DEVnet

🔍Our customers increasingly put AI at the centre of their #digitalisation efforts. But in our experience, 75% of these AI initiatives struggle for one reason: They fail to properly integrate AI applications into their business value chains at the right point in time. Many companies explore AI applications within single departments as an extension of their existing capabilities. If left to grow without high quality integration into the existing structures, these disparate AI activities lead to a fractured business. It consists of disorganised AI islands, each using different tools and solutions. That often brings several problems: ❎ unnecessary costs ❎ challenges on regulatory requirements ❎ inefficient collaboration ❎ delays in time-to market for new AI applications. 💼 Having recognised that issue, we attempt to widen the focus from merely meeting business needs. Instead, we aim for high quality integration from the beginning. That means also considering regulatory obligations, architectural requirements and organisational oversight to properly incorporate AI platforms into the given corporate architecture. That brings numerous advantages: ✅ Reduce IT-complexity and cost ✅ Speed up time-to-market ✅ Integrate new trends like GenAI ✅ Improve user experience within the business departments 💡The dynamic development of AI makes such a flexible enterprise architecture crucial to embed AI Platforms. We unite experience in tech developments, collaboration between IT and data science and in comprehensive reviews of AI Platforms. Thereby, we bring together #DataScience and modern #EnterpriseArchitecture to create Digital-AI-Fitness. ❓ What is your experience with sustainable AI Solutions?

 🔹 It was Ab Initio Community Connect time again 🔹 Our colleagues Thomas Worofsky and Olga Zhuravleva were recently in the Southern German city of Neckarsulm 📍 for Ab Initio Community Connect, the regular gathering of our partner Ab Initio Software. Ab Initio offers its customers a platform to deal with challenges in data processing and data management. The event was held at the smart premises of Schwarz IT, the IT service provider of Schwarz Gruppe, Europe’s largest retailer operating chains such as Lidl and Kaufland. It was a great opportunity not only to meet Ab Initio experts from the DACH region and other partners of Ab Initio and Schwarz IT.🤗 We also got to listen to presentations such as „Breaking Barrieres – Self Service BI@SIT“ and „Unleashing Efficiency in Data Governance through Automation: Smart Data Catalog Loading Processes and an Introduction to the Data Validation Framework“. 💡 Finally, we greatly enjoyed the exchange with the esteemed experts Franziska Doeker, Marc Koch, Konrad Lampe, Anthony Ibrahim and Jens Kallmeyer. We are glad to be part of the Ab Initio community and can only recommend joining the next Ab Initio Community Connect. Who of you will be there next time? #DEVnetAndAbInitio #SelfServiceBI #SmartDataCatalog

📢 As #AlgorithmicTrading is taking over Europe’s spot markets for electricity trading, the EU is imposing regulation that will come into force tomorrow. That poses challenges that we encounter in our work with clients holding lessons for all #EnergyTraders. The basis for the new regulation is REMIT, the EU’s basic rules on wholesale energy contracts. It was adopted in 2011 as a reaction to the financial crisis of 2007-08. Since then, major developments have made amendments necessary. One is Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the upheaval in European energy markets. Another is the rise in algo trading. According to Nord Pool, one of Europe’s leading power exchanges, the share of algorithmically traded electricity on its spot market for Western and Central Europe is now 91%. Since the current REMIT is based on market conditions of almost 15 years ago, it does not regulate algo trading. So, article 5a of REMIT II spells out algo trading provisions in four areas: Risk Management, IT Systems, Compliance and Reporting (for details see slides). Interpretations of these provisions will only emerge over time as courts and national regulators, such as Bundesnetzagentur in Germany, will decide how to construe them. But three things are already clear: 🎯 1. Notification Market participants have to notify their national regulator and the EU’s monitoring agency ACER if they use algo trading. The notification shall be done via Europe’s central register CEREMP (except for traders registered in Italy, Romania and Slovenia who directly notify their national regulator). 🎯 2. Fines National regulators have demonstrated readiness to punish violations of EU trading rules. For financial markets, most recent figures show that participants were fined 54 Mio. € and 21 Mio. € respectively for breaches of MAR (in 2021) and of MiFID II (in 2022), the two financial market equivalents of REMIT. Energy market regulators are similarly tough: In 2022, they fined participants a total of 14,7 Mio. € for REMIT breaches. 🎯 3. Crux Based on our experience of developing algo trading systems and on our market insights, we see one of the new provisions as potentially thornier than others: REMIT II requires that “trading systems are resilient”. If regulators narrowly interpret that to refer only to order machines, it should be straightforward to guarantee. However, if they consider trading systems to include position management, it gets more complicated. Even some larger trading companies struggle to implement sufficiently flexible and fast position management and would need to overhaul their systems. 💡 At DEVnet, we support different companies who pursue algo trading of wholesale energy contracts in meeting these new technical and legal requirements. Our approach towards #EnterpriseArchitecture ensures a holistic view of your business. So, feel free to reach out if you face similar tasks.

💡 What makes prototyping so powerful? We regularly find the answer to that question in our daily work, such as our cooperation with a German asset management company. There we have encountered a challenge typical of our business: The company wanted to replace its software for portfolio management, an off-the-shelf rich client application that lacked desired features. So, we jointly set out to develop an entirely new custom-made web application.   We began by building a low-fidelity prototype as rudimentary working model in an agile environment. On that basis, we have kept upgrading the model according to various feedback. That has allowed us to harness the power of prototyping with at least five advantages:    🎯 Tools To draw up sketches for the prototype, our application of choice is Balsamiq, a popular mockup tool to design wireframes that demonstrate workflows. Balsamiq’s visual style of rough sketches eased everybody into the right mindset for brainstorming which boosted joint creativity.   🎯 Effective communication Prototypes have provided a tangible basis for discussions allowing us to focus on concrete questions like: does a button here improve the workflow? Such clear-cut choices have guided our conversations and facilitated more effective interaction.   🎯 Fast development We soon encountered issues based on individual tastes such as layouts of forms that portfolio managers fill in. A swift survey showed that our partner’s portfolio managers prefer tightly arranged boxes on a single page to scroll down. Based on that priority, we presented quickly drawn up alternatives to choose from. That saved time otherwise spent on developing unnecessary options, seeking feedback and agreeing on a final layout.   🎯 Efficient testing Testing of prototypes helped bring up unforeseen issues. For instance, as power users of trading software, portfolio managers turned out to usually use keyboard shortcuts rather than their mouse. However, as some desktop shortcuts are already in use in web browsers, we established alternatives with the financial experts that helped improve their efficiency and manage their expectations.   🎯 Lean progress All these advantages have not only created a fruitful environment for effective and fun collaboration and pleased the financial experts by incorporating their wishes. It has also tightened development cycles, bolstered the final product and saved us time and money that we can jointly spend on new exciting challenges.   Do you find prototyping similarly empowering? #DigitalChange #Prototyping #UX

🚩In our work with clients, we often encounter a curious challenge: specialists responsible for business and technology tend to work in worlds apart. They have their own language, culture and even office space. Such a divide undermines their communication and joint innovation. As it is our central goal to shape digital solutions together, we bring two distinct qualities to the table to help bridge that gap.   🟦 Reflect and Connect: Expertise in empathic communication We prioritise #EmpathicCollaboration based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). That approach was developed by the US psychologist and mediator Marshall Rosenberg. It may sound unconventional at first. But it is not only widely used from executives at tech giants to UN negotiators. It has also proved to powerfully drive success in our projects, since we incorporated it as a formal framework in 2016. It revolves around recognising that we are most productive in joint work when we focus on the individual needs of everyone involved.   🟦 Bringing domains together: At home in business and technology We are passionate about both sides of the divide: the business as well as the technology side. Feeling at home in both these worlds and speaking their respective languages, we help business and tech experts collaborate in a balanced partnership. In our own technological approach, we deliberately avoid focusing on a single technology. That openness allows us to keep growing into new tools and languages best suited for specific situations. It further removes barriers and enables all stakeholders to complement each other to harness the power of the latest technological advancements.   💡In short, we empower all individuals to better articulate their needs and help culturally distinct experts in business and IT to collaborate. Thereby, we unlock potential for joint innovation. ❓Do your business and IT experts face similar challenges in their collaboration? Feel free to get in touch with our tech gurus Sascha or Bartosz, or leave a comment below.   #BringingBusinessAndITtogether #BusinessTechnology

🌍 This year’s E-world energy & water conference was exciting and interesting. The three days were filled with fruitful discussions and insightful conversations with clients, partners, and longtime e-world companions. Our colleagues Markus Weber, Benedict Schau and Ann-Christin Tiemann enjoyed it very much. 🌟 After the last few turbulent and exhausting years in the energy sector, we have experienced a mood of optimism and a new beginning. In discussions with our clients, we saw many projects and plans that had been neglected or postponed in recent years are to be tackled in the coming months. The topics are diverse, and the motivation is high. We look forward to the subsequent discussions and great projects together with our clients. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you again this year for the openness and the great exchanges and are already looking forward to E-World 2025. ❓Did you also feel the optimism described above? #Eworld2024 #EnergySector #QuantITforEnergy

📍 As part of the onboarding process at DEVnet all new colleagues take part in #EmpathicCommunication training based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) developed by Marshall Rosenberg. 🦒 A few days ago, Jennifer, Martin and Norbert went to Solln/Munich and had their 2.5-day introductory workshop. The trainer was Alexio Schulze-Castro (DC) from K-Training https://www.ktraining.org/. 🦒 Alexio guided the colleagues through the concepts of NVC, which were still new to them, with remarkable commitment, openness and always the right words. The theoretical basics were followed by numerous small and large practical exercises. 🦒 Jennifer, Martin, and Norbert were very pleased with the atmosphere in the group and the good mix of theory and practice. They ended the training with a lot of reflections, impulses and ideas and are looking forward to integrating NVC principles step by step into their everyday professional and private lives. 📍 The introductory training is one of the building blocks that shape the collaborative culture at DEVnet. The colleagues also have the opportunity to join our internal monthly training group, specific workshops at company events as well as individual sessions with one of our internal trainers.   ❓ How does it look like in your workplace? What opportunities do you have to develop your communication skills?   #CompanyCulture #EmpathicCollaboration

📣 We would like to introduce you to our new colleague Thomas Worofsky (alias Tom).  He joined DEVnet at the end of last year as Regional Sales Manager. 🎉 At DEVnet, our sales are regionally divided with a dedicated contact person for our clients and partners in the North, Center and South of Germany. 📍 Tom is responsible for our clients in Southern Germany.   Tom has worked in IT consulting and the project business for almost 30 years in various IT service companies ranging from start-ups and medium-sized companies to large international consulting firms. Before joining DEVnet, he worked in various roles such as sales, account management and business development for new and existing clients across industries in the DACH region. This included several management positions. So, he has a wealth of experience that we would like to learn from and build on.   Tom and our CEO Andreas Kokott initially met several years ago. Now, after a fruitful conversation, Tom finally found his way to DEVnet being a great fit to our team. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Tom once again to the DEVnet family and are delighted to have him with us.   As he is an avid golfer, runner, cook and hobby gardener, we are looking forward to taking him up on a game of golf and a joint running session – and to exchange tips in tomato-growing and his latest tricks in squeezing out that extra taste for the next pasta sauce!   Do you have any questions, or gardening tips, for Tom? Feel free to ask directly in the comments below ⬇   #WelcomeAtDEVnet #RegionalSalesManager #JoinDEVnet 

📢 DEVnet goes E-World 2024 The opening of E-world energy & water on February 20th is a key date in the calendar 📅 for us at DEVnet. International energy markets experts will gather to discuss the most important developments. Our colleagues Markus Weber, Florian Reithinger, Benedict Schau, Ann-Christin Tiemann, Brani Stanojlovic & Thomas Worofsky are looking forward to attending this year’s trade fair. 🤗 DEVnet combines mathematical skills, industry expertise and state of the art software engineering to build solutions for the energy sector. These applications solve data challenges and provide insights to streamline the provision of energy around the clock. Our service starts from the moment that energy is generated and becomes a tradable commodity. Specifically, we build regulatory compliant platforms that process growing data sets in real-time and offer applications for transmission, distribution, trading and retailing of energy across Europe and beyond. 🌍 We cooperate with municipal utilities, grid operators and other specialised players in the sector. Here are a few examples of our projects: 🔹 Establish a powerful data hub that makes energy trading scalable 🔹 Develop an innovative cloud-based algo-trading platform for algorithmic trading which independently buys and sells electricity to establish an entirely new business 🔹 Launch a cloud-based real-time power and gas pricing service to advance automation in trading and digital client services 🔹 Build a real-time portfolio monitoring of trades and trading strategies raising the capacity to respond to a dynamically changing market ❓ Will you be at E-World, in Essen on February 20th -22nd? #DEVnetGoesEWorld2024 #EWorld2024 #EnergyMarkets

🔖 “Give people a chance, tell them what you want.” Marshall Rosenberg   Clear requests are crucial to an effective collaboration. When we ask for concrete actions, we often find creative ways to ensure that everyone’s needs are met.   Last week our DEVnet office in Wrocław was once again the forum for empathic leaders. We met to share experiences in building a work culture based on Marshall Rosenberg’s #NonViolentCommunication 🦒   In collaboration with Leance grupa trenerska, we invited Maja Wyborska (she/her) to explore the last component of the NVC 4 Step Model ➡ REQUESTS.   In NVC terms, requests have three characteristics:  ❇️ are stated in terms of clear, positive, concrete action ❇️ avoid asking someone to refrain from doing something ❇️ are specific enough to be doable in the present   In a relaxed and open atmosphere, over breakfast ☕️ 🥐 we learned what is the difference between a request and a demand. We asked ourselves what makes it hard for us to make requests and looked for strategies on how to eliminate demands and make room for requests.   Do you know how to make requests?