select top-performing B2B companies, Clutch analysts utilize meticulous selection methodology. The rankings on the report are based on a company’s industry expertise, ability to deliver, and their reviews on Clutch.
Symphony Solutions provides cloud application development, custom web application development, and agile transformation services across gaming and betting, healthcare, Life Science, e-learning, Consumer Digital Experience and retail industries. The company is devoted to offering the highest quality of services to their customers and partners. As a testament of their commitment and growth, the company joined AWS Partner Network as a Select Consulting Partner to help their clients harness all the benefits of cloud computing.
Clutch is the leading ratings and reviews platform for IT, Marketing and Business service providers. Each month, over half a million buyers and sellers of services use the Clutch platform and the user base is growing over 50% a year. Clutch has been recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States and has been listed as a top 50 startup by LinkedIn.
In the year 2020, Symphony Solutions, alongside everyone else, faced an unprecedented global health crisis that brought most of the world to a halt. Despite the dire circumstances, the company powered through and at the end of the year came out with new valuable lessons of trust, perseverance, and hope.
Symphony Care 2020 report summarizes the ventures and initiatives that the company took up as part of the corporate social responsibility program, as well as successes and challenges of the bygone year.
Being a socially active company that strongly stands by its values and principles, Symphony Solutions takes a hands-on approach to supporting important causes and giving back to the community. This applies to charity and fundraising, social and eco awareness programs, numerous educational events, and more. Symphony Solutions takes action to bring positive change equally within and outside the company.
A drastic change was introduced in the work environment and the way of working. Symphonians tackled the “new normal” by adopting a hybrid model of working and fervently following the health precautions put in place to keep themselves and one another safe.
Symphony Solutions stuck to its message of being an active part of society, promoting sustainability, supporting community events and initiatives, and what came to be most important of all – advocating for human rights and gender equality.
“It’s been a year like no other. We didn’t know what to expect and had to come up with solutions on the spot. Luckily enough, we had the wits and guts to overcome the obstacles and frustrations in our journey. We had one another’s backs and we took care of our community. Whatever else may come. Whatever the future holds. We’ll face it head-on,”
– says Valentina Synenka, CMO at Symphony Solutions.
Click here to download the PDF version of the report.
Symphony Solutions is proud to be recognized by DOU among the top IT companies in the year 2020.
DOU is a popular portal for IT professionals seeking to network, share experience and find reliable and up-to-date information on IT companies.
The ratings give a first-hand account of professionals of all ranks and departments, currently employed at the company. DOU allows employees to give an unbiased opinion on the company culture and working environment, compensation, career opportunities and more. Every year, DOU fine-tunes the algorithms to ensure that the rating is fair and depicts a genuine situation on the job market. In the year 2020, over 14k professionals rated 1008 companies. Results are presented by company size and location, giving a decently accurate representation of what you might expect when looking to join any of the featured companies.
Symphony Solutions placed 10th in the rating of mid-size companies with the number of employees of 200 to 800. The company has received top points on all criteria, receiving an overall rating of 94 out of 100. Symphony Solutions scored 95 points in company loyalty and a whopping 97 in working conditions. It also rated high for project efficiency, compensation and career opportunities.
Symphony Solutions always strives to provide great opportunities for professional growth and advancement. More so, to create a community alike to family, with strong values and exemplary company culture. Once again, this year the purpose has been recognized and rewarded, much to the effort of Symphonians who build up the core of Symphony Solutions.
In just about a year after establishing its presence on the US market, Symphony Solutions has been recognized by Selected Firms as one of Top Web Development Companies in the USA.
Selected Firms is a reliable source for clients seeking eCommerce, mobile app, web development, and marketing service providers. They help discover top-notch Software Development companies around the globe. Top IT companies undergo scrutiny and careful analysis in order to get listed.
Symphony Solutions provides custom web app development services and offers supply chain solutions, client portals, market places, builds applications for e-learning, life science, iGaming, transportation, etc. Web development teams have the expert experience to grasp the concept envisioned by the client, embrace it and quickly build a website that is perfectly fit to requirements and latest industry trends.
Symphony Solutions opened its Boston office in 2019 to get a better reach to the US customer base. Since then, the company has firmly established itself on the US market and has now gained recognition as a top service provider.
Symphony Solutions, a leading Cloud and Agile transformation company, headquartered in Amsterdam, with delivery centers in Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands. The company offers custom software development services to over 35 of its clients in Europe and North America.
As Covid-19 cases surge, medical systems and testing facilities struggle to keep up. The waiting time to get tested or receive results in some cases spiked from several days up to a week. Consequently, this resulted in numerous commercial rapid testing facilities. For healthcare system it is much needed increase in testing capabilities. At the same time, they offer patients with negative test reassurance and a chance at being able to return to normal life or go back to work. However, the price for these tests is often unreasonably high. But it doesn’t have to be.
Symphony Solutions joined Spoedtestcorona as a development partner to provide affordable and safe testing for coronavirus to a larger amount of people. The service makes testing easily accessible by offering rapid screening tests at the drive through testing centers. It currently operates in the Netherlands and soon Belgium and provides an extremely reliable rapid test with results sent via email or SMS within 15 minutes.
As a technical partner, Symphony managed to deliver a cross-platform web application on the market in record two weeks. The list of tasks that had to be completed included building an application integrated with test labs software capable to update available time slots for testing, and an admin portal for test lab employees to enable them uploading the test results, minimizing human mistake factor, while keeping the high level of compliance and data security. The application also had to be highly scalable, taking into account the need to serve corporate customers with thousands of employees to be processed.
When the company opened its first testing facilities the price for a test was € 59 ex. VAT, which at the time was the cheapest price on the market. But their goal was to make coronavirus testing even more affordable and soon they were able to drop the price to € 49 ex. VAT. By offering rapid tests, Spoedtestcorona fills the gap that the government has created due to the shortage of rapid test capacity. Not only private individuals want quick updates on their health, there is a great demand from the business community for rapid tests to keep production going, among other things. By making the rapid tests available for both private individuals and companies at an affordable price, we contribute to both the control of the virus and the economy.
Additionally, as a part of their mission of making mass Covid-19 testing affordable and attainable to a greater number of people, Spoedtestcorona offers free rapid tests to local divisions of Food Banks in the Netherlands and soon Belgium. Launching this initiative makes testing for coronavirus available to underprivileged who without a negative test wouldn’t be able to continue working. Symphony Solutions feels strongly about this important initiative of supporting struggling population and giving them an equal chance at protecting themselves against the virus and leading a normal life.
“COVID-19 is the perfect acid test of company’s corporate social responsibility genuineness. In these difficult times, sustainable CSR funds should strive to create employment, entrepreneurship and ownership. We feel that by supporting Spoedtestcorona, we make our contribution to both the control of the virus and the economy,”
Valentina Synenka, Chief Marketing Officer at Symphony Solutions.
Symphony Solutions, a leading Cloud solutions and Agile Transformation company, has joined AWS Partner Network (APN) as a Select Consulting Partner. This step further demonstrates company’s commitment to helping their clients leverage all the benefits of cloud computing and support them every step of the way on their cloud adoption journey.
To become APN consulting partner, a company must meet certain criteria in three categories: knowledge, experience, and customer success, among other requirements. Becoming a Consulting Partner recognises a company as a professional services firm that has a wide range of expertise to help their clients take full advantage of AWS Cloud.
Symphony Solutions provides agile cloud application development, modernization, DevOps, management services. The company’s cloud expertise spans across gaming and betting, Healthcare, Life Science, e-learning, Consumer Digital Experience and retail industries.
During the last six years, Cloud has become one of the favourite buzz words in IT industry. But many of businesses who tried public clouds realised that “Lift and Shift” approach when they simply move their servers to the cloud, is not giving enough increase in security, scalability, flexibility and cost saving as it was expected. It turned out that real potential of the cloud is hiding under “Cloud Native” label.
About AWS Partner Network
The AWS Partner Network (APN) is the global partner program for technology and consulting businesses who leverage Amazon Web Services to build solutions and services for customers. The APN helps companies build, market, and sell their AWS offerings by providing valuable business, technical, and marketing support.
There are tens of thousands of APN Partners across the globe. More than 90% of Fortune 100 companies and the majority of Fortune 500 companies utilize APN Partner solutions and services.
Techreviewer is an analytics hub specializing in B2B tech companies that makes its mission to conduct market research and help businesses find vendors that provide top quality services.
The review agency collected and analyzed information on over 700 companies and presented the results as listings of top IT service providers by categories in the year 2020.
Symphony Solutions provides cloud solutions services that allow the clients to benefit from a scalable, flexible and reliable solution for data storage and management. The services include building cloud-native applications, app modernization and cloud managed services. To gain recognition as a top cloud service provider, Symphony Solutions demonstrated its comprehensive approach to cloud solutions and vast experience serving top of the line clients.
Earlier this year, Symphony Solutions has officially joined the AWS Partner Network as a Select Consulting Partner, which was yet another testament to its commitment to providing high-level solutions and growing cloud expertise.
Techreviewer granted Symphony Solutions a review mark of 4.9 out of 5, based on the market research of top IT companies carried out by a team of analysts. The rating takes into account such metrics as market presence, company growth rate, client and employee reviews. Techreviewer experts also provide a thorough analysis of the company’s services focus which is displayed on the company profile, thus showcasing Symphony Solutions expertise and variety and complexity of services offered.
We’re coming to you with an update on the long-anticipated new office launch in Krakow. Symphony Solutions is taking Krakow by storm. We’re excited to welcome Symphonians in the new office this Monday, June 22nd!
Having established our presence in Krakow back in 2018, now we’re finally ready to move into a new and spacious office building with plenty of room to “work and play”.
In sync with the traditional Symphony Solutions “stylebook”, the office space is designed to take you on a trip to the Netherlands, the original home and heart of the company. We’ve recreated our very own Dutch village of Zaanse Schans with its wooden houses and wind-mills, which has already become an iconic theme for all office locations.
The interior of each meeting room is decorated in a unique way to celebrate Dutch art, popular culture and traditions. Many rooms are twins of the ones we have in other delivery centres, like the Heineken room or the Mondrian room, which in Krakow is designed to look like a glass cube, and the beloved Old Amsterdam cafe. One addition that Symphonians will surely appreciate are elevators with doors resembling the entrance to a coffee shop.
With some finishing touches left to go, the new office location is already looking very much like our own little Dutch Krakow and has already welcomed the first residents – the life-size Dutch Friesian cow statues, which are a signature look of Symphony Solutions.
We are positive that this will be our most advanced office in style and functionality!
Our office is unique and gives our people a sense of Togetherness and Safety in this challenging time. We are bringing basics back to our daily life and feel much closer to mother nature. Better and safer workplace starts here! Come and join us and experience the feel of simplicity, comfort and organic healthy office life.
The Financial Timesof London is one of the leading business publications in the world, often finding itself alongside The Wall Street Journal and The Economistin international dialogues and rankings. Michael Bloomberg, billionaire founder and leader of Bloomberg LP, a financial information and media company, said thatThe Financial Timesis “the only publication I would consider buying.”
The FT 1000 for 2020,the 4th such list, was announced on 2 March, 2020. This list showcases the top 1000 European companies in all types of industries with the highest CAGR (combined annual growth rate) in revenue between 2015 and 2018. Symphony Solutions, Dutch Agile and Cloud transformation company providing custom software development for its 35 international companies, submitted a profile for inclusion on this list for the first time and qualified, ranking #703 on the list.
The Financial Timesremarks that the minimum growth to make the list was 38.4%, up from 37.7% the previous year. Symphony Solutions registered a CAGR of 50.1%, well above that number. Interestingly, the top 225 company listings register triple-digit growth rates, typical of newer companies whose growth is larger in earlier years.
“Symphony Solutions is working hard to keep the company strong, our clients well served, and our people employed, despite the hard decisions facing all company leaders during times of excess pressure and tremendous uncertainty.”
Theo Schnitfink, Founder and CEO of Symphony Solutions comments
The Financial Times Discusses Current Economy
It may seem a bit out of place to be discussing growth rates and accolades when top on everyone’s mind is the current economy and the effect on companies and their employees as a result of recent worldwide economic slowdown. Three scant weeks after The FT 1000 was published came the UK lockdown on March 23, 2020. The Financial Timesreports:
“This week the IMF and Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK’s fiscal watchdog, forecast that the UK faces the deepest recession since the 1920’s.”
Clutch, as an American b2b research, ratings, and reviews company, is well-known to all small and mid-sized companies across country boundaries, especially for its objective, thorough, and impartial methodology of gathering information and client feedback on companies they evaluate. The collection and analysis of data is handled by independent analysts from Clutch, which means that cheating and fake boosts to ratings are impossible.
That is why recognition and ratings from Clutch are so meaningful to potential clients and so valuable to those being evaluated.
For the IT outsourcing community in particular, Clutch facilitates companies looking for offshore developers by showing all client input to visitors of their site – positive and negative – such that companies can ultimately have an easier time of short-listing the potential outsourcing partners far away from their home shores. For those companies looking to expand their client base, these ratings are all-important to business growth.
Symphony Solutions is an Agile and Cloud Transformation company based in The Netherlands which does custom software development for their 35 international clients. The company was recognized by Clutch as one of the Top Software Developers in Amsterdam for 2019 and also by the Clutch sister company, The Manifest, as One of the top 50 Product Designers for that same year.
2020 Comes on Even Stronger
Thus far in 2020, Symphony Solutions has been recognized by Clutch 11 times for prominence in Belgium, The Netherlands and Worldwide with high rankings in different category groupings, a few of which follow:
Top Cloud Consulting Services Worldwide (#3 of 4,271 companies).
Top b2b Developers in Belgium (#1 of 245 companies).
Whilst the sporting world falls silent, the Esports world has seen a surge in activity due to social distancing mandates.
As you are reading this, In the United States stadiums have been dormant for over two weeks, effectively silenced by Covid-19. The same thing is happening in Europe, with a vast number of sporting events cancelled, or postponed until further notice.
But don’t underestimate the ability of the industry to adapt to the new world we live in. The online gaming world has seen record surges in activity. Thomas Wilde, of GeekWire reported that Steam, the online gaming distribution and community service run by Valve, had an all-time peak number of users online during the weekend of March 14, hitting a high of 20.3 million simultaneous players on the afternoon of March 15. Impressive numbers for this sector.
For Sports betting operators this surge in online gaming represents an opportunity to satisfy the needs of their customers, who are, in many cases stuck at home as a result of social distancing directives.
Make your Esports offering more prominent. This could be a simple as moving the Esports link in the navigation higher up in the pecking order, swapping places with a sport that has little or no events scheduled in the near future. Quite a few sites have Esports links hidden ‘below the fold’. Change that. Do it quickly.
Consider adding a separate section or ‘page’ for Esports. Many would have done this for large sports events that have now been cancelled. Pivot quickly and do it for Esports. It is almost its own ‘event’ right now, it is that big.
Add more content. Feed providers offer engaging content, statistics, game results and more. All of this will drive both acquisition and engagement metrics.
Digital marketing. Revisit your organic and paid media strategy to see if you can optimize your Esports initiatives.
Content. There will be an upsurge in ‘newbies’, add some helpful content that helps users who are new to the Esports thing.
Socialize it within the organization and get all your product, marketing and content teams involved as you would for a large sporting event.
Cross-sell Esports from your casino lobbies, poker lobbies, etc. (both directions of course)
Act. Don’t fall into the trap of turning this into a month-long, big bang project. Prioritize your work around what gives you the greatest value quickly. Think about the cost of delay when prioritizing your work, that usually helps when deciding what to do first.
Reach out to a supplier that can help you with development, data integrations, UX/UI and performance marketing to supplement your own resources. The quicker you can do that, the faster you will create value for your customers.
Don’t forget – “When you can’t change the direction of the wind – adjust your sails,” H. Jackson Brown, Jr
With the rapid spread of the COVID-19, many companies have now shifted to working from home. Some may find this challenging. We all have our little routines, coming to the office and sharing a morning cup of coffee with our coworkers before diving into the daily grind. You might ask yourself: Will I be as productive? How do I organize my time? Will I be able to work with my kids around? How long will I last before going coo-coo?
Well, don’t you worry about a thing! We’ve got you covered!
We’ve compiled a list of useful resources, to make it easier for you to adapt to your new working environment.
Stay Productive Working From Home
If you don’t know where to start, now that you’re stuck at home yet still need to deliver on your tasks, read this amazing article by PC Magazine with 20 Tips for Working From Home, that covers all the basics of how to organize your time and space in order to stay productive.
It may be a bit of a challenge to find a spot in your home, where you won’t be disturbed and have everything at hand, for when you need to stay at your laptop and work. Here are 8 Ways to Turn Your Tiny Desk Into an Awesome Home Office that we’ve already tried out and can say for a fact that they work.
Who knows? Maybe this whole work from home ordeal won’t be as bad as it sounds. If you do it right, you might even get something good out of it. There’s even solid evidence that working from home might actually have some benefits, as you can see for yourself in the blog post with a pretty neat infographic visualizing how New Research Shows Remote Work Allows Us To Live Better Lives.
When working from home, it’s important to maintain a good work-life balance, so that you don’t get overwhelmed and stay on top of your tasks, without neglecting your family at the same time. Read another article from The Muse on Separating Work from Life: 3 Habits for Remote Workers to see if you’re doing everything you can to stay in touch with reality and not bite off more than you can chew.
If you need some advice on how to be productive even if not in the office, check out How to Work From Home: 20 Tips From People Who Do It Successfully. There’s lots of great advice on how to stay in the zone and do it right. After all, many people work from home on a daily basis and somehow manage to balance their life perfectly fine. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do it as well.
Cooper knows how to be efficient when working from home
Once You’re Done Working For the Day
Now that you know how to make the best of your working hours while staying at home, it’s important to remember to switch off and “come home” at the end of the day. Make the best of this time by spending it with your family or having some quality alone-time. Get some ideas from USA Today’s blog post 100 things to do while stuck inside due to a pandemic.
If you don’t feel like doing much after you’ve spent your whole day working, you can always unwind with a good movie. This is also a great time to work on your cooking skills and teach yourself a few new recipes. Check out the NY Times article on What to Watch, Listen to and Cook During Your Coronavirus Self-Quarantine to get some ideas.
If you’re stuck with your kids at home, first of all, we all feel for you! But you can use this alone time with your offspring for good. It’s important to keep your kids entertained so that they don’t go bouncing off the walls. Check out Parade’s 125 Ideas to Keep Kids Entertained During the Coronavirus Crisis.
Another great way to spend all the time you’ve freed up now that you don’t have to spend hours on the commute to and from work every day is to do something for your inner growth, be it self-education, or enriching yourself culturally. Who’d believe, that now you don’t even need to go anywhere to explore the world’s greatest museums or watch theatre plays and operas? Check out a comprehensive list of all the virtual museums and concert halls in the blog post Explore everything from the Louvre to the Met Opera while you’re stuck at home.
To sum it all up, check out this Wired article on Gear and Tips to Help You Get Through the Coronavirus Pandemic that touches upon all the basics that you need to know when staying at home for the time being: anything from foods you need to stock up on, to games that you can play with your kids while on quarantine.
Now that you’re all geared up and ready to spend the next few weeks at home, don’t forget to stay positive and practice your patience. Let’s make this the best experience it can be and come out as better people in the end.
Symphony Solutions, a leading Cloud solutions and Agile Transformation company is proud to announce that it has joined the network of Scaled Agile partners as a Bronze Transformation Partner. The SAFe partnership represents the company’s significant experience in helping companies implement agile practices across their organizations.
Scaled Agile Transformation Partner recognizes the company as being able to help their clients achieve agility and business velocity by Introducing lean and agile principles. As a SAFe partner, a company also gains access to the Scaled Agile Framework ® intellectual property, toolkits, and downloads to assist with their agile implementation work.
As an Agile Transformation company, Symphony Solutions has already helped numerous clients improve their business processes, employee productivity and engagement. By leveraging the latest agile practices, the company offers a full spectrum of Agile Transformation services: from initial Agile Assessment to Agile Implementation, as well as services directed at guiding the client’s journey by facilitating them with Agile training and certification or Agile coaching and consultancy.
“Becoming a partner with SAFe is an important step for Symphony Solutions. What makes us especially proud is that we are the first SAFe partner in Ukraine. It proves our commitment to master the level of services we offer and our dedication to clients’ success on their Agile journey”,
Kseniya Kobryn, Chief Agile Officer at Symphony Solutions.
About Scaled Agile, Inc.
Scaled Agile, Inc., is the provider of SAFe® (Scaled Agile Framework), the world’s leading framework for business agility. The company’s mission is to help enterprises achieve the capabilities, culture and business benefits that the successful implementation of scaled Lean and Agile practices can provide. To achieve this, Scaled Agile provides consulting, training, certification and process tooling based on the Scaled Agile Framework, a proven, publicly facing knowledge base of effective practices for agile adoption at enterprise scale.
Symphony Solutions team is set to participate and give consultations on Agile transformation at iGB Affiliate London, the world’s largest iGaming affiliate event that takes place at ExCeL London, UK from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 February 2020.
The affiliate summit London will gather over 5,000 attendees and 50+ speakers from 91 countries. Its main goal is to bring together the biggest iGaming enthusiasts and help them learn from the best domain experts and speakers, as well as discuss the latest industry developments. It is a perfect networking event and a place to get important insights for business and personal development.
During the affiliate summit the Chief Agile Officer at Symphony Solutions, Ksenia Kobryn will be carrying out a series of 20-minute 1:1 sessions to help decision-makers understand how their organizations can benefit from adopting Agile transformation mindset or overcome some of the most common business stumbling blocks like problems with prioritizing work, delivery or communication. Some of the topics to be covered during these sessions include Lean-Agile for small businesses, feature teams and how to overcome some of their challenges, prioritizing work, DevOps & CI/CD as a key part of digital transformation, and how Service Design facilitates innovation and growth.
“Agile has long passed beyond IT and software development. It can help you future-proof your organization, ensure that your team can quickly adapt and deliver value, and enable businesses to introduce continuous innovation. We are happy to share our years of Agile knowledge and expertise at the event and help businesses see how Agile transformation can aid them shape the next generation of the workforce”
says Ksenia Kobryn, Chief Agile Officer at Symphony Solutions.
You can book a meeting with Symphony Solutions Chief Agile Officer to get a consultation or come find the company at ExCeL London, Stand #MR13.
About iGB Affiliate London
iGB Affiliate organizes the biggest and one of the most successful events for affiliates in the iGaming industry. Their latest event iGB Affiliate London is set to take place at ExCeL London, UK from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 February 2020.
iGB Affiliate London is the world’s largest iGaming Affiliate event and community. The event is the place to learn about the latest updates and insights on regulation in the industry, as well as new markets or products across gaming sectors. iGB London gives the perfect opportunity not only to learn, debate but also connect with a large pool of industry specialists.
Symphony Solutions, a premier provider of iGaming and Agile Transformation solutions, is set to attend ICE London 2020 event that takes place at ExCeL London, UK from Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 February 2020.
The three-day event is a part of Clarion Gaming events and publications for the gaming community. The iGaming conference is a global networking event for gaming professionals from across the globe and covers all forms of gaming, whether it’s land-based or online, as well as all levels of seniority. Every year ICE gaming show gathers over 35,000 attendees and more than 600 pioneering gaming providers to discuss the latest innovations in the Gaming industry. With over 150 countries represented at the event, it’s a perfect place to find new partners, business opportunities or get the most relevant industry insights.
Meet Symphony Solutions team at the event to discuss possible partnership or learn more about our iGaming expertise and how we can help you to adopt Agile transformation mindset to build an efficient organization.
About ICE London
ICE (“International Casinos Exhibition”) London is the Global Gaming Hub for all B2B industry experts. It is part of the Clarion Gaming stable of events and publications for the international gaming community which includes intelligence resources Totally Gaming and iGaming business.
The event mainly gathers gaming professionals looking for opportunities to source product and/or service solutions and covers all industry sectors, which include betting; bingo; casino; lottery; mobile; online; social; sports betting, and street. With over 35,000 attendees, it’s considered to be the leading gaming technology event for business growth, development, and networking.
Symphony Solutions just delivered a new Sportsbook Platform to their largest client Ladbrokes Coral Group (GVC Holdings). This is significant because the new Ladbrokes Platform, together with its sibling from Coral, now gives GVC Holdings two Sportsbook Platforms to increase share of users.
“This newly-developed sportsbook front-end platform also includes bet placement optimization and functionalities that resulted in the all-time highest records in customer satisfaction.”
Franz Cauchi, Director of the Ladbrokes project at Symphony Solutions
The Client
The acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral Plc by GVC Holdings in 2018 allowed GVC to occupy a top seat among the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups, creating shared resources, shared technologies, and operations synergies to harvest growth and increase competitive market position.
The Project
Symphony Solutions and Ladbrokes Coral teams spent 9 intensive months on the Ladbrokes project, the newest fully-fledged front-end Sportsbook platform with newly added features and optimizations to bolster the platform technology and feature capacity. The unique new user interface across Native, Mobile, Tablet and Desktop is the bottom line with punters.
“We are extremely proud of our team, who delivered complex features against strict and short deadlines. Even if you have unlimited resources, all players interact with your UI. That’s all that matters to them, there’s no space for error here.”
