ArchiDoc Programmer’s and Tester’s Day

 

The beginning of September is marked by the Tester’s Day followed by the Programmer’s Day. At ArchiDoc, we have specialists in both professions. Read what their day looks like.

ArchiDoc employs IT experts, including developers (programmers), testers, and deployment specialists. After all, the company has not only been developing applications for its own use but also prepares various systems commissioned by customers, such as workflows, CRM or databases.  ArchiDoc also has experts in day-to-day IT support, the Help Desk.  In total, this makes a few dozen people.

One of the teams is the one that deals with the INDO system. It is made up of a dozen or so developers, analysts, and testers. It breaks down into 3 parts: a team taking care of the INDO Desktop application, which is used by AD staff, a team for INDO Online, a version of the application available from a browser, which is used also by ArchiDoc customers, and a business analyst team. The performance of all teams is coordinated by one person, called Product Owner. And although the teams have been operating in remote mode since March, the main elements of their work have not changed.

 

Scrum-based order

At ArchiDoc, the development team uses elements of the Scrum methodology in its work. What does this involve? All the tasks that teams have to perform go to their Product Backlogs, which can be compared to a kind of board.  All teams plan their work for 2 week periods called sprints. On the first day of each two-week sprint, they meet with the Product Owner to choose tasks they will focus on for the next 14 days. These sessions are called Sprint Planning Meetings.

On following days, the teams have short daily meetings on the progress of work and possible issues encountered (Daily Standup Meetings). For example, the Online team has a meeting at 1 p.m.

As sprint time is slowly coming to an end, the development team, along with business analysts and the Product Owner, discuss the tasks they have been working on, estimate subsequent work, and share information to refine new tasks – this is what developers call Grooming.  The tasks listed in the Product Backlog get the priority of execution – all in order to later plan the next sprint.

Business as usual

The Online team report for work at their computers about 9 a.m., sometimes earlier, sometimes later. Many of the team members reach for coffee or tea as they start their workstations. The electric kettle is then used many times during the day. Some members have breakfast before 10 a.m., and around noon – 2 p.m. some of them take a short lunch break.

In their work, developers focus mainly on completing the sprint plan. Testers also keep an eye on emails – when other ArchiDoc departments need support, they are trying to give it on the fly. When they come across a problem they themselves are unable to solve, developers come into action.

After-work time usually starts after 8 hours or… when team members have completed part of the task scheduled for the day.

On the occasion of the Tester’s Day and the Programmer’s Day, we extend the best wishes to all testers and developers, but also the ladies and gentlemen involved in analytics, deployment, product development and support for other IT users!

ArchiDoc