Scalac’s Summary of 2023: The Road So Far

At the beginning of the new year, at Scalac we’re taking a look back for a moment to appreciate 2023 and what it brought. It was a bumpy ride at times, but the experiences and new perspectives we gathered along the way have been priceless.

This is the ninth year for us as an expert outsourcing and team-extension company. The ninth year in which our experts have been helping companies build their awesome projects. Every year we develop our knowledge, build a strong brand and show that we’re not afraid of new challenges. In many ways, 2023 was a breakthrough year for Scalac, so we encourage you to take a look and check out what happened.

Outsourcing and Team-Extension Experiences

We managed to establish new business relationships with clients from the USA, Europe and the rest of the world! As a result, we were able to collect some really positive feedback about the work of our specialists and the projects we built (you can check out our newest reviews on Clutch!). Outsourcing and team-extensions are not easy tasks, but our specialists proved that they are second to none. Let’s highlight a few of our projects here.

A Few Interesting Projects From 2023:

Web application for hiring

For one of our UK customers, we built a web application for hiring professionals from different industries online. This application has a unique spherical design, authored by its very talented owner working in the arts industry. The Scalac Team fully designed, architected and engineered the whole thing from scratch. We have almost finished integrating it with a mobile application, built by a team from Spain. After that phase is completed, the product will be launched in early 2024.

Data driven tool for talent search

Throughout 2023, Scalac successfully partnered with a team from a Vienna based software engineering professional – one of the top international cloud-based talent acquisition software providers. Our client’s tool offers enterprises the most effective technology tools for smart and data driven talent search and acquisition.

Consulting Ad Tech platform

Scalac provided technology service expertise to one of the leading Ads Tech platforms for our client, offering omnichannel solutions combining innovative media activations and consumer insights. Through its proprietary buying platform, Scalac’s partner offers its clients, media agencies and advertisers, more capacity to activate & optimize their marketing campaigns across all screens (desktop, mobile, tablet, digital billboards, connected TVs) as well as  to include all advertising formats (display, video, audio, in-game ads, etc.).

Internet of Things project

In 2023, Scalac cooperated with an IoT and SmartHome company, by providing support in both backend development and project management. This collaborative effort was aimed at working on an end-to-end Digital Services and Data Analytics platform. The final product helps in effective home management such as indoor climate monitoring, burglar prevention and remote care monitoring of older parents living alone. We’re proud that our tech experience can contribute to such important and innovative actions!

Our Thoughts About Technology And Team Extension: Blog Posts, E-book and More

2023 was a busy year for our specialists. We published expert blogs regarding outsourcing and team-extension, as well as those related to Scala, functional programming and other top technologies. Sharing knowledge is our way of contributing to the development of the community, as well as an opportunity for our developers to prove their skills. Sharing knowledge is our way of contributing to the development of the community, as well as an opportunity for our developers to prove their skills. These articles are definitely worth reading!

Let’s Highlight Some Interesting Blog Posts From 2023:

• AI for Programmers by Michał Szulczewski
• Frontend app-building dilemma: Custom solution or using a library by Szymon Łukasik
• TestContainers in Scala: Use Integration Tests for building your services by Howard Gonzalez
• Advantage of Team-Extension: success through speed, cost-efficiency and quality by Michał Talaśka
• Scala 3 Data Transformation Library: Automating Data Transformations with ducktape by Daria Krasek

And those are only a few, if you want to read more, just check out the rest of our blog.

And here is the jewel in the crown; our Scalac Case Study e-book!

The Scalac Case Study Book consists of collective Scalac knowledge about uses of Scala in business. Throughout the 70 pages of this e-book, you will find various challenges from multiple industries: FinTech, MedTech, E-Learning platforms and more…

• 17 Case Studies!
• 70 pages!
• Over 100+ specialists involved!

Certainly worth reading! Download the e-book here.

Building Community

2023 was also a year of hard work in building a community, which we believe is the main strength of our industry. Hence, our dedicated newsletters, presence at events, and speeches at conferences. Let’s take a peek at these kinds of activities from 2023:

Scalendar

In 2023, we proudly introduced Scalendar, which now has over 1200 subscribers by the end of the year (with 10 issues!). There, you can find all the info about events associated with Scala and Functional Programming. 

Functional World Meetup

We organized 4 Functional World Meetups, with topics such as: Monitoring Scala applications with OpenTelemetry & Mesmer, Scala’s productivity & Cellular Automata, Breaking framework chains with vanilla Scala, Full-Stack ZIO.

ScaLatin Meetups

Our Spanish-language ScaLatin meetups explored various topics, fostering knowledge-sharing: Creando aplicaciones web con Scala Scala.js., Tests de Integración con TestContainers para servicios Scala, Scala y el mercado, Creando una aplicación con ZIO y Temporal, Explorando la Programación Funcional en Scala.

Scalacers on Stage:

Who spoke? And where? :)

• Marta Woźniak-Semeniuk at Programmer’s Week:
  Marta participated in the Hello IT conference during Programmer’s Week, discussing the Agile approach and women in IT.
• Olek Rainko at Scala Days:
  Aleksander delivered an outstanding presentation about ducktape at Scala Days in Seattle.
• Michał Szulczewski at Dev AI Conference:
  Michał Szulczewski spoke at the Dev AI conference at the Warsaw University of Technology, sharing his expertise.
• Olek Rainko at Art of Scala:
  Aleksander presented his ducktape expertise at the Art of Scala event in Warsaw.

Events we attended:

• ZIO World:
  In April, Jorge and Jaro showcased our expertise in API testing and modular Scala code at ZIO World.
• Scala Days in Seattle & Scala Meetup in San Francisco:
  In June, our CEO, Tomasz Bogus, and Aleksander represented Scalac at Scala Days in Seattle. We also organized a Scala Meetup in Oakland in collaboration with Alexy from SF Scala.
• Web Summit:
  In November, our team rocked the Web Summit in Lisbon, showcasing Scalac and Teamy.ai, attracting significant attention and making a mark in the startup world.
• ECIR 2023 Conference:
  Piotr Malak and Robert Komar presented Teamy.AI at the ECIR 2023 conference in Dublin, showcasing our AI system correlating employee teams with IT projects.
• Scala Days in Madrid:
  Anton Galynya from our Business Development Team  participated in Scala Days Madrid. 
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023:
  Our DevOps Team participated in KubeCon and CloudNativeCon Europe 2023. 

As you can see, there was a lot going on because we believe that establishing lasting relationships and friendships is the most important thing in business….

But 2023 was not only about business development. A lot happened in Scalac itself!

2023 in the Eyes of Scalacers

Scalac is not just a company! Scalac is a great community that we have been building for over 9 years and is a real strength that allows us to grow! So let’s take a look at what happened in 2023 among Scalacers….

Do The Right Thing: At Scalac, we firmly believe in the importance of giving back to our community and making a positive impact on the world.

Scalacers doing the Right Thing in 2023:

• Digital Cleanup Day:
  In September, on Recycling Day, we joined the action organized by World Cleanup Day to raise awareness about digital waste and its impact on the environment. We cleaned up a whopping 440.92 GB of digital clutter, contributing to a cleaner digital world.

• WOŚP – Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy:
  In January 2023, we organized an Allegro auction in support of WOŚP – the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. Among the offerings were a business dinner with Lukasz and a sketchnotes workshop with Marta. The winners of the auction, our neighbors, chose the workshop with Marta, setting an inspiring example of doing good for others.
• International Dog Day:
  We celebrated International Dog Day by supporting our four-legged friends and the Damcidom non-governmental organization. Damcidom rescues dogs from various challenging situations and provides them with love and care. We joined hands with these compassionate individuals to support their mission.
• A Fair of Christmas Items for Żuławski Słonecznik::
  In December, our office sparkled with festive decorations crafted by children with disabilities from the Żuławski Słonecznik center. We had the opportunity to purchase these heartwarming products, with the proceeds supporting the center’s activities and the rehabilitation of these remarkable young individuals.
• Holiday Raffle at the University of Technology:
  Partnering with Gdańsk University of Technology students, we continued our annual tradition of spreading holiday cheer with a holiday raffle. As premium partners, we contributed our swag, board games, and Lego sets to support Hospice im. Dutkiewicza in Gdańsk.
• Ubrania do Oddania Campaign:
  In December, our office buzzed with generosity as we collected items for the “Ubrania do Oddania” campaign in collaboration with Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH). For every kilogram contributed, PAH pledged to donate 1 PLN to support clean water and sanitation projects in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Madagascar, and Yemen

Scalac cares about our teams’ wellbeing:

• Let’s Move Together – Spring Challenge:
  We embraced the arrival of spring with a fitness challenge, motivating each other to stay active until the first day of summer.
• International Women’s Day:
  On March 8th, International Women’s Day, we got together to indulge in self-care. We learned the art of applying tapes for facial health and beauty.
• Pink October & Movember Webinar:
  This year, we merged Pink October and Movember into an informative webinar with nutrition experts. We gained insights into how diet impacts hormones and learned about the effects on our well-being and health.
  

The Scalac team having fun:

• Scalac’s 9th Birthday Celebration:
  Scalac turned 9 last year, and we celebrated with a movie-themed office event. Hans Cruise (our Dear CEO)  himself paid us a visit, and we even had a meditation session led by him aimed at resetting our thoughts . Our remote celebration featured an Oscars (The Scallies) twist with prizes in various categories.
• Bonfire in Gdańsk:
  We kicked off the summer with a cozy bonfire at Reagan Park in Gdańsk. Rain or shine, we enjoyed each other’s company and sang some songs.
• Sobieszewo Integration:
  We made the most of our charity auction win (we auctioned these off during the charity auction as part of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity – Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy), a jacuzzi, during a relaxing Sobieszewo integration. It was a time for bonding and relaxation away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
• Pumpkin Party:
  Our annual Pumpkin Party was a spooktacular event that brought us together for some Halloween fun. 
• Winter Meeting in HQ:
  In December, we got together in Gdańsk for a winter team-building meeting, competing on the bowling alley before enjoying a delicious meal together.
• LATAM Carnival Meeting:
  Our LATAM team members, during individual meetings with Gina and Matylda, expressed a desire to connect with colleagues from their region. Gina took the lead in organizing a memorable gathering where they could strengthen their personal bonds and share experiences from the Carnival.
• Winter Mixer (December 14th):
  To cap off the year, we hosted a virtual Winter Mixer that focused on knowledge-sharing. Marta imparted her wisdom on the art of effective questioning, making it an informative and enjoyable event.

At Scalac, we’re more than just work colleagues; we’re a close-knit family that values knowledge, well-being, and having fun together. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in the coming year!

But 2023, with all its happy moments, is already behind us, and we are  left with wonderful memories! Now, however, we are entering another year full of hard work and new events to spread our sails even further – and so our journey continues!

If you want to know what we are planning for this year, don’t be a stranger on this blog. We promise some really big announcements in the near future!

And remember, X Marks The Spot! :)