In 2022, we got bigger by 11 new adults and 9 new-born bartans, drank 10,039 beverages from the coffee machine and ran 9,170 km. However, we evaluate our year not only through numbers, but especially through the feedback we receive from colleagues and partners. So what have the last 12 months been like in our company? We summarized the highlights we’re most proud of.
January
We started the year in a big way – by obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 certification. At this point, we could have said, “Great, we’ve got the paper, we’re done!” Yet the opposite is true. For us, certification means a commitment to continuous improvement. For example, we wanted to introduce automatic registration of software errors for 100% of projects or a strict three-phase start of cooperation, which would guarantee even more transparent functioning of the development. Today, we can assess that we’ve achieved a number of the objectives and we believe that there’ll be more to come in the new year.
February
After a one-year break, we renewed our traditional company ski trip. After the successful team building in 2020, we decided to conquer Kasprowy Wierch peak again. Stano managed to capture the whole experience on video and in addition to snow fun, we also enjoyed dancing in the center of Zakopane or a feast full of local specialties.
March
We set up a new blog category dealing with security and started with a somewhat controversial article about the cyber attack on the Zem a vek page. Since then, we regularly write articles about this topic. We try to educate not only developers and offer them tips on how to program a secure website or e-shop, but we also devoted several texts to the general public. This resulted in a handy checklist, dictionary or a whole event focused on security – Frontend Masters vol. 21.
April
Mirka got the title of a certified Scrum master! She handled 80 questions in English in 60 minutes and it helped her a lot that many of them concerned a practice that she has had more than enough of in 6 years with this agile methodology. The certification motivated her to share her knowledge even more and that’s why she’s been writing about Scrum on our blog ever since, and at the same time lecturing – for example at Profesia Days or as part of events organized by Košice IT Valley. The successes of our projects, which we are able to keep improving also thanks to this methodology, proves that the development according to Scrum makes sense.
I’m proud of our team because in 2022 we were able to apply 95% of things from retrospective directly into practice in cooperation with the client.
– Kamil
May
The warm weather slowly tempted us to the first sports performances. Before that, however, we fully immersed ourselves in the co-organization of the Zelené Pleso Run event. Since it was the first post-covid edition, we wanted it to be a little extra. So we’ve prepared a new logo and a website for it and we’ve provided an attractive starter pack in decomposable bags from our client ECO Boxes. It turned out great!
June
Some colleagues came to the summer team building in our favourite Levoča as part of the Bike to Work initiative, how else, on a bicycle. They were even the first ones there! And also thanks to this great sport performance, they eventually cycled or ran 2,084 km together, saving over 514 kg of CO2. The team building itself was original again – we spiced it up with the taste of the Mediterranean (Mišo cooked a real paella with seafood) and a flight over the Tatras. Traditional activities included singing together – this time with no less than 5 guitars!
July
Summer also brought exceptional project successes. Our longtime client wanted to obtain accreditation for the Belgian market for his Crossuite application and we therefore had to incorporate 140 different requirements. At the end, they were evaluated by a special commission and today we can say that the process was successful. What did our client gain from the accreditation? Every doctor who buys the app in Belgium receives an annual subsidy of 800 Euros from the state! This, of course, means more customers for Crossuite and, ultimately, more money for further development.
I am proud that in 2022, we brought Crossuite to such a state that it was the first software in Belgium to obtain full accreditation. And personally, I’m glad that I still find the desire to learn new things and have the opportunity to use them at work.
– Erik
August
At bart, the year 2022 could also be called the year of the Cloud. We’ve successfully moved part of the Crossuite application and also SportNet.Online there. In the first case, we used Amazon Web Services, and in the second case, Mongo Cloud Atlas. What did we gain by this? More data, for example. Thanks to the convenient approach to monitoring, we can better evaluate the use of resources and precisely map a path to a problem, or even completely prevent it. That’s why we automatically place new e-commerce projects in the Cloud, and who knows, we may have everything in it in time.
In 2022, I’m particularly proud of the transition of SpotNet to Mongo Atlas and the gradual start of using its services (Atlas Search, Atlas Charts…). I’m also pleased with the transition and the prepared migration of the portal sportnet.sme.sk to next.js. And last but not least, I’m proud of the well-managed start of the development of a new project that’s completely cloud ready (including development and builds) and built on the new GraphQL technology, next.js 13.
– Michal
September
How could we assess this year as successful without acquiring new clients? In autumn, we managed to launch a robust e-shop with a database of over 180,000 products from 12 supplier feeds, fuego.sk, and a little later also vonavydomov.sk full of tailor-made hacks. In addition to these two clients, Moris Slovakia has also been added to our database, and we’re currently developing a car rental application for them (that’s the new cloud-ready project that Mišo mentioned :)). How it’ll turn out and when you’ll be able to try it, you’ll certainly find that out in one of our monthly inspirations.
October
This year, again, we didn’t break our company tradition and participated in the International Peace Marathon in Košice. On the track, we were represented by 11 bartans – a four-member relay, five half-marathoners and two marathoners. Unlike the previous runs, however, this one had a new dimension – we helped with the organization of pacemakers and we also took on the task to help runners reach their goals. That’s why we organized several great events together, such as a pacemakers’ training or running with elite racers, and also created unique pacemaker profiles. We believe that our activities have elevated the role of the “motivators” to a new level in the eyes of both spectators and runners.
I’m proud to have gotten into Bart, among the great people around me in Crossuite as well as beyond it. And even though I didn’t plan on participating in the marathon at first, I’m proud to have had the chance to be a part of the relay, even at the last minute, and to have managed it in time that I didn’t even dream about.
– Števo
November
In November we hosted a unique hackathon. Colleagues from Dr. Max came all the way from the Czech Republic and together we improved content management in one afternoon. In addition, we managed to film an interesting conversation with the Prague e-commerce team about how such a huge international project is actually being developed, whether programmers themselves have a say in strategic decisions or what a candidate for a position in the currently 120-member development team should know.
December
We continue in another company sport tradition – cold water immersion! New members joined the permanent polar bears this year and they had to chop their way into the water too. They’re so passionate that they went swimming even after our annual company party! This time we organized it in Viničky, in the family winery Zlatá Putňa. Again, it didn’t pass without singing, dancing, a raffle for a good cause and, of course, a speech and an end-of-the-year balancing.
What did we find out? That we’re getting younger (the average age of all colleagues is only 31 years!), we’re growing (there are already 56 of us!) and we’re still able to create digital experiences that make sense. So, for the new year, we only wish that it should stay like this. ?
P.S.: You can also find the video summary of our year on Instagram @bart.sk_digital_products
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