Category: News

Symphony Solutions, the Cloud Transformation company headquartered in The Netherlands, launched a new b2b website in response to a growing international need for increased relevance to current and potential clients.

This website shows new branding, which puts a re-designed face on a 10-year-old company, whose origins and ethic stem from the intrinsic link between coding and music. Both are precise and mathematical, creative and systematic.

“For me, the difference between a good performance and a great performance by a Symphony Orchestra is the passion of the musicians. Just being technically perfect is not enough. I think the same is true when developing IT solutions, hence the line, “Write Code like Music.”

THEO SCHNITFINK, FOUNDER OF SYMPHONY SOLUTIONS

The link behind the computer and the musical instrument is the person making them come alive. The branding shows bold-colored abstract musical notes and code symbols wafting on a musical scale in the warm embrace of the people who create them. While many esteemed companies choose cool colors with robotic futuristic images, Symphony Solutions emphasizes the warmth and human element to reflect the culture they so carefully cultivate.

“We used careful research over a year’s time among internal and external developers, as well as clients, to make sure the branding was on target. We have sound reason to believe that the new branding blends our unique free and welcoming spirit with the creativity and precision of music and coding that our clients have come to respect.”

CMO Valentina Synenka

Symphony Solutions is honored to be included in the CIO Review magazine “20 Most Promising DevOps Solution Providers of 2019”.

The determination of the solution providers included careful reviews of all the nominations received. Apart from the information seized from the nominated companies, independent research was conducted on a shortlist of all the companies. The shortlisted companies were then taken up by a distinguished panel comprised of CEOs, CIOs, VCs and analysts, including the CIOReview editorial board that decided the final 20 Most Promising DevOps Solution Providers.

The introduction of DevOps methodology in the IT paradigm has led to enhanced collaboration between software development and operations teams, enabling them to reach higher levels of productivity.

However, effective implementation of DevOps approach requires using the right set of tools that supports high-speed development and deployment of solutions. This is where Symphony Solutions comes to the rescue and helps organizations adopt DevOps methodologies, according to their specific needs.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, with delivery centers in 5 locations, Symphony Solutions’ objective is simple: to ensure that their clients can rapidly and reliably develop high-quality software solutions.

Despite its extensive service portfolio, which separates the company from the competition is its approach in the way they conduct business. Symphony Solutions forms reliable partnerships with clients to help them achieve success and does not focus on short-term projects. Perhaps that is why they have never lost a client.

Symphony Solutions recently celebrated 10 years in business, opening its doors in December 2008 with a few developers and one client, and growing to nearly 600 people today.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, we have delivery centers in 5 locations. Our specialties are Lean Agile and Cloud engineering, though our core competencies cover those inherent to custom software development.

True to our name, Symphony Solutions, our primary purpose is to create smooth, precise, and harmonious solutions for our valued clients.

It was an honor when Clutch included Symphony Solutions among the top software developers in Amsterdam for 2019.  Clutch has been reviewing B2B service providers in a variety of industries around the world since 2013, so their recognition and 4.7-star rating was especially meaningful.

An important supply chain management client, VirtualStock, needed resource augmentation and an Agile environment to help transform the way they did business and expand into a new market.

VirtualStock is not the only client for whom Agile Transformation has been crucial to co-creation, flexibility, and increased speed.  Our client BleXr, an affiliate marketing company, needed to increase delivery and revenue and recognized the value of Agile to accomplish this. Symphony Solutions provided training, planning, and coaching for BleXr through their early Agile journey and continues to consult when needed.

Along with Clutch, Symphony Solutions is featured on their sister websites, The Manifest and Visual Objects, which provide ratings and a catalog of portfolio items.

In fact, The Manifest, which serves as a business news platform, ranks Symphony Solutions among the top 50 product designers.

Importantly, it is our clients’ contributions to our Clutch page which have made a big difference in public profile, and we appreciate their willingness to do so.

Symphony Solutions crosses shores to Boston, Massachusetts for its new U.S. location. The company has recognized the need for a wider geographic reach to service current and potential clients, and the eastern hub of Boston was the best choice.

Boston is a charming and historic city dating to 1630, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula by Puritan settlers from England.

Located on the Charles River, Boston is a picturesque town, with miles of Atlantic coastline and one of the most popular cities in the U.S. It is home to some of the most famous universities and medical centers in the world, is a booming IT and science center, and loaded with global cultural attractions.

A decade of tech disruption has earned the Dutch-based IT company, Symphony Solutions, a place on The Silicon Review’s list of the “50 Best Workplaces of the year 2018’’.

Symphony Solutions feels the significance of this recognition, especially since it comes from one of the leading magazines for business and technology professionals around the world, focusing on innovative enterprise solutions developed by established industry providers.

It is also significant because Symphony Solutions does not cultivate awards and recognition. It is always focused on creating a positive, inclusive, inspiring and supportive culture in which their people thrive.

Explaining the reasons for Symphony Solutions award, the magazine says:

“Symphony Solutions is a fast-growing international IT company which serves its clients in the field of software development, testing and BPO. Following the ’from vendor to partner’ model, it serves customers in areas such as enterprise, retail, betting and gaming industry.’’

“Today the company has four delivery centers in three different countries: Lviv, Ukraine; Skopje, Macedonia; Krakow and Rzeszow, Poland. Needless to say, it is constantly growing, owing to increased demand from current clients and several significant new clients. For example, one of their biggest clients, The Ladbrokes Coral Group, began 5 years ago with 4 engineers, and one year ago was 100 engineers. Today, it is nearly 300 and expanding.”

But, what does it take to become a company that workers want to be part of? It’s more than good pay and good perks – it’s also about having a clear purpose and leadership that brings out the best in them by focusing on their development and satisfaction and empowering them to take care of the business.

When asked by The Silicon Review, What is Symphony Solutions biggest asset?, the reply from Founder Theo Schnitfink was:

“Human capital is the only meaningful asset we have. Our service list is not what makes us distinct. What makes us different is who we are and how we deliver services to our clients. Our culture is a big draw; different from competitors and for the right people.”

Symphony Solutions does not seek new business. All their clients come from trusted referrals, and it has been that way since day one. Perhaps that is why they have never lost a client.

Symphony Solutions is proud to be included in the Insight Success Magazine “20 Most Admired Companies to Watch in 2018”.

This is especially significant since it comes from a publication with 60,000 readers from varied fields such as Technology, Media, Banking and Finance, Healthcare and others. It is also significant because Symphony does not seek awards and recognition. It focuses on its people and the culture in which they thrive, such that they in return can focus on their clients. The Symphony Vision is: “To ignite the motivation and passion in each individual to put more into the work than the work itself.”

Insight Success Magazine is an archway that caters to entrepreneurs’ quench for technology and business updates. Its selection of companies was described as the ‘’20 avant-garde companies which have adopted new and advanced techniques and are the frontiers of a new era of business.”

The first criteria to be even considered as one of the 20 companies on the list is “innovation’’. In this race of competition and the urge to be on top of the competition, companies need to have certain characteristic in-built, and one of them is innovation.

Symphony Solutions has grown in 2018, owing to increased demand from current clients and several significant new clients.  The Ladbrokes Coral client, for example, began 5 years ago with 4 engineers, and one year ago was 100 engineers.  Today, it is nearly 300 and continuing to expand.

Another difference about Symphony is that they do not pursue new business.  All business comes from trusted referrals.  And because of the nature of the service, these businesses grow.

Perhaps that is why they have never lost a client.

Over the years, the advancements in technology have changed the digital gaming, lottery and sports industries countless times. But, the birth of the Internet and online play have made the most significant transformations. Additionally, the major improvements of graphics, use of portable devices, and cloud-based technologies have further changed the way games are envisioned, created and played. Over time, the new opportunities have enabled the online gaming and betting industries to evolve, expand to new markets, and mark continuous growth in profits.

However, in order to use the potential of these new opportunities, gaming and betting companies need additional technological expertise in the development, deployment, and maintenance of the new gaming platforms. In recent years, it has become a common practice for many gaming and betting companies to collaborate with IT companies that already have the necessary know-how.

A Vision of Innovation and Excellence

One big company that has made a significant mark in the digital gaming, lottery and sports industry by adopting the latest trends and continuously bringing innovation and excellence to gaming software is Scientific Games Corporation. The company was founded over 85 years ago and is a global leader in the gaming and lottery industries across the world. Through their three divisions, Scientific Games offers customers a fully integrated selection of technology platforms and robust systems, numerous games and highly professional services and marketing solutions.

Soon after the acquisition of NYX Gaming Group, Scientific Games unveiled the new division, Scientific Games Digital, which integrates the existing portfolio of SG Interactive B2B products and services with those of the NYX Gaming Group. Their goal is to make SG Digital the most diverse supplier of digital gaming and sports betting technology and content in the industry.

This undertaking means SG Digital will now be offering a significantly larger portfolio of products and services, which means they will need additional help and support to sustain and grow the business, all the while increasing productivity and improving efficiency.

The search for a reliable partner who will bring experience and expertise to this venture led SG Digital to us, Symphony Solutions. Due to our complete Agile-mindset, unique approach to software development, and extensive experience with designing and developing software for the gaming and gambling industry, SG Digital realized that Symphony Solutions is the company to entrust their software development processes to and work side by side with our expert teams.

New Partnership

After long negotiations and meticulous planning, we are delighted to announce that at the end of November 2017, Symphony Solutions signed an official contract with Scientific Games Digital. As a result of the newly formed partnership, our new delivery center in Krakow, one of the leading IT centers in Europe, was opened.

This new offshore development center is planned to house 250-300 of the best and brightest talents in Krakow, help SG Digital accelerate growth and drive innovation in product development across the group as it works alongside SG Digital’s other product development centers in Europe, located in London, Athens, and Stockholm.

“The Krakow opening will be our fourth center in Europe as we accelerate our growth, underpinned by our product-led strategy. The advanced hubs are staffed by leaders in their fields and provide the platform to ensure that SG Digital remains at the forefront of technology in the digital gaming, lottery, and sports industry,”

Matt Davey, Group Chief Executive, Digital.

“Opening the new Krakow center underlines our commitment to continuously boost our best-in-class offering. This location will be directly aligned with our other European technology hubs and form a great asset for the SG Digital business unit,”

Chris Armes, Chief Technology Officer, at SG Digital.

“Poland has a fantastic reputation when it comes to tech personnel. From experience, we know there is a well-trained, high-energy talent pool of people that have extensive industry and domain expertise.”

Join Us in Krakow

This new partnership is a very big step forward for us, since it shows that we have earned the trust, can stand tall and work side-by-side with giants such as Scientific Games Corporation. We are at the very beginning of our new adventure and our intention is to grow and expand our teams in Krakow.

In that order, we would like to welcome all experienced IT professionals who want to join Symphony Solutions, to go to our website and check out our vacancies.

We are thrilled to share this wonderful news with you and hope to see your resume arrive in our email inbox. Perhaps you can be the next Team Leader and help create the platform that will revolutionize gaming again!

2017 is over, but we are still getting recognition for our work in the previous year. In its latest review, The CIO Bulletin magazine has listed Symphony Solutions among 50 Best Workplaces of 2017.

The magazine highlighted the strive of Symphony Solutions to step back from the traditional hierarchical corporate norms and strict bureaucracy, which is well reflected in the motto: “COOL to work for, COOL to work with.” The magazine pointed out three main factors which make Symphony Solutions one of the best working places of 2017. Let’s take a closer look at each of them:

Symphony Culture

Trust is the foundation at Symphony Solutions, and it didn’t go unnoticed to the CIO Bulletin’s reviewer. Being an Agile-driven company, we incorporate Agile mindset into all aspects of our corporate life. The company trusts Symphonians and knows that they are getting their job done without being constantly supervised. The company puts significant efforts into creating the best working conditions to keep people motivated and proactive. Symphonians have access to the extensive network of perks and benefits, flexible working hours and possibility to work from any part of the office.

The office itself is worth being mentioned. Its campus resembles a Dutch village Zaanse Schans. Decorated with windmills, tulips, bicycles and other traditional Dutch artifacts, it preserves a spirit of the cozy Dutch countryside.

Freshly brewed coffee and snacks are available at the Old Amsterdam Café which looks just like one of the brownie cafes somewhere in the downtown of Amsterdam.

It is a quite common saying here among Symphonians that working at Symphony Solutions is almost the Bahamas regarding the level of comfort and freedom.

Redefined Workplace

A comfortable office is just one of the multiple other aspects that make Symphony Solutions one of the Best Workplaces of 2017. We strive to redefine not just visual aspects but the whole perception of the working place. At Symphony Solutions we have eliminated complex management structure, so all colleagues share the same open space, and there is no difference between the desk of a manager or a junior level professional.

Our hiring process earned a separate paragraph in the review. It is built with the principle “colleagues choose colleagues,” which means that besides technical interview each candidate should get positive feedbacks from his future colleagues as a cultural fit. We take cultural interview results very seriously as we are looking for people who share our values and can do their best without extra micromanagement and constant control. Such an approach assures a positive climate within the company and harmonious relationships among colleagues.

Employee Relationship Management

Establishing long-term relationships is very important at Symphony Solutions. This is why the traditional Human Resources Department has been renamed to Employee Relationship Management (ERM). Their task is to make sure every employee is provided with the best working conditions and opportunities for growth. ERM team is responsible for conducting one-to-one meetings to measure the satisfaction level and together with a Symphonian create a Personal Development Plan after regular Performance Reviews to encompass personal and professional growth goals.

We highly encourage passion for learning and improving your skills. Symphony Academy Training department gives a chance to grow and develop new soft and technical skills. It also encourages our employees to take external courses and lessons from external providers.

All these factors are blended into one company with a unique culture, cozy office, and positive atmosphere and make Symphony Solutions the company which is really cool to work for.

“When you value your people, treat them with respect and provide them with the best working conditions, you become capable of attracting the right and the best talent in the industry. And when you have the best talent, you can also get the best customers and projects for the company.”

Theo Schnitfink, FOUNDER of Symphony Solutions

Symphony Solutions receives Award from “Technology Headlines” Magazine

Why is this award important? And why is Agile important? In fact, a person or company should not judge progress by awards and recognition, and Agile is not the way for everyone. But if the company is Symphony Solutions, it is the only way. Why, because Symphony Solutions has found that focus on their people, their only real assets, is best achieved in an Agile driven management framework.

At Symphony Solutions, the Agile imperative goes beyond the Agile development methodology for engineering teams, which enables lean management and quick turn-around, to an agile style across the entire company. This means that all support functions, such as Recruiting, HR, Marketing, Finance, and The Leadership Team, operate in the flat management style, using Scrum Masters and daily stand-ups, to achieve objectives across a 3-month planning cycle.

What about Clients

Symphony Solutions has committed significant resources to an internal Agile certification center. The expert coaches give Agile training throughout the year to new employees, engineers in the local communities in which they operate, and clients. When clients come to Symphony Solutions, they are often eager to receive Agile training for their people who work so closely with ours. This creates a stronger affinity on each side and tends to blur the lines between service provider and client, which leads to a stronger end result.

What is Agile Space

Agile Space – an educational platform for people interested in Agile, Scrum, Kanban and SAFe was founded at Symphony Solutions in 2016. Their mission is to accelerate organizational Agility through coaching, trainings, unconferences, workshops, certified classes and consulting.
Up till now, more than 40 Agile events were conducted and more than 700 participants took part in the Agile trainings and certifications.
The platform continues to grow, providing Agile education for Symphony Solutions employees and external participants.

Symphony Solutions Agile Company of the Year Award from “Technology Headlines”

Symphony Solutions does not cultivate recognition or awards, because this diverts attention from the primary focus on their people who service the business every day. By carefully tending our people and their needs, the people take care of the business and its growth. However, that “Technology Headlines Magazine” has seen value in our commitment to Agile is extremely gratifying, and we thank them for noticing and responding to those efforts.

What truly sets Symphony Solutions apart is not the range of services they provide, but their Agile-driven modus operandi. To that accord, every employee respects and works by the Agile principles. Starting from the leadership team, to the latest junior hires, even the Finance and Human Resources (called Employee Relationship Management) teams are Agile.

“Technology Headlines” wrote of Symphony Solutions

We are proud to announce that the Symphony Solutions marketing team earned the Google Partner badge in search advertising.

Earning the Google Partner badge is only possible for those digital marketing companies and agencies which had proved the quality of their advertising services and demonstrated advanced knowledge in Google AdWords advertising products. We’ve been working hard to earn this badge and become a Google Partner. The path to it includes passing certification in Google AdWords, along gathering and collecting data to prove our knowledge in advanced concepts for creating, managing, measuring, and optimizing ad campaigns.

Which advantages do we have now?

Proven quality services: earning Google badge means that we are qualified by Google and our services respond to its requirements and criteria.

Connection with Google: being a Google Partner means to have access to Google training and support, being on the same line with its trends and updates.

Up-to-date knowledge: with a Google Partner badge, we also earned access to Google learning materials. Therefore, our clients will get the most updated and innovative solutions to promote their businesses online.

Having access to all the advantages, including Google learning materials and trends, we’ll be able to deliver even better results to our clients’ businesses. We’ll keep working on improving our knowledge in Google AdWords advertising products, push our performance and build long-lasting relationships with our customers; and this is something we have already been doing. However, we are so happy to be recognized by Google for doing all of this on a daily basis.

We are pleased to announce that Symphony Solutions, was chosen among the 20 Most Promising Quality Assurance Solution Providers 2016 by CIOReview – FREMONT, CA (June 27, 2016).

CIOReview selected Symphony Solutions as one of the 20 Most Promising Quality Assurance Solution Providers of 2016 based on the company’s specialties in Quality Assurance and Testing, IT, BPO and Consultancy Services, Custom Software Development, Product development, Network and System Management, Mobile Development, Maintenance and Support, Web Design, UX Design, Digital Marketing & SEO.

“The companies selected for our 20 Most Promising Quality Assurance Solution Providers 2016 list are an elite group of companies whose products and solutions are changing their respective industries,” said Jeevan George, Managing Editor of CIOReview. “We are proud to feature Symphony Solutions in this edition for its range of revolutionary solutions that is setting a new benchmark in the quality assurance arena.”

About CIOReview

Published from Fremont, California, CIOReview is a print magazine that explores and understands the plethora of ways adopted by firms to execute the smooth functioning of their businesses. A distinguished panel comprising of CEOs, CIOs, IT VPs including CIOReview editorial board finalized the “20 Most Promising Quality Assurance Solution Providers 2016” in the U.S. and shortlisted the best vendors and consultants.

For more info: http://www.cioreview.com/

We are happy to announce a significant day in the history of Symphony Solutions! We have expanded! Symphony Solutions has officially launched a new office in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia!

Theo Schnitfink, the Founder of our IT Company, has been looking for new opportunities for business development in many countries in Europe. However, when he has found out about a big number of IT professionals and highly qualified students in Macedonia, it didn’t take him long to make a decision. As a result, today Theo is proud to run one more Symphony Solutions office.

Emil Dimitriev, the Prime Minister of Macedonia and Bill Pavleski, Minister for Foreign Investments were present at the opening ceremony and emphasized on the importance of the event for the country. Therefore, many young people will be able to find their dream jobs that may reduce the problem of unemployment. At the moment, there are about 30 employees in the Macedonian office, but their number is expected to reach 200 until the end of the current year.

The company takes its origin from the Netherlands which will make it possible for the employees to feel the Dutch spirit in each corner and working place of the office. It is going to be designed in the style of Amsterdam Grand Cafe famous worldwide.

We are happy to congratulate our new colleagues in Skopje.
May the passion be with you!

We are extremely proud and happy to announce that Symphony Solutions has been recognized by CIOReview as one of the 20 Most Promising Java Development Solution Providers 2016!

Fremont, CA. February 15, 2016 – Symphony Solutions has been named one of “20 Most Promising Java Development Solution Providers” list of CIOReview. The list is compiled by a panel of experts and members of the CIOReview editorial board after evaluation across more than a dozen quantitative and qualitative elements, including the company’s experience, industry recognition, technical certifications, market presence and positive client reviews.

Symphony Solutions excels in IT, BPO, and Consultancy Services with the best of the services the industry can provide. It also develops Custom software based on JAVA platforms which are tailored to meet the demands of the ever-evolving businesses. Agile Transformation, Quality Assurance and Testing, Network and System management, Mobile development (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows & J2ME), Maintenance and support, Web Design, UX Design are some of the other solutions in which Symphony Solutions strives to excel in and it takes pride in facilitating businesses with them.

“Symphony Solutions continued to break new ground within the past year, benefiting its customers,” noted Jeevan George, Managing Editor of CIOReview. “CIOReview is happy to showcase Symphony Solutions this year due to its continuing excellence in delivering top-notch technology-driven solutions.”

About CIOReview

CIOReview is an IT print magazine published from Fremont, California, which constantly endeavors to identify “The Best” in a variety of areas important to tech business. Through nominations and consultations with industry leaders, its editors choose the best in different domains. The Java Development Special Edition is an annual listing of 20 Most Promising Java Development Solution Providers in the U.S. For more information, visit: http://cioreview.com/

To mark our further significant growth we are now expanding to Poland.

We are proud to announce the opening of a new Symphony Solutions office in Rzeszow!
In addition to this, we are taking part in the Career Fair in Rzeszow on May, 23rd.

.Woman 1:  You live in Skopje, North Macedonia, you are 31, you went to University. You have a job you really like and are motivated to work hard to reach the next level. You are responsible, professional.  There is a guy on your floor who does the same type of work that you do. He has less tenure than you.  He is well liked and ingratiates himself among others.

He has just received a big promotion and salary raise for a position that you wanted.

Though you are equally qualified, you were never considered for this job.

Woman 2:  You live in Skopje, North Macedonia, you are 27, very attractive, very hard-working.  You always dress and behave professionally. You have done well in your career and have the drive to succeed.  Though sexually based comments from men are familiar to you, you know to handle them.

Until you got fired for not accepting an invitation to your boss’s hotel room.

---

SHE. Skopje, April 2019

North Macedonia is behind western cultures in their attitudes toward women and women’s roles in society.  Western cultures have made great strides since the 1960s and ’70s, but it takes decades, and still, things have not gone far enough.

Only 5% of leadership roles in North Macedonia are held by women.  There is legislation on the books to improve this, but it has not yet been enacted. In terms of women in tech roles in North Macedonia, information is not even recorded:

What To Do About It?

The Psihesko Psychology Students’ Association in Skopje decided to conduct focus groups to illuminate attitudes and practices toward women in the workforce.  The result of that research was presented at the recent SHE. Talks event in Skopje in April to a sold-out audience.

SHE. Talks

Findings came from 6 focus groups, 1 among men and 5 among women. They conveyed experiences and observations, most of which related to outright discrimination and inappropriate behavior toward women.

• Gender-biased questions during job interviews (“Are you planning to have a child soon?”);
• Assumption of lesser abilities of women;
• Credibility gaps toward women vs. men;
• Ignoring the opinions of women on the team;
• Sexual harassment:

Comments related to physical appearance;

Comments alluding to sex;

Direct sexual advances;

Repercussions for women who do not respond to advances.

HE. Talks

Focus groups among men centered around women as more emotional than men.  Men tend to equate this to lower performance at work:

• Emotions can impair the course and quality of work responsibilities;
• Women have more difficulty coping with stress;
• Women suffer deeper consequences from stress than men;
• Reduced control of emotional reactions during PMS;
• The lowered expectation of achievement among woman with babies.

THEY. Respond

The audience of 70 people was highly vocal in their response to these findings.  Women say that the old societal stereotypes of women as housewives still exist.  They wonder how women with aspirations for professional achievement can 1) find a good job and 2) succeed against such bias.

Women say that their emotional nature is often helpful at work, because women are more empathic, more understanding, but men choose to focus on emotions as negative.  Additionally, women have learned to live with their emotional nature and as such, might even be better at coping than men.

The real success of the evening was from the attendees, one of whom was Valentina Disoska, business leader, entrepreneur, and mother of two.  She stressed the importance of this work and that it should be continued. Several HR professionals in the audience want to join future efforts to advance the image of and opportunities for women.

This is very heartening.  In fact, Symphony’s own Front-End Developer in North Macedonia has this to say about her own efforts and success:

SHE.

SHE. is an opportunity to see prominent women whose journeys, success and vigor open the minds and hearts of those who attend.  The objective is to bring talented and accomplished women to an audience of primarily women, who are eager to hear stories of achievement from other women in varied fields in the arts, business, fashion design, technology, and government.

The SHE. series was launched in July 2018 with conductor Oksana Lyniv. The 9^th SHE., “SHE. Brands” will occur in July in Lviv, Ukraine.

2018 was a milestone in our journey. It was our 10th anniversary year. And all big milestones mean a celebration. Especially in the Symphony Solutions world, where one of our goals as a team is celebrating company achievements.

In January, we went all out to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. Over the course of 3 weeks, each location hosted their own art-themed party that brought over 700 people for a night of inspiration, fun and togetherness. We called it the X-Gala Ceremony.

X Gala Ceremony: The ART-Themed Party 

Since opening our doors back in 2008, we’ve started a tradition of hosting an annual grand party. Events like this are important for us especially because they reflect our company culture.

We threw 3 separate art-themed parties, honoring the 20th century artists such as Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Karel Appel, Wassily Kandinsky and many more. The event organizers from Symphony created an art exhibition that featured paintings of local artists and sketch and one-line drawing artists who did hand-drawn quick portraits of our guests. They mingled in the crowd adding surprise and excitement and left our guests with a gift they’d never forget. Guests and Symphonians were greeted by hostesses who wore Mondrian face makeup.

The art installations, which were specially designed for the party, were inspired by the American sculptor Calder, best known for his innovative mobiles that embrace chance in their aesthetic and his monumental public sculptures.

X Gala Ceremony: The Celebration

Our first celebration party started in Skopje, then the second one followed in Krakow and the final one happened in Lviv. We had clients, partners and community members also join us in on our milestone anniversary celebration.

Classical music has always been very close to us, as our approach to work has much in common with the symphony orchestra. So, as a surprise, at each location we had a local Philharmonic Orchestra open the night with a passionate performance of Carmina Burana.

From Founder Theo Schnitfink:

“Each one of us contributes to the overall success of Symphony Solutions and celebrating company achievements creates a sense of pride and belonging for all employees.”

The night carried on with look back videos and images, beautiful music, toasts and dancing.

X Gala Ceremony: Symphony Solutions awards

Over 40 awards were given out to those who most embodied Symphony Solutions values in their hard work and actions throughout 2018. We recognized top individuals in categories including Top Performer, Top Motivator, and Top Innovator.

From Symphony 2018 Award Winner, Dimitar Venov:

“I am honored to be part of Symphony Solutions and thankful for the support provided by my colleagues. I will continue my adventures with the same enthusiasm and dedication.”

X Gala Ceremony: Art Charity Auction

Although we have evolved over the past ten years, we have always held steadfast to our commitment of giving back to the community. As a part of our anniversary celebration, we held separate art charity auctions in Skopje, Krakow and Lviv, raising money for the Center for People with Mental Handicap in Macedonia, Foundation ISKIERKA in Poland and Ukrainian art critic and curator battling cancer.

The 10-year anniversary celebration is over, but we’re not finished celebrating. We are excited about becoming the most innovative solutions company in Europe and see what the future holds!

“Who is she?” is a common question when people hear a beautiful new singer, see an attractive woman, or a compelling actress on stage. Recently at Symphony Solutions, the question is not only “Who is she?” but “What is SHE?”

Many may know that a hallmark of Symphony Solutions’ success is gender balance, equal pay for equal jobs, and favorable policies and attitudes toward women. These have guided the company since inception 10 years ago.

Adding to the roster of special events and meet-ups hosted by Symphony Solutions is a new recurring program called SHE. SHE is an opportunity to see prominent women whose journeys, success, and vigor open the minds and hearts of those who attend. Each evening begins with an interview of the guest, followed by questions from the audience, and ends with a champagne reception.

SHE. Conducts

Lviv, July, 2018 launched the SHE event with conductor Oksana Lyniv, a Lvivian who studied music since childhood, locally and later in Germany and Austria, and who is now the chief conductor of the Graz Philharmonic and Opera in Graz, Austria.

She co-founded the MozArt Festival in Lviv in 2017, which was repeated in 2018, and is now projected as an annual highlight. Throughout the 2-week festival, her varied and deftly-curated concerts play to sold-out houses every night.

Her presence is almost as mesmerizing in a personal interview as it is in front of an orchestra, and her inspired, expressive style captures an audience just like her dramatic and explosive conducting. In her own words,

Ms. Lyniv spoke about her early life in Lviv as the daughter of 2 musicians, about her intense studies, and about the difficulty achieving success in an arena where only 5% of the world’s conductors are women. Her passion to achieve propelled her forward:

“I simply knew that no one could help me; therefore, I had to work as hard as three people to have results.”

Attendees fell in love with the natural chrisma of Oksana Lyniv, as an artist, as a person, and as a woman.

SHE. Empowers

Lviv, November, 2018 was the second SHE event featuring Katarina-Kit Sadova, wife of the Lviv City Mayor, mother of 5 boys, and an active woman in her community. Her arresting good looks and graceful carriage immediately attract attention. And then one realizes it is her inner light that is so captivating.

Her interview was like a look into her soul at times and like laughing with a friend at others. She spoke about searching for what she wanted to do, about trying different paths. Then her 5th son was born, and she realized that her true calling was to be a mother.

Ms. Sadova speaks freely about her faith and connection with God as her rock, her place of retreat at chaotic times. Then she quickly pivots, saying:

“I envy women who seem to have it all – they look amazing, their husband and kids are taken care of, they read, they entertain socially, I am not like that. I can’t do that. I need a different approach.”

Her whole demeanor and revealing good nature reinforced that there is no perfect route, no magic answer, that one must be true one’s own aspirations to achieve satisfaction.

When asked, “Do you think the world will become more feminine?” she said:

SHE. Leads

Skopje, December, 2018 was the third SHE event at Symphony Solutions’ Macedonia office. The guest was Valentina Disoska, president of the Association of Business Women, Founder of the Association for e-commerce in Macedonia, Founder of the Balkan Coalition of Business Women, and an entrepreneur.

She is the recipient of recognitions and awards for promoting entrepreneurship among women and a compelling leader in Skopje. Additionally, she is mother of 2.

Among the attendees were some impressive guests, one of whom was a consular of the President of Macedonia. His interest must have piqued as a discussion about opportunities and pitfalls for women in Macedonia took center stage. Less than 5% of top management positions in Macedonia are held by women, and most jobs for women are low level staff positions. New legislation for female entrepreneurship is planned, for enaction sometime in 2019.

When asked by the moderator, “Are you saying that women entrepreneurs are still a taboo?” she replied:

Ms. Disoska is an approachable woman who welcomed engagement with audience members, as they lingered in the warm embrace of good conversation, champagne and cakes, before departing into the night chill.

What Tipped in 2018

Many have written quite elegantly about the effects and contributions of women in professional environments. And many others have shared studies about positive changes in government and business as a result of women in leadership roles. But women in leadership roles declined globally in 2018 (Grant Thornton: Beyond Policy to Progress, 2018). Additionally, The World Economic Forum in November, 2017 reported:

The industries most lacking in women hires for leadership roles in 2017 include manufacturing, energy and mining, software and IT services, finance, real estate, corporate services, and legal.

Since Symphony Solutions competes in the software and IT services sector, it seems relevant, not to wail about inequities, but to celebrate the policy practiced at the company since its inception 10 years ago.

Why Gender Balance

Founder and CEO Theo Schnitfink envisioned a company which reflects the feeling of natural balance when men and women are in equal number. He saw it as more harmonious and comfortable. He has held to that, and employees are reaping the results. Women at Symphony Solutions do not feel pressure to prove their equality, in intellect or output, to that of men. That equality is understood from the beginning. This means that they are free to do their jobs and do them well just like their cohorts. Nor do men feel competition from or resistance to women as equal and respected colleagues.

This attitude is reflected throughout the company. The Leadership Team is 52% women, especially significant because the Leadership Team is comprised of department heads, team leads, agile training experts, and others.

Further, equal pay for equal work has never even been an objective, something to work toward or achieve. It is rather an assumption and a habit. It is not even thought of or discussed. It just is.

What’s Happening in Ukraine

Symphony Solutions is headquartered in The Netherlands with delivery centers in Ukraine, Poland and Macedonia. In Ukraine, home of their largest office, the technology community is 20% women. Until society and local business can attract more women into computer science and software engineering, these functions will remain male dominated.

What else is male dominated in Ukraine, however, is salaries. A compensation gap is present, even in areas such as HR where women are effective and well-respected, with a 60% gap in pay for equal jobs. QA, Team Leads and Project Manager positions see a 25 – 35% gap. Only Business Analysis and Software Engineering roles have more equal salary distribution.

These numbers seem to make the Symphony Solutions practice of Zero Pay Gap even more notable.

It’s All in the Culture

The Symphony Solutions culture is seen by employees as the deciding factor which separates the company from others. Gender balance is part of that culture. Benefits which distinctly appeal to women support gender equality. And the Agile-driven, flat management style contributes to the open friendly culture. Management has long said, “It’s not what we do, but how we do it that is differentiating.” This statement pays homage to successful competitors for their equal skill in delivering quality results to demanding clients. But Symphony Solutions’ style and culture are palpably, attitudinally, and practically different. This culture puts people first, in recognition of the value of their most important asset. Employees, then, transfer that respect and care toward service of the business, which then prospers and grows.

What’s Next

Symphony Solutions continues active participation in events aimed at women. One such event is the SHE. Series, which features prominent women in varied fields and their struggles and successes. The first such event in July, 2018 welcomed Oksana Lyniv, conductor of The Opera and Philharmonic in Graz, Austria and founder and conductor of the MozArt Festival in Lviv. The second on 16^th November features Katerina Kit- Sadova, artist, mother of 5 boys, and wife of Lviv city Mayor.

Please click here for future events in Lviv, Krakow, and Skopje.

Women in business and other professional roles is a discussion that has been the subject of articles, books, and debates for decades, actually centuries. Why does this remain on so many agenda, and why not instead focus on issues everyone faces to improve, learn, grow and succeed.  Because, until the glass ceiling for women is broken or role disbursement stabilizes, it will remain a hot topic in global dialogue and local communities.

The issue is deeply rooted in society evolving over millennia and raises questions about natural tendencies and long-held attitudes and practices.  It has always been men who chose to go to war over territory and power, while women stayed close to home to care for and nurture development of the young.  While women have evolved beyond their classic roles, they still try to make best use of their natural tendencies while competing in more male circles.  Should we live in a world that denies our DNA or should we use these differences to the larger advantage in a more advanced society.

It seems that embracing the fact that men and women have different qualities for leadership can combine in organizations to get the best of each.   Goal 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.  When women grow up with ideas that they can achieve, they often do.

Studies have shown that companies with women at board and executive levels actually perform better than those with a mostly male demographic.

And McKinsey estimates that advancing gender equality could add USD 12 trillion to the economy by 2025, or 11% of global GDP.

McKinsey has also reported that “more women in Parliament leads to greater expenditures on education”, and in India, “women’s leadership in local politics has been found to reduce corruption”.

Central to these conversations, however, is always money, especially because more women live in poverty than men. In Ukraine, woman make only 60% compared to men in equivalent roles.  This compares to the U.S. where the number is 80% and Poland, where the number is 84 %.  This varies by country and industry.

It’s no secret that the IT sphere has always been occupied primarily by male professionals.

In fact, only 25% of candidates who apply for IT vacancies are women, most of whom apply for non-technical positions.

The HR, recruitment, QA stay predominantly covered by women and only around 3% of female professionals work directly with technology.

STEM roles have not been as popular among woman, but that is because those roles were not encouraged among women in education and society.  Harvard University President Larry Summers was fired in 2005 for his remarks that men outperform women in math and sciences.

And still attitudes are slow to change.  Not enough time has passed for actions to raise awareness and opportunities for women, to allow real equality when reaching the next stage of advancement in a career.

Women have qualities that men do not, which can both work well for them and hinder their advancement at the same time.  They tend to be more emotional, which also means they have more empathy and are able to manage problems with employees better than men.  They analyze well which is why they are excellent at testing and making smart decisions after careful consideration.

But women have more difficulty promoting themselves and speaking up about sensitive issues such as money and sexual harassment.

Although women haven’t started their own IT companies and are less likely to be appointed to board positions, new opportunities emerge.  After all, the first programmer in the world was a woman. Ada Lovelace wrote the world’s first machine algorithm for an early computing machine. Today, the CEO`s of IBM, Yahoo, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are women.  Apple has a number of strong, independent and confident women in senior positions, and these figures are growing.

As Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook and the author of bestselling book Lean In, says – “We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.”

Symphony Solutions has long demonstrated interest in women as employees and as people. This is one reason we are beginning an Event Series called “SHE.” to showcase high-profile, original and accomplished women in Lviv.  We expect this series to have dual-audience appeal and sold-out capacity. See the Facebook page for series description.

On July 14th-16th we were happy to host training Software Architecture for Engineers in Symphony Solutions Lviv office. The event consisted of 24 lecturing hours and embraced a fairly wide range of topics.

The main aim of the training was to provide participants with deep and enhanced knowledge of software architecture, its place in Software Development Lifecycle and role and scope of the responsibilities the Architect should embrace.

The trainer Victor Teslenko (Kyiv, UA) also explained how Architectural Design occurs. He covered the topic of common architectural concepts and principles and disclosed Data and Object Modeling, Qualities of Distributed Systems, State and CAP theorem and analysis of Software Architecture.

During the event all participants got the chance not only to learn how to deliver software of the excellent quality but how to translate business ideas into efficient engineering solutions. Agenda consisted of lectures as well as of group practical part, which allowed the participants to apply gained knowledge and test it in the safe environment. The participants were given three real cases to examine and elaborate.

Dmytro Babchuk, Software Engineer at Symphony Solutions:
“It was an amazing training. The trainer was really experienced and willing to share. There were many practical cases, which are always cool to investigate and learn from. I am very satisfied with the content of the training as I gained many ideas which can be easily applied within my project”.

Corporate values are often referred to as “guiding principles that help define people’s behavior in a company”. They provide internal and external advantages to the company, and educate clients and potential customers about what the company is and how it operates.

“The values of a company define its ‘how’ side of achieving the business result. The values of a business help to present a consistent ‘face’ of the company to its stakeholders. This tends to make the Company more trustworthy and its employees more confident in knowing how to deal with situations.”

Anna Lewis, Organizational Development Professional.

A Symphony in Burgundy

We are not different in what we do. We are different in HOW we do it.

We are different because our corporate values are an integral part of our culture. They are the essence of our identity, the principles that guide us, the beliefs we stand by, and the philosophy that shapes our everyday actions and interpersonal interactions.

We take our values very seriously since they are essential to properly execute our strategy and ensure the environment which supports personal and professional growth, inspires productivity; all the while supporting the company’s objectives.

Living by the values makes Symphony a reliable company: our customers prefer to do business with us because they trust us and know that we will be open and honest with them every step of the way. They are confident in our ability to deliver what we promised no matter what challenges we face. Our employees enjoy working here because we constantly encourage them to grow personally and professionally, feel free to be who they are, excel at what they love and find their place in the company.

Trust At The Heart of Symphony

Trust is the foundation on which we’ve built Symphony Solutions. On top of trust, we have 5 values which steam out from it, are deeply rooted in and shape our corporate culture, as well as guide all our actions. They keep us in check, help us make the right decisions and always do the right things, even in the toughest situations.

TRUST: The foundation!

We value trusted relationships within Symphony, with our customers and partners

Trust is the foundation and the main building block on which we rely. We believe trust is crucial when establishing and developing both, internal and external relationships since it is the basis of good communication. That leads to forming stronger bonds and reliable partnerships, which result in achieving personal and professional success.

1. INTEGRITY: Always do the right thing!

We always act with honesty and fairness, even when no one is watching

Standing by your principles and being honest about what you say and do are very important qualities that make us more reliable and true to ourselves, our colleagues and customers. Trusting our employees to do the right thing, even when no one is watching, inspires them to deliver excellent results and strengthens our interpersonal relationships.

2. INNOVATION: Keep innovation as your state of mind!

We constantly strive for progress and improvement of our people, services and our organization

If you want to succeed in a fast-changing world, you must constantly evolve. Innovation is the key for staying up-to-date with the changes around you and becoming better than you were yesterday. We encourage our employees to be constantly curiuos, keep learning and think creatively, be in an innovative state of mind. That helps them work better and smarter, therefore the whole organization becomes more efficient and more successful.

3. INITIATIVE: Be the change you want to see around!

We are proactive when we see an opportunity and always do what needs to be done

We find the best way to make a change is to start with ourselves. We instigate our employees to be proactive and seek alternative ways to do things in a different and better way. We encourage them to act in every opportunity they feel they can or need to, to solve a problem or simplify and improve a process. We value their input, encourage them to speak up, empower them to take responsibility and act upon their suggestions and ideas.

4. INSPIRATIONAL: Whatever you do, do it with passion!

By doing everything with passion, we do extraordinary work that exceeds our customers’ expectations

Being passionate about your work is what adds that extra quality which often results in exceeding expectations. The eagerness to do your best, constant dedication to your work, and the way you put your heart and soul in whatever you do, shape you as an individual and make your work exceptional and inspirational. It shows how gratifying it feels to do what you love and what amazing results one can achieve when working with passion.

5. INTIMACY: Intimacy matters!

We aim to be close to our colleagues and customers in order to better understand each other and build relationships based on trust

When you are close and communicate on a more personal level with your colleagues and customers, you create stronger relationships based on trust, mutual understanding and loyalty. And when you have that closeness within your organization and with your customers, you can easily come up with better solutions and go through whatever situation you may find yourself in, because you know that you can trust and rely on each other.

This set of values influences each one of us and the way we work. They are what makes us different in HOW we do things, inside the company as well outside, with our clients. And here’s how our fellow Symphonians incorporate values in their everyday work:

“Intimacy. We have a transparent relationship in our team. Our teamwork is based on complete trust and understanding so that together we can initiate and innovate bringing to life new and sometimes the craziest ideas ever, inspire each other as well as those around us, e.g. when teaching our students and opening the door to new horizons for them.”

Sofia

“Being inspirational, for sure. I am passionate about everything I do – I go to work with passion, I work with passion and every day I try to improve myself and complete my tasks better, therefore complete the projects I work on more successfully. And by delivering high-quality solutions to our clients, we provide a better experience for the end-users and makes their world a better place.”

Oleksandr

When people know they are trusted because there’s a deeper, more intimate relationship between them and other members of Symphony-family and customers, they keep their integrity, are always fair, correct and honest, feel free and empowered to be innovative in their work. They are not afraid to take initiative to change and improve things, which makes them inspirational for other Symphonians and customers. That strengthens the trust we put in them in the first place, and makes the circle complete.

Two weeks ago we had a very special guest – DOU Revisor in our office, who published an article about Symphony Solutions on their website – the most popular web-source for developers in Ukraine.

You can read translated article below. Enjoy!

On New Year’s Eve our DOU inspector team headed to the cultural capital of Ukraine to review Symphony Solutions office. It’s a young European company, head offices of which are situated in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and in Lviv. Recently Symphony Solutions has also opened two small offices in Rzeszów (Poland) and Skopje (Macedonia). The company was established in 2008. Currently it employs approximately 250 specialists.

Not long ago the company moved to a new office (Lviv, Naukova str, 2b) The premises consist of 3 floors and occupy 2800 square metres. The initial idea was to recreate the setting of one small village in the Netherlands, Zaanse Schans. Its elements have been integrated in the office interior.

It’s difficult for us to evaluate the location of the office, because we are not locals and only managed to stay there for one working day. However, the employees of Symphony Solutions cannot but mention that it’s very convenient, you can easily get to any part of the city, which is even easier if you drive. In front of the office you can find a roomy outdoor car park for the employees. Whereas bicycle lovers can leave their vehicles in the outdoor bicycle rank just in front of the building. You won’t find many cafes or canteens in the vicinity, the closest spot is restaurant “Gopak” where you can get a full meal at a price of 80-100 UAH. Considering that fact, the company provides its employees with free meals. Free breakfasts for early birds and organized lunches for all employees with great selection of dishes. You may find more information below in “Leisure and Inspiration”.

Working space

While planning a new office, it has been decided to place all working space on the second and third floors.

It’s a bit unusual that there’s no hierarchy at Symphony. No matter whether you are a programmer, tester, PM, or even Bill Gates himself, you still get the same desk and working space as the others do. There are no separate rooms for “bosses”.

There’s one interesting thing about little Dutch houses on the first floor, they function as meeting rooms for discussions and skype calls with clients. However, most meeting rooms are on the first floor, e.i. to have a 15 min skype-call, you need to go downstairs. Symphonians say they’ve got used to it now, and in case they need a quick sync up with their team, they may do it without leaving their working places.

They’ve got rid of all possible barriers at Symphony. It’s all about self-management here. It is believed that this kind of organization will attract more good specialists and professionals as well as will be a great environment for their full potential development and growth. According to Symphonians, their schedule is quite flexible: it’s possible to work remotely. The main requirement here is a sufficient amount of hours worked per month, work of a stellar quality and satisfaction of client’s needs.

One person has as much as 12 m² of green area + 1 plant + 1m³ for our water inhabitants (turtles and fish), who are considered to be a great part of the community (according to company data).

Leisure and inspiration

The first floor of Symphony Solutions is a relax zone for all developers which consists of Symphony Park, «Old Amsterdam Café» and Wellness Zone. You don’t need a foreign passport to go to Holland. It will be enough just to see our office.

Symphony Park is the imitation of a picturesque Dutch village Zaanse Schans with a windmill, small houses, bright green grass and wooden picnic tables. You can relax as well as work still staying close to nature. To maximize the effect, they play birds songs in the Park. Very soon there will be audio transmitters installed on trees branches to create a perfect harmony.

The second part of the first floor is occupied by «Old Amsterdam Café», designed in the style of Dutch Brown Cafes, where you may have fresh aromatic coffee or just enjoy a friendly chat with your colleagues. Cute barista girls are happy to serve you drinks all days 8:00-20:00 except for Sundays. Employees may pay by their access cards, from which the necessary fee is withdrawn monthly. The prices are really low: Americano, Espresso or Ristretto will cost you 5 UAH, Latte or Cappuccino – 7 UAH. You may also order fresh juice here for 10 UAH/250 ml and snacks at the cost of 5-15 UAH.

Every morning you can have breakfast in «Old Amsterdam Café» till 9:30 (normally it’s muesli and cereal with milk), and lunch from 12:00 to 15:00. You may choose your own menu no matter whether you are a vegetarian, fruitarian or a raw food eater.

On the first floor there is also a Wellness Zone: massage and manicure rooms, a yoga room (which is used as a table tennis room during the day), and the most interesting place – a Nursery – the room where a baby-sitter takes care of employees’ babies.

The company supports gender equality policy 50/50, which is depicted in its logo that looks like Yin and Yang sign. Balance is often maintained here, 50% of the employees are male and 50% – female. The nursery room was equipped with two baby cots to make it easier for mothers to come back to work after the maternity leave. A baby-sitter hasn’t been found yet but it is said that the room will have started its work by spring.

One more unusual thing about the company is its benefits. Symphony Solutions does not provide medical insurance, but offers general practitioners’ help who come to the office once per week or to employee’s home if needed.

Frankly speaking, it seems that Symphony Solutions is not fond of clichés. It differs from other IT companies by offering things that we have never met in any other office before.

Dou Inspector asks

We’ve decided to talk to employees and find out about their lives by asking two simple questions:

“What do you like most about the office?”, “What would you like to change or improve?”

Oksana, QA lead, has been working for Symphony Solutions since 2009

“I like our Amsterdam café. We have free lunches here and our wonderful baristas make late that is even better than at some coffee shops in the city center. We can also have massage and manicure. It is very convenient to have your nails manicured during the work day. As for another things that I’d like to see in our office, ….maybe a gym. We have a room for yoga and fitness, but no swimming pool or training equipment. However, they are not the most important things and we can do without them, of course.”

Misha, jun. Salesforce developer, has been working for Symphony Solutions for 2 months

“I like all company’s benefits and enjoy working with my team. All the employees here are very friendly. That is why working at my previous job was more difficult than working for Symphony. The project that I am working on now is also very interesting. It is even difficult to say what I want to be improved here. I am absolutely satisfied with the open space, with my comfortable chair and so on. The only thing that I’d like to be changed – is to make our kitchen (the one with the fridge) bigger. It is a very tiny room and there is not enough space for everyone. And if we have 50 more employees, we will need one more fridge. Everything else is great. If to compare with my old job, I must say that Symphony Solutions is just like paradise”.

Andrew, senior Windows app developer, has been working for Symphony Solutions for 3 years

“It feels like my second home here. A very cosy and beautiful place. What else…comfort and again cosiness. I do not like a so called ‘conveyer’. There are such big companies that function as some kind of plants or factories, it feels like working in an anthill there. And it is so great here. What to change? I do not know. If we wish something or have some concerns, we say about it and everything is settled. For instance, we moved to this office about a year ago and a lot of things were missing. We did not even have water supply in some of the taps. But a lot of things have been changed since that time. All our suggestions are now in an Idea Box and Theo is happy to study and integrate all the ideas, even the ones not connected to our work. I mean our band. Once all people who could play or wanted to learn to play some musical instrument got together and formed the band. We have already had two little concerts. It did not take a lot of time to have all the things we needed, e.g. a place for rehearsals, a stereo system and an amplifier. This is an excellent example of how the initiative is realized here”.

Roman, mid .NET developer, has been working for Symphony Solutions for about 2 years

“The thing I like the most is our green zone. You can take your laptop and sit comfortably on the puff. It is much easier to breathe here than in the open space, there are less people and you can even enjoy birds singing. And it is also cool when our rocking chair is not occupied. What would I change in our office? For some period of time it was impossible to open windows which I didn’t like, but the situation has changed now. New windows have been installed and we have more fresh air now. I think that we need a booth for phone calls as to make them we have to go downstairs. Everything else is awesome. I like our comfortable chairs and desks with great space division system.”

Yulia, QA lead, has been working at Symphony Solutions for about 7 months

“I feel very comfortable here. At first I thought that it would be quite uncomfortable to work in the open space, as at my previous job workspace was organized in a different way than it is at Symphony. I do not know how they managed to do that, as a lot of people work here and everyone has their own space, and also a large number of plants make this place even cosier. If you want to relax a little bit, you can go to the park or have a cup of tea in our café. I have been working here for about half a year and I do not see any obvious downsides. Everything is getting better. For example, some new trees have been planted recently. I have no concerns about the working conditions. It is great that we have our Idea Box. If we do not like something, we immediately write about it and ask people to like our idea. By the way, this cow hanging on the ceiling was also somebody’s crazy idea which got the largest number of likes.”