Artezio

Today’s buzzword:  Data. For healthcare and life sciences, in particular, data is essential.  How it’s interpreted, managed, and made use of, will bring opportunities for healthcare providers and in some instances, the opportunity of new treatment.

With that, every day there are new trends, data transmission formats, standards, regulations, and solutions for distributed databases. Healthcare faces the ongoing challenge of how to make sense of data and how to handle issues of its secure storage, processing, and exchange. With that, the question still remains, “is the risk worth the reward when using third-party solutions”?

As a custom software development company,   Artezio is vendor neutral. We’ve dealt with clients who preferred to use third-party solutions, as well as those who have made a choice to build the whole system from scratch. One thing is certain for both, in order to make this decision, you need to take into account all  critical aspects. Let’s look at a few examples of using third-party solutions/providers and see how they worked out.

1.  TrueVault – a simple solution that allows you to become HIPAA / GDPR compliant without overhauling your entire application and migrating your infrastructure. Sounds great, right?

Especially if most of the work you need to do is on the application side, and healthcare data repository is just a part of your solution. We’ve had examples like that. One of our clients built a web application that provides a user-friendly interface for health practitioners, doctors, and caregivers. Giving them the ability to create, as well as manage medical landing pages in strict compliance with e-health standards. The app has a site wizard to design and build landing pages. It also includes a dashboard to track and manage the page's performance. Being a client/patient facing web application, it deals with a lot of PHI, which is distributed between different users. In essence, it is a React JS application built over  HIPAA compliant storage, represented by TrueVault.

In another case, we used TrueVault to solve a different issue. Imagine a doctor who needs to request tests for patients on a daily basis. Some are standard, others are specialized. How frustrating can that be to make thousands of requests in various systems? How complicated can this process become due to all the required paperwork and missing pieces? What if the tests you need are in small laboratories who are not present in your EHR? Suddenly, a simple routine task becomes an overwhelming dragging torture. We were able to simplify this process for both the lab service providers and the doctors by creating an uber-like multi-tenant portal with a simple interface. The labs and lab services providers subscribe to the portal to have their services featured. Clinicians can make a request to have a set of tests done and get the results to share with their clients/patients using one single platform. The lab requests are automatically routed to participant laboratories in accordance with  HL7 data transfer principles. The environment of this solution is HIPAA and GDPR compliant. It was easy to set it this way with TrueVault.

What’s in TrueVault for you?

Consider using it if you need to get a secure database for your solutions quickly. Another case would be if you have a legacy system and the task of migrating infrastructure is not suitable for your situation.

TrueVault has a plugin API which is well documented and supported. It’s pretty simple, even if your tech knowledge is limited. They also have a very educating blog with valuable tips on GDPR and HIPAA compliance. All you need is to get good UX/UI designers and developers to build your app and you’re all set.

2. Think!EHR Platform – Is a big data solution based on the latest release of OpenEHR specifications. It is designed to store, manage, query, retrieve, and exchange structured electronic health record data. All data is stored in vendor-independent archetypes and templates.

OpenEHR is a standard that describes the management and storage, retrieval, and exchange of electronic health records. It’s also a virtual community working on means of turning healthcare data from the physical form into electronic form as well as ensuring universal interoperability among all forms of electronic data.

One of our large clients needed to create an enterprise scale comprehensive EHR. The system included medical appointments scheduling capabilities and BI dashboard. The main task was to aggregate electronic information and records across healthcare system of a large city following interoperability and safety standards, automate processes, and provide efficient analytics to allow making information-based decisions.

The challenge here was in the complexity of the task and the organizational structure. Every organizational level has its own rules and follows its own procedures. It took a while to really dig into the OpenEHR solutions and capabilities they provide. We chose Think!EHR and it helped us to streamline the project and get the client going with the MVP to test it at one of the organizations in a matter of a few months. Then based on the feedback collected and the roadmap, we’ve created a modular solution covering all processes and aspects across all levels of the healthcare system. The modules include EMR and electronic documents workflow, patients record management, medical institutions and doctors information, the online appointment for patients, and complex scheduling based on the doctors’ workload.

What’s in Think!EHR Platform for you?

Consider using it if you need an enterprise scale solution and have developers to help you. It’s a complex tool so you need someone who has mastered it.

Use it if your primary focus is on electronic health records (EHR) and related systems. The platform has an array of interfaces including REST, SMART, HL7, FHIR, and IHE.XDS. One of the benefits is in the integration of external terminologies like ICD, LOINC, and SNOMED-CT.
Another advantage is the OpenEHR community where you can find a lot of answers and help. Even though it’s a complicated solution it provides unmatched capabilities for you to automate all processes. So you will need to be looking for an experienced developer to help you with that. First of all, they need to understand the principles of OpenEHR. Secondly, it’s very likely you will need someone who can customize and tailor the solution specifically to your needs.
 
3. SpiritARCHIVE (PACS) by Tiani is a software solution for handling, storing, printing and transmitting of medical imaging and pictures (DICOM – Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine).

So, speaking about various data formats to deal with (documents, papers, images, test results, etc.). While it’s more or less clear with text, what do we do with pictures, scans, MRIs, CTs? We solved this task for one of our clients and SpiritARCHIVE helped us do it effectively. We built a HIS platform for unified patient records and documents workflow management. The client needed to obtain results from digital radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, computer tomography, and sonography, and get them matched as well as attached to their patient records.
Patients’ data is stored in a highly standardized and protected environment and includes DICOM images, 2D/3D objects, PDFs, JPEGs, video files (MP4, MPEG, AVI), CDA files, and other data formats. The system unifies different formats and presents them to the users on a single interface in accordance with IHE standard. It allows doctors the ability to quickly retrieve and modify patients’ records and documents. SpiritARCHIVE, in this case, enables integration of medical imaging devices – modalities, scanners, servers, workstations, printers, network hardware, picture archiving, and Communication Systems (PACS) from multiple manufacturers.

What’s in SpiritARCHIVE for you?

Consider using it if you need to store, handle, print, and transmit medical imaging (including digital images, results of digital radiography, CT, MRI, and sonography). This solution observes strict adherence to IHE criteria and it’s also compatible with systems of different manufacturers (modalities, scanners, servers, workstations, printers, and network hardware). Use it if you work with 2D and 3D objects or video files. 
 
That’s just a couple of examples. Think about it, how often do you find yourself torn between the latest technology and the regulations in healthcare? Knowing the standards or just the technology is no longer enough anymore, is it?

Getting a consultant or a company to help you sort everything out is often viable. If you do think about it, pick someone who has already done this with different solutions. Someone who is fluent in the latest technology and familiar with the healthcare standards. Someone who can offer effective solution taking into account all these rules you have to follow and the results you would like to achieve.

We could be your guys for that. Drop us a line to ana@medsoftworks.com, let’s talk.

Robots or Programs?

The concepts of robotics and artificial intelligence are often mixed in technology development forecasts. People imagine that robots will replace lawyers, clerks, and even high-ranking officials. But robots are often considered to be mechanisms allowing people to automate a particular process, while artificial intelligence is able to make major decisions. Thus, Big Data processing technology and machine learning are at the heart of the progress that will free humans from routine.

A key factor in automating professional functions would be the use of Big Data, based on which AI would make decisions. Law is one of the priority areas for the introduction of AI. Working with Big Data already allows an idea of the potential development within the legal sphere. For example, the software used for automated analysis of a large number of specific judicial precedents and world court practices could help in the prediction of a court decision for single cases. On the other hand, the analysis of a large amount of socio-economic data could allow the prediction of emergence of controversial situations or the need for new regulators.

Digital Justice

Online justice and, in general, “digitization” of the legal practice would significantly save lawyers time and ensure the involvement of the most competent and unique specialists in the industry. With new automation tools, people's work would be limited only to responding to online monitoring results and AI tips. Talking about the development of AI automation systems, experts predict the further wide distribution of solutions based on the analysis of Big Data which would be able to give people clear instructions for actions in certain situations (low-quality products in stores, accidents, conclusion of contracts, and much more).

However, AI would not be able to completely replace lawyers. Rather, automation of routine functions and processes related to office work and the implementation of simple, single-variant actions would most likely occur. Today there are many automated systems for the preparation of contracts, dispute protocols, and other documents. More informatization allows going further and creating an automatic system for drafting court decisions.

As a result, lawyers would serve more as consultants - they would help choose the most convenient variants of behavior. But the legally significant decision itself would be prepared by a smart system based on the principles of a neural network. A lawyer would only agree or correct the draft of a legally relevant document.

Is absolutely honest digital justice possible? If we imagine that a judge impartially considers two similar (at first glance) cases, for example, theft, when a person stole food to save his children from starvation, and when a thief stole a pension - the last savings from a single elderly woman. What decision would AI make? It would probably bring the accused to around the same level of justice. After all, they would both be considered thieves from a legal perspective. It is unlikely that the program would be able to understand the difference between two different ethical situations and take into account additional factors. Of course, AI could be an impartial judge because a developer sets the program algorithm as such. It is enough to include an indulgence adjustment in the program code, for example, to representatives of authorities or to take into account certain patterns of human behavior. But the problem is not how well AI can handle court cases, but in the credibility of the people writing the code.

If the judiciary is in the area of responsibility of the state artificial intelligence, then the state would bear responsibility for all wrong decisions. And if there are living judges for whom artificial intelligence is only a consultant offering alternatives and a controller at the same time, then an individual person would be responsible.

AI as a Consultant

It is still difficult to entrust AI with the judge’s mantle, but it already does make an excellent adviser on key issues of jurisprudence. Artificial intelligence can use ready-made samples developed by humans, or be guided by certain criteria that serve as conditions for decision-making. For example, a person who got into an accident could address a lawyer for consultation. Another example – a simple dissolution of a marriage without sharing property and issues with children. A woman or man only needs to know what has to be done in order to dissolve the marriage and what actions to be taken.

This option is real and has already been implemented in most mobile devices. Ask a question to the voice assistant in a smartphone, and it will offer you answers based on online results. This is a counseling system based on the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Based on the same principle, a robot lawyer could also be created.

In the age of robotics and smart technologies, AI could replace the many functions of a lawyer. But this applies only to repetitive and routine tasks, such as court claims by Sberbank of Russia, which, by the way, plans to cut about 3,000 lawyers. In the case of non-typical, non-standard situations, the program would not be able to replace a human lawyer who has not only legal knowledge, but also a creative mindset and code of ethics.

A Robot President

To hand over the reins of state power to artificial intelligence is both an interesting, and dangerous idea. The main state position involves not only responsibility, but also a certain flexibility of thinking - the ability to work in unusual situations. Today, AI is not able to effectively solve global economic problems and manage people. Experts believe that the president is the face of the state, and it must be human. The issues of trust to a program remain. What if the AI president starts a war? The scenario from the science-fiction movies “Terminator” or “Matrix” may become real.

Blockchain and artificial intelligence are undoubtedly breakthrough technologies. At the same time, quantum computations are developing very rapidly. If scientists succeed in combining all these achievements together in the future, then we would receive unique software solutions that could solve many complex tasks.

This is already the third themed addition to  Pixel King – a coloring by numbers app with the role-playing elements.
The previous update became available at Halloween. The app developed by Artezio is available for iOS devices and can be downloaded for free from the  App Store.

The game received positive users’ feedback who appreciated the content quality and the possibility of the gradual development of the game character.
“ Themed updates for Pixel King have already become a good tradition. We strive to support the community and open access to new content for users,” said Dmitry Parshin, the Head of Artezio Development Center.

Pixel King is a new game in the genre of coloring by numbers that encourages players by gradually opening up interesting content and tools. Users can enjoy free content as well as special drawings and tools that are available by subscription. They allow speeding up playing through the game and character development.

Pixel King not only motivates children and adults to be creative, but is also a social platform for supporting gifted people. Developers collaborate with children who dream of making their work open to the world, and they add their pictures to the Pixel King library.

Blockchain isn’t just used for cryptocurrency.
Blockchain is quite a new technology for business. Most often, its application is associated with the cryptocurrency market. However, blockchain technology is also suitable for traditional business. Classic databases are based on the Create-Read-Update-Delete (CRUD) process and imply that a user with administrative rights can change data at any time. Blockchain technology implies the opposite principle - data that enters the chain cannot be changed or edited. Moreover, this data is distributed and decentralized. Recently, this technology that began with the “digital gold” of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been applied in other aspects of accounting and data storage. Leading car manufacturers such as General Motors, Renault, BMW, Ford created a joint blockchain consortium MOBI (Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative) to automate the process of supplying components, accounting for cash flow, and logistics management.
Blockchain can be used in almost any sphere of production and service. The only question is where this technology will be most effective and necessary.

Healthcare and smart contracts
Blockchain technologies are universal and can be used almost anywhere where it makes sense. Blockchain is already being introduced in diamond industry, which allows distributors to quickly and clearly identify the origin of minerals. There are also many examples of implementation in the service sector. For example, the use of blockchain in the logistics for delivering goods allows visibility into the entire history of a transport chain. This ensures maximum transparency of the delivery process, increasing the processing speed through smart contracts, and improving quality control.
One of the most promising areas for blockchain implementation is healthcare.
Blockchain in healthcare would allow several processes to be improved at once. For example, it would save clinics from long lines at the registrar’s office. Currently, medical history is recorded by doctors in patients’ personal records. The introduction of blockchain would allow the storage of digitized information, which means it would be easier and faster to find, and patient data would  not be lost. In addition, the automatic record of the results of all tests and previous examinations would allow the most accurate diagnoses, reducing medical errors to a minimum.
Blockchain is also easy to use in production. For example, in the production of milk, it would be possible to see not only the basic parameters of the product and its composition, but also under what conditions it was produced, how and when it was transported, and other data. But most importantly, this information would not only be easy to access, but also reliable.
It is worth mentioning smart contracts which were first implemented in 2013 in the Ethereum network. A key feature of this type of cryptographic contract is the absence of a third party controlling the contract execution. For example, when renting a room, payment should arrive from the 10th to the 15th day of each month - if payment does not arrive or does not arrive in due amount - access to the room is automatically blocked. This principle could be applied to mortgages and credit cars as well. Theoretically, all contractual relations could be transferred to smart contracts. In trade, this could apply to purchases on the internet - until you get the goods in your hands and approve it, the seller does not receive payment. This could also be beneficial to international deliveries where payments and delivery terms need to clearly be controlled. In law,  most disputes would be able to be resolved without participation of courts and notaries.

Industry and Agriculture
The introduction of blockchain technologies would create new conditions for the development of entire sectors of the economy. It would help manufacturers validate the product and keep track of all participants in the supply chain, since data would be impossible to replace. Blockchain introduction in the agricultural sector would minimize the number of intermediaries, which now account for most of the operating profit. The new technology could provide market transparency, since it would be possible to track each delivery of products, for example, a batch of low-quality meat and so on.
Blockchain is suitable for any business process in which many counterparties are involved, where each of them could somehow affect the entire chain. A simple example - documents confirming legal aspects with several signatories. It is important to understand here that each has put his/her signature according to the law and that nothing should been corrected or removed afterwards.  This signature confirms the signing of the document before the final approval. Blockchain helps ensure the transparency of transactions or actions within the system. For business, these are huge opportunities.
Blockchain is not just another innovative paradigm that could be embedded in existing economic models. This is a paradigm shift, a transition to fundamentally different algorithms for building a global market. Today, such countries as the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, China, Estonia and Belarus are at the forefront of this trend. Estonia, for example, plans to transfer all state databases to the blockchain platform, as well as to issue licenses for crypto exchange operations, thus creating conditions for registering crypto exchange. They, in turn, would bring new financial flows, both investment and tax, into the country.

Risks
Despite many opportunities, blockchain brings serious risks that could lead to significant financial and reputational losses for businesses.
As already mentioned, blockchain technology is quite suitable for automating commercial processes. It allows tracking of all financial consumables of a company, actions with assets and liabilities—it actually reduces the company's “black” bookkeeping to zero, if it exists. However, it is not possible to fully automate commercial processes, since all company financial decisions are made by a person, even if based on the results obtained using digital analytics.
It is necessary to take into account the fact that when introducing automated systems based on blockchain technologies for commercial processes, the company exposes itself to additional risks. If the system is hacked, attackers will receive all information about the company's activities.
Also, the issue of storing large volumes of data that blockchain assumes in organizations, has not yet been resolved.
In addition, blockchain contradicts the laws of personal data, which require not only to store information, but also, to remove it from the chain at the request of the owner. And in this case, the main advantage of the blockchain is the reliability of data storage, and it also becomes the main drawback. Developers of the European regulations on personal data (GDPR) already believe the use of blockchain in individual projects related to the collection and storage of personal data could be the main reason for future trials and serious fines.
Businesses will decide with regard to its financial capabilities, risks and benefits which data storage to use. It is clear that this new technology allows problems in the field of reliable data storage to be solved and the automation of some processes. Blockchain technologies attract attention, first of all, by their versatility. They are actively used in the banking and financial sectors. In addition, blockchain could and most likely will be applied in different areas from copyright to managing the voting process and government. Because of this, it is necessary to create a good legislative base to ensure immunity from initiatives related to digital oblivion and the need to edit and delete data. It is possible that blockchain technology eventually will be introduced into all spheres of human life.

PhotoVault, an app for storing secrets, will support the most technologically advanced identification tools. Thus, information stored in special folders will be protected at the iOS operating system level.

PhotoVault by Artezio creates an extra level of protection for photos, videos, and documents. Users just need to move their private files to the folders offered by the app, and afterwards it will be impossible to find or view them without additional identification.

Creating PhotoVault, the development team sought to minimize the possibility of accessing files accidentally when the smartphone is unlocked or the password is known not only to the owner. In PhotoVault, you can use a symbolic password as well as modern identification systems – TouchID and FaceID.

“ PhotoVault is a solution for protecting user data. Therefore, we added new identification tools that were developed by Apple and are positioned by the corporation as reliable protection of devices against unauthorized access to data,” says Igor Esipovich, Head of Artezio Mobile Development Department.

The mobile app allows not only hiding files, but also has the features that reduce the possibility of unauthorized access. To do this, users can set a false password and track hacking attempts.

The app is available for all iOS devices on the  Apple Store.

Accessible Internet services are a way to create a barrier-free environment when everyone (regardless of physical limitations) gets access to all capabilities of the information network. Artezio team helped Sberbank of Russia to adapt the information guide for the program purposes to create accessible sites. 

“ In Russia, about 50 mln people have special needs, which is almost a third of the country’s citizens. They are people with disabilities, elderly people, and those who are temporarily in a special situation: parents with babies or people with broken arms or legs. The guide was developed for the Sberbank Group of companies. But we decided to share it with the professional community, because we want everyone to be able to contribute to the accessibility of the digital environment,” say the authors at the official site of the project.

The new information project is an example of an accessible resource. Artezio specialists have done a lot of work so that the information on the site is structured in accordance with the international standard WCAG 2.1 and is easy to read, including people with special needs.

“ When doing the page layout, we tried to use components that were already tested and met all the requirements of the information accessibility standard. It was necessary to adapt the navigation elements and, in general, all interactive and static objects on the pages for people who use special voice readers on the Internet,” says Andrey Shagalov, Artezio Quality Assurance Director. 

Besides, people who were involved in the project testing were those for whom the availability of content and services on the Internet was of high importance.

“ A visually impaired testing specialist participated in the project on the part of Sberbank; it was very interesting experience that allowed us to understand how web apps are perceived by people with special needs as well as to take a different look at the design and creation of such apps. It is important to understand that by helping people with special needs to easily use digital services, we simultaneously make them easier and more accessible to all,” highlights Andrey Shagalov.

Work on creating accessible resources in Russia will continue. It is planned that in January 2019 Artezio team will hold a master class on the development of accessible services for Sberbank developers.
 

How to Do Business with А gile: Using IT Tools to Beat Competitors


Alexey Latinnik, the Head of Internal Development Department at Artezio
 
The rapidly changing market conditions and mass automation are forcing businesses to look for new methods of dealing with competitors. Many companies and entrepreneurs are trying to repeat the success and reveal the secret formula for the success of IT leaders: Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft with revenues exceeding the GDP of some countries. What business practices can be learned from IT companies to beat competitors? Maybe Agile?
What makes successful companies successful?


We live in the era of the digital economy where new information products and services come to the fore, they are closely intertwined in all spheres of life, and therefore, this is the reason for success. Just look at the Fortune Global 500 list. At the forefront are WalMart, BP, Toyota Motor, and Volkswagen. The IT giant Apple takes only the ninth position. Thus, it turns out that it is not necessary to work with IT products to succeed.
There is no magic formula or “silver bullet”. However, common features and trends are easily traced in the actions of all successful companies. For example, flexibility, responsiveness and readiness for change; focus on creating a continuous stream of values; continuous improvement of the product, processes and team; short supply cycles, experiments to test ideas on the market. Such companies are said to be on the path of Agile transformation.
This can be described by the term Business Agility — this is a way of doing business in which an organization puts the interests of a client first and agrees to continuously adjust to their changing needs.
 
How does Agile work?


Obviously, the old planned model with a hierarchical or matrix structure has become obsolete and taken a back seat. The situation on the market can change at any second and following a clear plan, approved at the beginning of the year, can be a disastrous decision. Even if you try to quickly agree on a new course of action, bureaucratic procedures will slow down this process so much that the new plan may be irrelevant.
In the field of IT, the analogue of a planned economy is the so-called cascade (waterfall) software development model. It requires a clear detailed wording in the requirements and a consistent transition to other stages without the possibility of returning to the previous stage. Simply put, this is a sequential action plan. Therefore, an error that has crept into the tasks may initially become a serious problem at the development, testing, or implementation stage. In addition, the result, which is a working software solution, as a product, will be visible at the very end after going through all project stages. What is it possible to do in such a case, what alternatives are there?
Suppose a large customer has come to you with a multi-billion dollar contract. Will you refuse such a customer who will say: "I am ready to pay good money, but I want to see the result right away; I have no requirements, but I have a general concept." Is it possible to take on such a project? It may seem that implementing such a project is a utopia with a previously known sad end. This is not true if you are familiar with Agile.
Agile practices allow iteratively creating a product (Product Increment) under uncertainty, gradually enlarging it to the final state. By the end of the iteration (Sprint) equal, for example, to two weeks, you will have a ready-made working prototype with a basic set that you will be able to demonstrate to the client and immediately receive feedback. Work is built in such a way that the most important tasks (User Story) that have the highest priority from a business point of view are always taken into work. If the task becomes irrelevant, it is simply removed from the task list (Product Backlog) or roadmap. This allows you to quickly check the key concept, review the strategy and promptly deliver the product and services that meet modern realities.
Using the task board with statuses (Kanban board) allows you to visualize the current state of affairs and move tasks from the initial state to the "ready" state. To do this, you can use the Internet analogs of Kanban boards (Trello, Jira Agile, TFS, etc.) or physical boards, with lined columns of statuses (for example, “what to do”, “in operation”, “checked”, “done”, etc.) and stickers with the name of tasks, estimate, and executor.
What is the value of Agile?
The core values of Agile were formed by the independent IT specialists in February 2001 and are reflected in the Agile Manifesto, which consists of 4 key ideas and 12 principles.
The following Agile values are highlighted:
1. People and interaction are more important than processes and tools
Allow the team to organize themselves and solve work issues on the spot communicating with each other. No one in the team likes micromanagement and excessive bureaucracy.
2. Working product is more important than documentation
Better do than talk or write about what needs to be done. When you do a small piece of work and show the result, you will understand earlier if it works or not. Experiment, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but correct them the next time (conduct regular retrospective analysis with the team).
3. Cooperation with the customer is more important than meeting the terms of the contract
Stay in touch with your clients. Give them what they need and what they want. Offer a ready-made working solution, and not just the fulfillment of a contract for obligations. The customer must be a part of the team.
4. Willingness to change is more important than following the original plan
Everything is changing fast, so let's be flexible, although it may be too late to become flexible. It is convenient to track changes during the regular review of the task list and “cleaning” of outdated irrelevant tasks (Backlog grooming). Review priorities with the customer, priorities are not static — in the next iteration, priorities for tasks may change. It should be noted that the Agile Manifesto does not at all deny the importance of tools, processes, plans, documentation, etc., it rather sets priorities aimed at obtaining high-quality operational results, which ultimately allows businesses to do business.
Where is Agile used other than IT?
 
Let's look at some examples of using Agile practices by non-IT companies.
- Amancio Ortega Goana, the owner of the world's largest retailer of fashion clothes Inditex that includes such brands as Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and others actively apply agile approaches in almost all his companies. Constant experimentation for hypothesis testing, quick entry of a new product with a short time-to-market cycle (Time to Market), and quick feedback from customers allow Zara to produce up to 40 collections per year, compared to other brands making just from 4 to 8 collections.
- Air Methods (the founder is Roy Morgan, over 6,000 employees), specializing in providing emergency medical care using air transport, faced the problem of staff training and did not understand how much time and effort it would take to create trainings and training projects.
The trainers adopted Agile practices, in particular the Scrum framework, using the task board (Trello tool), backlog management, and prioritization. Tasks from interested persons were collected on the board, each task was assigned a category: “green” tasks, the most important ones, can be performed now; “Red” are in the queue. Regularly, as the “green” tasks were resolved, the team and stakeholders gathered to identify new priorities and discussions.
- From 2008 to 2011, the Norwegian State Pension Fund implemented a large-scale project for domestic needs where 12 Scrum teams were involved. At various times, the number of participants reached from 80 to 180+ people. Without the support of the top management, this project could hardly be implemented.
Agile techniques established well in small and medium businesses: in recruiting companies, retail and commerce, restaurant and hotel business, companies organizing events, exhibitions, etc.
Agile is closer to you than you even think. You won’t believe it, but housing maintenance services also use Agile practices with daily planning meetings and the ability to increase the priority of tasks if the customer really insists. Some waiters still write down orders into notebooks and use stickers in the order queue in the kitchen for cooking.
Why doesn't Agile always work?
 
Once again, I want to note that Agile is not a panacea. Many companies failed to accept Agile for various reasons after several attempts to introduce it with the help of experienced Agile managers and coaches. The reasons are expensive implementation and training, revision of all processes, lack of qualified specialists, no understanding of implementation goals or implementation of Agile in a separate business area process, fear of making mistakes and experiments, lack of interest and lack of motivation, no confidence in the staff for the delegation of authority, a rigid hierarchical structure of the company and unnecessarily used legalized processes, psychological resistance to all innovations and changes, and much more. Besides, Agile should not be used in projects with a high degree of risk occurrence (development of life support systems, in the aerospace industry, atomic energy, etc.). Therefore, it is worth thinking several times and thoroughly examining the issue before introducing the Business Agility into your company.
How should Agile be used in everyday life?
Finally, I will share some life hacks: some elements of Agile can be useful in everyday life, for example, in a project called “celebrate the New Year”:
●         Plan a sprint and rank the tasks. Make up a simple TO-DO list of tasks, more important ones are placed at the top of the list (go to sauna; buy champagne and food; invite Vasya, Vera, Nadya, Lyuba to the party; congratulate relatives; cook Olivier salad; decorate a Christmas tree, etc.).
Copy the task list to the stickers and specify the friends’ names. Use a Kanban board, a lined notebook, or just a wall with status columns (“Not Done”, “Someone is Doing Something”, “Done”), put our stickers on the wall.
●         Have a daily scrum or brief meeting status with the team: what I did yesterday, what I’m planning for today, if there are any problems (in our case, the New Year chat in the messenger can be used).
During the sprint itself (it’s only 2 weeks left till the New Year!), look at the board, shift the task stickers as things progress (The girls did great job, and Vasya didn’t do anything! We’ll have to give this task to someone else and ask Nadya to buy tangerines and chairs).
●    Conduct a demo and review of the sprint (everything seems to be ready as planned: everyone gathered at the table and TV, the Christmas tree and guests are dressed up; dishes, Olivier salad, slicing, champagne and everything is ready; the chiming clock; wait, someone is missing. .. it seems that we forgot Vasya in the car).
●    Do a retrospective analysis (we hold a meeting and talk with the team on January 1. Vasya for some reason is not completely satisfied, we analyze why).
●    De-Javu or planning a new sprint-2 (we are thinking over how to celebrate Old New Year again at Vasya's place).
And finally, I’d like to add: don’t be afraid to implement Agile, be careful not to introduce Agile.