Issuu

BUI LDI NG IT

04 10 20

COVER STORY

Super-fast modular configuration with no margin for error AC ADEMY

Life-long learning EXP ERT

Help your teams move forward

“With this application, we make twenty times as many calculations in the same amount of time and the margin of error is rolling down!” Arvid Duijzer | founder of ModuleMakers

ISSUE 3 | 2022

I NTROD UCTION

TENSE ECONOMY AND TENSE LABOUR MARKET A pandemic, chaos in logistics, a war and consequent inflation figures that are through the roof are shaking the economy. At the same time, there are more vacancies than job seekers. This makes organisations face challenges. Digitalisation offers a solution. Imagine being able to perform the same process 20 times faster with an improved application? Digital innovating together Based on knowledge, LINKIT helps companies deliver more value for customers and remain competitive by guiding digital innovations. You can also stay competitive by scaling with the same number of employees with the help of digitization. This magazine provides a broader view of these projects. Projects that we carry out and make possible together with customers, partners, freelancers, and above all together with our people.

FACTS & FIGUR ES

DAAN DE GROOF CEO LINKIT IT & Innovation

VISITORS AT ITNEXT.IO our Knowledge platform 10.006.248 people visited ITNEXT.io in 2021

ModuleMakers For ModuleMakers, a complex engineering and calculation process has been captured in one handy app, which means that twenty times as many calculations can be made in the same time.

Life-long learning

INTERNATIONAL WORKFORCE 21 nationalities

Due to continuous new developments and insights, it is important for IT professionals to continue to develop. LINKIT puts this into practice as an IT partner.

Sports and data

ERIC HOLIERHOEK CCO LINKIT

INNOVATION FUNNEL 4 iniatives in LINKIT’s innovation funnel

The idea that sports clubs have to do 'something' with data has now dawned. An interactive round table session brings insights.

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

04 07 08 10

COVER STORY

Modular configuration with no margin for error LI N KIT EX P LOR ERS

From excavations to low code ITN EX T

IT people’s favorite reading AC ADEMY

Life-long learning. At LINKIT we put it into practice!

12 14 15 16

I N TH I S I SSUE

Table of contents

I N TH E P ICTUR E

Hier sind wir! Our first office in Germany N EWS BY TES

Talk show: Studio LINKIT I N NOVATION

From great idea to mature innovation P ER FOR MANCE MANAGEM ENT

Innovative and ambitious goals within reach

18 20 23

C ASE

Sports and data: Where to start? EXP ERT

Help your teams move forward P R EVI EW

In the next Together

COVER STORY

SUPER-FAST MODULAR CONFIGURATION WITH NO MARGIN FOR ERROR Twenty times as many calculations in the same amount of time With an application for ModuleMakers, a corporate start-up that emerged from tech giant Croonwolter&dros, LINKIT captured a complex engineering and calculation process in one handy program.

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

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Energy from many angles For ModuleMakers, it was not the first time they collaborated with LINKIT. Earlier, an application was already developed with which product engineers could design building systems. The new issue was complex: the products already developed had to be fully configurable with a new application, including various conditional conditions. For example, you can think of the height of a building, the combination of insulation material with pipes of a specific diameter or, more generally, whether different connections fit together. Therefore, the project started with a design sprint, in which the energy was immediately good. “We sat down with everyone involved, which allowed us to paint a complete picture of the challenge,” says Arvid

Duijzer, founder of ModuleMakers. “As a result, the result fits in well with the wishes, and the project quickly gets a high level of involvement.” To the essence… Therefore, during the design sprint, it was important to go back to the core of the issue: How can we optimize the engineering process to make both faster and better modular configurations? The mixed team, including developers from both LINKIT and ModuleMakers, eventually got through to the essence. Jonathan Wigmans, UX designer at LINKIT: “Once we established that those modular products actually worked with standard objects and variables, we had the building blocks we needed for the solution. This allowed us to put together every possible product configuration.” …and the drawing board At the end of the design sprint, a prototype was immediately made to see whether the solution was in the right direction because the new application had to be robust, error-free, accessible, and easy to maintain. “In the technology world, people think visually,” Arvid explains. “By directly involving the users in the process, we were able to increase

“It shows the power of design to solve these kinds of process problems” support.” Jonathan agrees: “It shows the power of design to solve these kinds of process problems.” Low code for a fast turnaround time The application was developed in low code (a technique that works with pre-made functionalities so that little

SUSTAINABILITY BUILDINGS, BIG CHALLENGE THE UPCOMING YEARS: • In 2050, the Netherlands wants to reduce the CO2 emissions net to 0. • Only 10 percent of the construction industry is actually sustainable. • Until 2030, according to the climate agreement the first 1.5 million homes are sustainable. • The energy label obligation applies to offices in 2023.

FAST FACTS

here is a lot to consider when developing a new building or making an existing building more sustainable. For example, it is necessary to consider which systems for climate management should be installed and which materials are required. With millions of combinations of options and various variants from pipes and insulation material to mounting brackets and taps, this is quite a complicated, error-prone and time-consuming job for ModuleMakers. Because everything at ModuleMakers revolves around making the work more modular and less error-prone, they turned to LINKIT to transform this design process. First, the excel file, which requires manual input, was converted into a program. LINKIT and ModuleMakers developed the solution in a joint team: a decision tree that streamlines the entire design process to identify which modules fit which type of buildings, and the right combinations can be easily put together.

development time is required) with OutSystems. During the design sprint, the developers immediately validated the technical feasibility of the ideas, which ensured that the development got off to a flying start. Then, the solution was built in five two-week sprints based on the visual and technical design. This resulted in a prototype, to which a few parts still had to be added, including the structure for the database and the output that was needed for other departments within ModuleMakers. This application is certainly not a one-to-one translation of the original Excel. Jonathan explains: “With what we have delivered, we have gone for the greatest possible added value. It

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

COVER STORY

has not become a questionnaire, but an extensive decision tree, with conditional logic and an underlying database that can be continuously supplemented. This also makes it future-proof.” The team eventually developed the application in an astonishingly short period of time. ModuleMakers received an entirely usable technical application after only ten weeks, of which only the database had to be filled. The choice for low code also meant they could easily manage their application themselves

and, if necessary, quickly adapt it without being dependent on LINKIT. Savings from start to finish The ModuleMakers product configurator is used by the calculation and engineering departments within the engineering process. They can put together the various parts on a canvas, after which the output and the resulting options can be used to make a suitable design. The time that ModuleMakers saves with this is

GROWING SUCCESS ModuleMakers wants to contribute with their modular building technology to smarter, cleaner and healthier buildings – and therefore to a better world. Tech entrepreneur Arvid Duijzer: “Innovation in construction mainly stems from the trinity of digitization - industrialization - standardization. This is how we will make a difference in construction: for clients, for users, for the earth and the climate. The growing success of ModuleMakers indicates that the market is seeing this also in the same way more and more.

enormous. Arvid: “With this application, we now do twenty times as many calculations in the same amount of time, plus: the margin of error is rolling down!” Jonathan adds: “The fact that this information is now embedded in an application makes you as an organization much more resilient to changes in, for example, your workforce, but also more agile in the products you make and deliver.” With the addition of the application, ModuleMakers strengthens its foundation to help customers build more efficiently, cleaner and safer with modular products. In the future, there are certainly options for further integration of this application in other processes, such as in the production of construction drawings. Arvid: “The impact of this innovation is that we can automate on a large scale, not just in one piece, but in the entire process from customer to delivery.”

“With this application, we make twenty times as many calculations in the same amount of time, plus: the margin of error is rolling down!”

FROM EXCAVATIONS TO LOW CODE

LI N KIT EX P LOR ERS

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

Dream job via OutSystems Bootcamp Evolve, Excel and Inspire. Those are the three creeds we use at LINKIT to clarify what it means to be a LINKIT-explorer.

e would like to introduce a LINKIT explorer to you in this article. This time it's Marina Hilliger (28), Junior OutSystems Developer. She found her dream job at LINKITSYSTEMS in Germany through the OutSystems Bootcamp.

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From archaeology to IT, that is an unusual step? “I've always found archaeology interesting,” Marina begins. “After completing my master's degree, I worked at DAI (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ed.), but IT continued to interest me. So I took C++ and game design courses and ended up at LINKIT through the OutSystems Bootcamp last year.” What is it like to work for LINKITSYSTEMS? Marina laughs: “It's great! The Bootcamp lasted three months and was very intensive, but I learned a lot. Then I joined the LINKITSYSTEMS development team and now work as a developer on several projects. But, do you know what's so special? It doesn't

feel like work, but like a hobby for which I receive a salary.” How do you envision your future? “I will continue to work at LINKIT Systems for the time being because, in my opinion, there is no better place to develop myself

“It doesn't feel like work, but like a hobby that I receive a salary for” further. In the future, I want to delve into .NET and gain even more substantive knowledge of OutSystems. In addition, I am

thinking of taking a bachelor's degree in Cyber Security because digital security is becoming increasingly important.” What tips do you have for new LINKIT explorers? “Before you start with OutSystems, get the basics of programming. For example, from HTML or C++. This makes the step to OutSystems much easier. And as cliché as it may sound, keep practising. Dare to make mistakes and learn from them. Trial and error, literally. Then you will see that you gradually gain more experience and become better and better at your profession: that is, evolve, excel and inspire.”

MARINA HILLIGER Junior OutSystems Developer Marina (28 years old) lives in Essen and completed a master's degree in Prehistoric Archeology at the Free University of Berlin. She has a penchant for programming and works as a Junior OutSystems Developer at LINKIT Systems.

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

ITN EX T

TOP 5

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Articles on ITNEXT are written by authors from an international community. All of them are the best experts in their field of expertise. LINKIT explorers are also part of this community and publish their knowledge on the ITNEXT.io platform.

THE DEVOPS GUY

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CEDD BURGE

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

Improve your initial load using React

Replace Docker Desktop with lima

The initial experience of your website is crucial for a visitor to come back. Loading bars and spinners play an essential part in creating this experience.

If you want to move from the update-hungry Docker desktop, this post by Guilherme Souza explains how to reach your goal by using Lima.

If your website struggles with a high bounce rate, check this post by Jurian Vink. He describes how to enhance the initial user experience when fetching data using three methods that complement each other.

Lima is a project on GitHub that launches Linux VM with automatic file sharing and port forwarding (similar to WSL2) and containerd. Lima can be considered an unofficial ‘containerd for Mac’.

JURIAN VINK (LINKIT)

GUILHERME SOUZA

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Solving Concurrency in Event-Driven Microservices

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Concurrency in distributed systems is tricky since they usually imply a performance hit. Although useful in some use cases, they can jeopardize the scalable nature of microservices due to the locking or retries involved. Event-driven services and the ability to route events to specific service instances propose an elegant way to remove concurrency from a solution. In this post, Hugo Rocha describes how to handle concurrency by design and provides the foundations for a horizontally scalable system.

HUGO ROCHA

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Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

AC A DEMY

LIFE-LONG LEARNING At LINKIT we put it into practice! Due to continuous new developments and insights, it is essential for IT professionals to continue to develop. And at the same time, IT partners such as LINKIT must facilitate this.

INKIT has been offering trainee ships on a regular basis for several years now. These consist of a crash course of several weeks, followed by approximately ten months

with a customer, under the guidance of an experienced senior or by tackling challenges in LINKIT's own project teams. Traineeships so far have brought new talents to our Data & AI, Cloud

and OutSystems squads. Recruiter Maryse van Dijk, former trainee Inan Ates, and Data Science manager Fleur Hasaart of CZ explains why these initiatives are important.

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

TH E TR AI N EE

Inan Ates: thrown in at the deep end at ASML

“Tough but nice” is how Inan describes his first year as a data engineer. “The traineeship gave me a good introduction to the most important aspects of data engineering but only partly prepared me for the challenges I faced at ASML. All the technology I had to work with at ASML was new to me. For example, we learned about Kafka during the traineeship, but when I immediately ran into a Kafka problem at ASML, it was quite a challenge to solve it. Putting theory into practice one-on-one is not one of them.” Senior as a learning accelerator Fortunately, in order not to make the challenge too difficult, Inan and his two fellow trainee shippers did not go to ASML alone. Instead, they were joined by a senior colleague whose tasks included ensuring they continued what they had started during the traineeship: mastering data engineering at lightning speed. TH E MA NAGER

Fleur Hasaart and Michael Best: Smart to train people in such a targeted way

“Finding a data engineer is difficult in today's job market,” explains Fleur Hasaart. She is the manager of CZ's data science team. “So when I got a spontaneous phone call from LINKIT to participate in the traineeship, I was interested. I support the idea behind the traineeship. Specifically, training people for a specific purpose with targeted knowledge is a smart plan, in my opinion. Finally, it was an asset for CZ to have someone on the team who is trained to the latest technological standards.”

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A diligent student Michael Best took part in the traineeship and later joined CZ's data science team. Fleur explains: “Michael has an extensive interest, even beyond his own job profile. He has a good attitude and does what he has to do. I am delighted with him!”

Good cooperation with LINKIT The collaboration with LINKIT during Michael's time at CZ also went well. Fleur: “It is very nice to work with LINKIT. They regularly check whether everything is going well, and if there is something I want to discuss with them, there is always time for it. LINKIT is clearly investing in our collaboration.” TH E R ECRUITER

Maryse van Dijk: A challenging selection procedure

“We receive hundreds of applications for every traineeship,” says Maryse van Dijk. As a recruiter at LINKIT, she is responsible for hiring the best candidates. According to Maryse, the many applications are the mismatch between education and the needs of the labour market. “We are closing the gap with the traineeship. And that is catching on.” Team players wanted The result is a strict selection procedure. Maryse: “We think it is important that people have the right qualities. Be team players and dare to ask questions. In addition, it is nice if they like new challenges and consciously pick them.” Impossible task What follows with the remaining candidates is an assessment. Maryse: “We demand knowledge and expertise about data engineering that they cannot have at all yet. What matters most is how they deal with it. You see that some people try to work it out all by themselves, while others critically ask about its purpose. You guessed it. We are mainly looking for the second category.” The last round “Finally, there is one more conversation. This is done by the leader of the relevant team and someone from the business. Of the entire group, about eight men and women eventually remain. If possible, we strive to put together as diverse a group as possible. For example, in the male-female and diversity in Dutch vs English speaking. Once that is all arranged, my work is done, and the traineeship can begin.”

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

I N TH E P ICTUR E

HIER SIND WIR! Our first office in Germany Since LINKIT continued its international expansion in 2019 with the founding of LINKITSYSTEMS GmbH, the German branch has been growing steadily.

n January 2022, the newest member of the group reached a new milestone: the opening of the first office in Germany. A place to work together and share knowledge for the (growing) group of German colleagues, right on the edge of the center of Düsseldorf. Of course, decorated with the right amount of LINKITSYSTEMS branding. Please feel free to come by for eine Tasse Kaffee!

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

N EWS BY TES

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5 Essential IT Podcasts Listening to podcasts, for some, is pure relaxation. For others a way to keep up with developments within a field. IT Podcasts can also be a way to delve into new topics that you may be interested in or want to learn. We have done our best to collect some interesting IT podcasts for you. 1. S potify - Low code podcasts - ITRAC - Global OutSystems Recruitment Specialists 2. F eedspot - Soft Skills Engineering Podcast 3. F eedspot - Software Engineering Daily 4. I T Visionaries 5. C loudcast

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LINKIT expands Low-code portfolio and launches Mendix squad Low-code platforms make it possible to develop applications on an enterprise scale in a fraction of the time compared to traditional development methods. LINKIT has been one of the significant low-code players in the Netherlands and Germany for over five years. In addition to the OutSystems services, it also helps its customers design, develop, and manage Mendix solutions.

Sharing knowledge in the form of a talk show: Studio LINKIT For LINKIT, sharing knowledge is key to our organisation. Therefore, it has been organising knowledge events regularly for years, both offline and online. And now, there is a new concept for a (hybrid) form of knowledge sharing: Studio LINKIT. A panel of experts and a host conduct a live conversation on one of the topics LINKIT focuses on and answer questions from the online viewers or guests from the audience. Studio LINKIT owes its name to the professional studio setting that takes these knowledge sessions' video and audio quality to a much higher level. There have already been several editions of Studio LINKIT: a session about innovating using the cloud, using data models in the financial sector and low-code platform Mendix.

Bob van Heijster, appointed by Mendix as MVP (expert, leader and evangelist in the Mendix field), joined LINKIT to set up and lead a team of Mendix specialists. In the meantime, the first customer projects have been successfully completed. LINKIT is currently helping one of its customers get started with Mendix: “We will set up a Mendix platform with them, where we will build 14 applications. We are looking forward to that!”

FROM GREAT IDEA TO MATURE INNOVATION

I N NOVATION

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

LINKIT's Innovation Lab In previous editions of this magazine, you have already been able to read about the projects MyDish and HIVE. Projects that originated through the initiative of LINKIT employees. Everyone at LINKIT has a natural urge to explore. There is a clear reason LINKIT calls them: Explorers.

INKIT has set up an Innovation Lab to offer employees and customers a better platform to pursue new ideas. Here one can get time and budget to take ideas further.

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Process & expertise The Innovation Lab consists of a process and budget to collect, develop and validate new ideas. It should prevent blind focus on technology and help innovations from a strategic angle. Because an innovative idea goes further than just the technology, we also look for which market and user there is a need for a solution. Therefore, concepts are validated on the three axes of innovation: desirability, feasibility and viability. Innovation experts assist the LINKIT explorers in testing assumptions on these three aspects. In this way, they ensure that the ideas in the innovation tunnel are of real value. When an innovation passes on all three aspects, it's considered a successful innovation.

Priority and space One of the organizational goals is to spend 10% of the time on innovation, a serious investment. LINKIT explorers use that time to research innovations for LINKIT while developing themselves on new technologies, processes and tools. If an idea does not lead to a successful innovation, it still contributes to the development of our people and organization. Working together on innovation Customers and partners can also pitch innovative ideas. The innovations can come from technological developments, trends in the market or specific customer demand. For example, through hackathons and creative

sessions in collaboration with customers to get even more ideas in the innovation funnel. In one of these events, we brainstormed collaborating with the Technical University of

“One of the organizational goals is to spend 10% of the time on innovation, a serious investment” Delft about a facility issue for FC Utrecht. An instructive day for the students, with concrete ideas for FC Utrecht and inspiration for LINKIT. Have you also got an innovative idea? Please share it with innnovatie@linkit.nl and join the LINKIT Innovation Lab!

MAAIKE STOOPS Solution Advisor Maaike lives in Rotterdam and completed a master’s degree in Strategic Product Design at the TU in Delft. She has a broad interest in IT and worked at several other IT organizations before joining LINKIT.

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

P ER FOR MA NCE MA NAG EM ENT

OBJECTIVE KEY RESULTS AS A METHOD OF EXECUTING STRATEGIES Innovative and ambitious goals within reach

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Large organisations have been working with the OKR method, and now it has found its way into LINKIT for some time. “The OKR method is a suitable tool for achieving ambitious and innovative objectives and making strategic IT projects a success,” says Jimmy Iliohan, Solution Advisor at LINKIT.

s one of the initiators, Jimmy is closely involved in implementing this method within LINKIT. “We strive for self-managing teams and ask them to set goals with other stakeholders. We want to get more involvement,

focus and alignment (structure, ed.) in the organisation. With the OKR method, we work closer to our vision in short-cycle steps. The results we achieve with this method should lead to a pleasant workplace, sustainable customer relationships and more

social involvement from LINKIT. OKR vs KPI OKR stands for 'Objective and Key Results' and links objectives to measurable results (data). “You set yourself inspiring goals: what do you

BUILDING IT TOGETHER want to achieve? You then attach measurable Key Results to this: how will I achieve this? And the initiatives are represented by concrete actions to achieve the goals,” says Jimmy. “You can say that the OKR method is the organisation's compass: it points you in the intended direction.” Nevertheless, the OKR method does not have to exclude other methods, such as setting KPIs. "OKRs are action-driven and can lead to new initiatives. On the other hand, KPIs are result-oriented and measure the organisation's performance. In addition, you ideally measure KPIs in real-time, while OKRs divide and measure into cycles, for example, per quarter.” Yet they reinforce each other, says Jimmy.

“You can say that the OKR method is the organisation's compass: it points you in the intended direction”

“If performance falls behind the company objectives, the OKR is a great asset. In this way, each method retains its place in the organisation, but they complement each other.” Dots on the horizon The strategy of the IT & Innovation branch within LINKIT is divided into three themes, which are indicated as dots on the horizon. The first theme is building our people, the second stands for innovation to help customers even better, and the third theme stands for a sustainable, committed business that

will be of value for a long time. “The first dot -'Teaming up'- stands for the creation of strong, substantive squads (teams consisting of different experts with their area of expertise, ed.) in which the employees are happy in their work," says Jimmy. “The second dot on the horizon is 'Teaming up to explore'. Here we are shifting the employees' focus outwards, and we are starting new initiatives to serve customers even better. The third and final dot is 'Teaming up to explore the future. Here we focus on the social involvement of LINKIT as an organisation and how we create a sustainable contribution.” Measuring the desired result To keep the objectives measurable and transparent, LINKIT works with short spans. “Depending on the goal, we check - every two weeks or every quarter - whether the goals are achieving the desired result or whether new initiatives are needed.” By measuring progress regularly, you remain agile and can make adjustments in time when necessary, says Jimmy. “Using short measurement cycles, we avoid blurring the dots on the horizon and making targets unattainable.” More insight and results The OKR method has now paid off in improved collaboration between different teams. “There is more coherence between, for example, Recruitment and Sales. They have insight into each other's progress and results and adjust their further goals accordingly,” says Jimmy. “For example, Recruitment takes on more people if

JIMMY ILIOHAN Solution Advisor Jimmy (27 years old) works as Solution Advisor at LINKIT. In addition to his role as a link between the customer and technology, he is also responsible for quality improvement and innovation of internal teams.

Sales has more assignments in the pipeline and vice versa." Another visible result is the more efficient consultation structure within LINKIT. There are no more weekly meetings but an extensive

“Using short measurement cycles, we avoid blurring the dots on the horizon and making targets unattainable” business review every quarter. “Less time is lost, squads understand each other better, and everyone knows their team's role within the organisation,” said Jimmy. Getting started with OKR yourself To start as an organisation with the OKR method, it is essential that you have a good understanding of your own business, says Jimmy. “Know why customers choose you, what added value you offer and how you ensure they will still choose you in ten years.” He continues: “LINKIT distinguishes itself as a people-driven & knowledge-driven organisation in the IT field, where we strive towards sustainable and reliable relationships. We use our knowledge as a guideline for the OKRs to be determined, with which we initiate changes and ultimately achieve strategic and operational success. Internally and externally.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE OKR METHOD? The OKR method provides focus to your organisation, promotes collaboration and makes it easier to execute the business strategy. LINKIT has knowledge of this methodology from its own experience. Don't hesitate to get in touch with Jimmy for more information.

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

C ASE

SPORTS AND DATA: WHERE TO START?

How Dutch sports clubs and associations take their (first) data steps Whether it's hockey, a football club, or a general sports association, the idea that they need 'something' with data has now dawned on them. LINKIT organized an interactive round table session with 12 participants who work with data at their respective sports organizations to exchange insights and experiences.

etting started with data is not easy. Budgets are sometimes an issue as data has to prove itself first. This article summarises the insights of the participants in the session.

1. The Challenges Making the first choice If you look closely, there is a lot of

data to collect for a sports club. Data about the players, performances on the field, training, and scouting players. There is also a lot of commercial data to collect. For example, many clubs only have about ten percent of their fan base in their sights. At a football club, most fans are at home behind the television. But who are they? It is (budgetary) not feasible for most

clubs and associations to fully bet on all points. And so they have to make a

“Data about fan experience and performance of athletes are currently two separate worlds. However, this is coming closer together”

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

The role of data within the organization You have to avoid being seen as an 'outsider' that comes to the coach with a bunch of data, telling them how to do it. Data should be advisory and help the coach, not replace it. You have to look for a balance of added value without being disruptive in the current process. This is a culture change in which some clubs are more advanced than others.

Having a vision is not limited by any budget. So you can think about this a little more freely. What can clubs and associations achieve with data? More insight into the fan base To keep in touch with fans, you cannot avoid collecting data, a name and email addresses. But much more is possible with marketing tooling. For example, by using indicators to find and serve your fan base online. How do you ensure that someone who is a supporter of your club not only cheers in front of the TV, but also buys a shirt, or a season ticket?

“Using data to improve the fan experience is about

choice. Do they opt for performance or commercial data? It is a challenge for clubs and associations that are more advanced to make the best possible use of the available data. In many clubs, data is still in the phase where it has to prove itself. The quality and quantity of the data Of course, data is often already available. Especially at professional clubs, player performance is extensively tracked and analyzed. It would help if you always compared it with the average of older performances based on standardized values: the benchmark to gain insight from data.

Better player profiles Scouting new players is something vital to the success of clubs. Judging players is now often based on the opinion of the youth coach towards the scout

“Many associations don't have the manpower, so we

2. The vision

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many sports associations see it as their task to facilitate the use and collection of data.

emotion” Open Source One of the challenges is having sufficient historical data to determine the benchmark. But what if you made the averages of the data of, for example, all hockey clubs open source? You share the data with each other, making it easier to compare performance. Of course, no club wants to reveal too much to the competition. There may also be a role for a sports association as a neutral manager of the data. You get the benchmark of the competition in exchange for your data. In any case,

hope to support them in this with collaborations”

of a club. At the same time, youth players fluctuate quite a bit in their performance. For example, suppose there are family difficulties, such as a divorce or death; this may significantly affect performance. By collecting more and better information from talented youth players, a much more complete picture is created, and a one-off event has less impact on the total assessment of a player. Here you start! LINKIT has an excellent track record in all phases of this kind of 'data adventure', both in business and sports. As an innovation partner, our approach is to support organizations in extracting value from their data. We do this by drawing up a plan for this, helping them to set up the infrastructure for this and advising them on how to use it.

PARTICIPANTS Organizations that participated in the session on sports & data and shared insights: FC Utrecht, NOC*NSF, PSV, British Rowing, The Valley, FACTS, KNVB, KNHB, RKC Waalwijk, Sailing Innovation Lab, VVV Venlo

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

EX P ERT

HELP YOUR TEAMS MOVE FORWARD It starts with the organisation around it! Gerard Janssen is the driving force behind AdAxon and thus helps IT organisations organise more effectively. He currently works as a DevOps Transformation Lead at Essent. His conviction?

GERARD JANSSEN Interim Engineering Manager en Coach Gerard Janssen (Essent) is an interim Engineering Manager and Coach and uses Agile, DevOps and Fact Driven approaches to make teams and organisations great. By helping people understand the patterns and personal beliefs, he empowers them to make their own choices. Gerard works in and with organisations to create clear ambitions and realise them. He ensures that signals of what is happening become visible and helps to interpret them. Then, by consciously experimenting, measuring and collecting feedback, he determines the way forward.

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

y mapping the underlying structures in an organisation, you can remove blockages and increase effectiveness. But, that's not a one-time process. To really achieve more, Gerard argues, organisations need to continuously test and research. So, how do you accomplish this, and what is the role of managers, scrum masters and teams? He explains this with enthusiasm. During the last LINKIT webinar, Gerard gave a passionate presentation about his assignment as IT area lead at Transavia. He was responsible for the teams that managed the various applications related to the flight processes. By looking at the various

“It is essential to know how to get to that target situation. Step by step, with small

“Achieving this requires an environment that supports that goal. And that is where things often go wrong.” He explains how IT organisations often work agile and with scrum, but their teams nevertheless struggle to solve the problems they encounter. “I often see,” he clarifies, “that the people around the team are busy with other things. Of course, management has to focus on the big picture and the strategy, but in their day-to-day work, they must help overcome limitations that the team encounters.” He gives an example: “We recently analysed a project that had overrun for various reasons. A solution could only be found at the team level afterwards in one case. All other problems were bigger. Then it becomes clear why teams are paralysed: because there is no good support system to implement improvements.”

experiments!”

functions and roles needed in each DevOps team (mixed teams with both developers and operations managers, ed.), he rebuilt these teams. People with multiple skills, such as information analysis or technical management, had to be in the right place, while those people themselves had to deal with external parties and a wide range of knowledge areas, such as security or scalability. So it was a complex puzzle, which led to a clear goal: to make all the different parts work together so that each team could carry out its mission. This improves the overall management of the IT landscape.

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The environment of the team “Looking at what exactly the goal of such a team is, that's where all these kinds of projects start,” says Gerard.

Remove obstacles step by step As a self-proclaimed 'system thinker', Gerard always tries to look at the bigger picture. “On the one hand, you often have the managers who say: 'the teams are not performing; why don't they do that?' While teams often want to but cannot move due to existing rules, contracts and interests from the organisation.” According to Gerard, it is essential to determine your target situation, the organisation's vision, and where are you now? “But,” he warns, “don't go straight to that target situation! It is important to know how to get to that target situation. Step by step, with small experiments!” He uses the PDCA model for this: Plan Do Check Act; in other words: first, see what the result of an idea is and only then implement it. “Go experiment!” laughs Gerard. “By first looking at what is going on at the smallest level, you sometimes immediately discover

Together | LINKIT | Issue 3 | 2022

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things that have been worked around for a long time.” Organising invisible structures According to Gerard, those invisible structures have the most significant influence on the end product. “There is a law, Conway's Law, which states that you can see the structures within an organisation, the social choices you make, in the software you build. So you have to think about the consequences of the way you set up your organisation.” Gerard argues in

favour of sufficient freedom: focussing on productivity doesn't necessarily lead to more productivity. He talks about a scrum master: “Now that is someone who can take control if something goes wrong and then easily hand that control over to the team. That helps a team further. But it is precisely a full-time scrum master that has been cut back in many organisations or replaced by someone who runs production. While those people act as the antennas of your teams, who can translate and discuss observations.” In short, the

organisation of IT is not only about the different DevOps teams and their organisation, but above all about their mission and mutual relationships. And a good support structure, sufficient leeway and time to experiment are essential. The results are clear: you become much more agile and achieve your goals faster. Gerard completes the circle with this. “Do you want to become more effective and keep moving? Then you need that mindset: that everything that is not part of the team is used to make your teams better.”

“By first looking at what is going on at a smaller level, you sometimes immediately discover things that already happen and notice they're being worked around for a longer period of time”

COLOP HON

P R EVI EW

In the next Together

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

Vechtstromen takes a closer look at user-friendliness

Low-code as an ingredient for retailers

How do you know that an app you've built serves the end-user? And does the app work as the user would expect? A UX assessment can help you with that. In other words, a user-friendliness study. This is exactly what Vechtstromen has done in collaboration with LINKIT.

The Dutch retail market is developing rapidly: customer expectations continue to rise, margins are under pressure, labour is scarce, and 'traditional' business models are struggling. So how do you as a retailer deal with these challenges? And how do you ensure a sustainable and sustainable business model?

A LINKIT UX designer has taken a closer look at the usability of an internal event planning tool using a qualitative user survey. Vechtstromen did not stand on the sidelines during this project. Instead, the UX Designer trained them to do their assessments in the future. How did this work? You will read that in the next edition.

The demand for technological solutions is increasing as the market moves online. Something that Nick van Ramshorst, retail expert and Solution Advisor at LINKIT, recognizes: "Digital transformation is no longer a buzzword, but a bold item on the agenda for every retailer.” But how do you make an app work flawlessly with old systems? How do you integrate a web shop or portal? “That's where low-code comes in handy,” says Nick. “Low code helps to provide digital insight into the retailer's data and processes.”

Chief editor Gino Heetkamp

Coverphoto ModuleMakers

Issue 3, year 2022 Together is published by LINKIT and is released twice per year.

Final edit Ande Smith Geen Blad voor de Mond

LINKIT B.V. Rijnzathe 9 3454 PV De Meern

Editor Ande Smith

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