Nobody Tells You This

An honest look at the problems every growing software company faces and why operations fail without a single source of truth.

Running a software company doesn’t break all at once. 
It slowly becomes harder to understand. 

At the beginning, everything is clear. 
You know who’s working on what. 
You know how long projects should take. 
You know roughly where the money goes. 

Then the company grows. 

More people. 
More clients. 
More projects. 
More tools. 

And somehow, less clarity. 

The Silent Chaos Phase 

This is the phase nobody warns you about. 

Nothing is technically “wrong.” 
Projects are being delivered. 
People are busy. 
Revenue is coming in. 

But underneath, something starts to drift: 

  • project estimates no longer match reality 
  • time tracking data feels unreliable 
  • planning next month becomes guesswork 
  • managers ask questions but don’t fully trust the answers 

Chaos doesn’t look like failure. 
It looks like “we’ll fix it later.” 

The Real Problems Nobody Talks About 

Most software companies face the same challenges — quietly. 

Fragmented Team Visibility 

Someone is on leave, but nobody knows until it’s too late. 
Another person is overloaded, but it only shows when deadlines slip. 
Team members don’t see their own progress clearly. 

The information exists — just not in one place. 

Estimates vs. Reality Drift 

Projects are sold based on assumptions. 
Reality is discovered weeks later. 

Hours don’t match plans. 
Budgets quietly stretch. 
Profitability becomes a post-mortem, not a decision tool. 

Sales Detached From Delivery 

Offers are created without real project data. 
Employee seniority and tech complexity are underestimated. 
Past experience isn’t used properly. 

Sales moves fast. 
Delivery pays the price. 

Decisions Without Real-Time Data 

Simple questions become meetings: 

  • Who is on leave today? 
  • Which projects are at risk? 
  • Are we overbooked next month? 
  • Did we actually deliver on time? 

When answers aren’t immediate, decisions get delayed — or guessed. 

Why More Tools Don’t Fix This 

The instinctive response is to add tools. 

One for HR. 
One for time tracking. 
One for projects. 
One for sales. 
One for reporting. 

But more tools don’t create clarity. 
They create more fragments. 

Digital transformation fails when tools grow faster than understanding. 

What Actually Changes Things 

Real improvement doesn’t come from adding features. 
It comes from designing visibility into the business

That means: 

  • one place where operational truth lives 
  • real-time insight instead of retrospective reports 
  • transparency for managers and staff 
  • planning that reacts before problems escalate 

Good systems don’t create noise. 
They remove it. 

The Shift Every Growing Software Company Must Make 

At some point, every software company faces a choice: 

Do we keep managing complexity manually 
or do we design it out? 

Because scaling isn’t just about more people and projects. 
It’s about seeing clearly — before things break. 

And nobody tells you that early enough. 

The Next Step

Companies that scale sustainably don’t work harder to keep control.
They design systems that make control effortless.

They replace guesswork with visibility.
They replace assumptions with data.
They replace fragmentation with a single source of truth.

Digital transformation starts there.

Facing the same operational challenges?
We’re building a solution for exactly this.


Reach us at operations@kutia.net.

Challenges of women in IT

(A short throwback)

The story of women in programming takes us back to the ‘50s, when girls like Mary Allen Wilkes, decided to choose programming as a profession, an unfamous profession for women. All that was known was that computers were supposed to be the key to the future.

When digital computers finally became a practical reality in the 1940s, women were pioneers in writing software for machines. At the time, men in the IT industry considered writing code a secondary, less interesting task. The real glory has been laid in “making” the equipment. The term “software” had not yet been coined.

When the number of coding sites exploded in the 1950s and 1960s and companies began to rely on software to process payroll and data lists, men had no particular advantage in hiring. Employers were simply looking for candidates who were logical, good at math, and punctual. And in this regard, gender stereotypes worked in favor of women: Some leaders argued that women’s traditional expertise in meticulous activities such as knitting and weaving manifested precisely this mindset. (The 1968 book “Your Computer Career” highlighted the fact that people who like to “cook from a cookbook” become good programmers.)

In the 1980s, the early pioneering work done by female programmers was largely forgotten. Hollywood was producing exactly the opposite image: Computers were a male-dominated field.

A 1983 study involving M.I.T. highlighted grim results. Women who raised their hands in the classroom were often ignored by professors and despised by other students.

When computer science programs began to expand again in the mid-1990s, the coding culture was established. Most of the students in this field were already men.

(What about now?)

Nowadays, with all the attention created with projects aimed at inclusiveness and combating gender stereotypes in such professions, women have decided to go ahead in pursuing their professional goals. To what extent the appropriate conditions have been reached for them to have proper and equal treatment in this profession, in a country like Kosovo that is in the process of capacity building in this area, remains an issue that requires research. Despite the progress made in increasing the number of girls who choose programming as a profession, in Kosovar companies, however, the male gender dominates.
According to a publication by STIKK (Kosovo Information and Communication Technology Association) entitled “Women in Technology”, in Kosovo only 20% of the ICT sector workforce is women. A similar situation exists in European countries, where only 30% of the approximately 7 million employees in the European ICT sector are women.

From the data obtained from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS), women in the Kosovo economy still face many challenges. In the workforce, more than 80% of women are inactive, and for other active women, the unemployment rate is around 40%.

Kosovo, as the youngest country in Europe, is characterized by a turbulent history related to the war of 1999. Even after the war, Kosovo still struggles to achieve a stable state and economic growth is more than necessary to get out of poverty of about 30% of its population.

However, Kosovo has a strong point where the hope of development and economic growth is held – its Youth. A significant part of the young population in Kosovo is equipped with very good skills in English and to a lesser extent, German.

Knowledge of these two languages, combined with Kosovo’s proximity to EU countries and its free labor force, puts the country in a favorable position to provide digital services abroad.

In addition to the commitment of organizations, companies, training centers, the efforts of the country government to direct the youth towards certain programs in this field, have been almost invisible. The demands of the labor market and those offered by the education system are not synchronized with each other, which encourages young people to choose directions that are overcrowded and offer more jobs, such as economic and legal direction.

The University of Prishtina, as the largest university in Kosovo, introduces about 5,000 graduates to the labor market each year. Of these, only about 150 students graduate in Computer Engineering and about 300 in Computer Science. Although the overall composition of graduates shows that the percentage of women exceeds men by about 10%, this percentage changes completely when it comes to the possibility of employing women in this profession. The small number of graduates in these fields, even from the largest university, can not meet the constant demands for programmers in the labor market.

Economic and financial development for the citizens of Kosovo leaves much to be desired. Especially when it comes to girls and women who face social, financial, economic inequality, where as an eventual factor is gender. Various statistics show such a situation. Only 12.5% ​​of women looking for work have one, compared to 41.3% of men.

How do you feel in this profession?
Do you face difficulties, since the male gender dominates?
What problems do you find most at work, as a gender factor?
Do you think that girls in Kosovo have perspective in this field?

“It’s been a while since the era of “Programming” and “Software engineering” has become a new trend in Prishtina, and this makes you feel better when it comes to sustainability and the profession itself as well. I’ve been involved as a programmer and a community builder these past few years, and I think this profession has helped me build something different I can look up to every day, and that includes my confidence, a very rich skillset, and a great network. Being part of a technical world helps me think differently when it comes to problems. I never knew they will come my way because that’s how you get to face challenges in every way possible. These challenges in one way or another contribute to my growth, especially on the technical side.

When you’re part of this profession, you will most likely notice an abundance of the opposite gender when you’re in the office, being part of a particular conference, or in a room full of important decisions. Personally, I find it a very collaborative environment when there is the opposite gender present, whether it’s a working space or an informative space only. The only difficulty I have encountered while on my beginnings in this industry, it’s the arrogance that they own which sometimes makes it difficult to communicate and the lack of communication leads to a weak collaboration, and when this collaboration is missing because of the arrogance than we will see problems coming around us, these problems might be related to the current workforce, rapid development, and other future opportunities.

I think that despite the mentality we as a society possess, we are trying to give a chance to others, such as girls in ICT, to prove themselves and to ignore the fact that there is such arrogance within us, but I think we should appropriately giving this change to the community, by the “appropriate way” I mean by giving them the trust they need to build a particular algorithm, to design a specific task for a huge client, and to challenge them by believing they will thrive and own their work in the right place and in the right time. Yes, I think we do have a great future in this industry, whether it’s inside Kosove or not, I think we are eventually improving as a society where thinking that girls can be technical is becoming a new trend as the Software Engineering one I mentioned earlier.”

Qëndresa Hoti, Software Develper at Polymath Labs

“When in high school I didn’t have an idea about studying computer sciences. What led me into the computer sciences was that this program had mathematics, and since I loved mathematics I started studies in the department of programming, which led me toward an amazing professional career in software engineering.

What I do really enjoy is that you get to choose your own career path, you have the opportunities to explore throughout different roles and at the same time move some stones along the way, affect lives, encourage people, and build tools that others would use to make their lives better.
The tech industry is dominated by males, and that doesn’t mean that there are obstacles for females, it’s just different because we function in different ways. Regarding challenges, of course, but not for being a minority in this industry. I personally haven’t faced any obstacles, people are enthusiastic when having a girl on the development team, interested in problem-solving, complex systems, and learning new tech.

I think the only missing piece that would help women toward the tech industry careers in a higher % of female role models in tech.

As long as women in the tech industry advocate their journey and experiences through different social mediums, I know for a fact that there would be a large number of women who’d be encouraged to become a part of the tech world.

We already are great role models to many girls out there, and I think that women in Kosovo possess an enthusiastic personality, as well as being eager to learn and explore several fields, especially STEM.”

Albiona Hoti, Developer Relations Engineer at Webiny

“I think the whole process for becoming a programmer is the same for both genders. During my own journey, gender wasn’t a key factor nor it hindered my chances to become an engineer. Working side to side with people of different nationalities and genders was really a life-changing experience which made me grow on all levels as a person and as a programmer. Most of the time, I do not think that much about gender, but I rather focus on the skills and character of the person which define us as individuals working together as a team.

If you’re around cool and open minded people, you don’t face much discrimination nor special treatment. On the other hand, we can’t deny that the glass ceiling and inequalities between genders is a prominent issue in our society not only in our field, which seems to me more equalitary compared to other professions where the gap is still huge, especially in wages and treatment.
Sometimes it happens to meet people who are judgmental who think that you’re less qualified than you actually are merely for being a female. In some interviews that I held, males tend to address your male colleges easier than women who are actually part of the interview panel.

Some of the challenges involve microaggressions like people assuming you are not a programmer, or that you’re the junior position due to misogynistic prejudices.
In some cases the drag may be related to things like having your work ethic questioned simply because you have other obligations as home and you can’t put your work as a priority, which I think doesn’t happen to male colleagues in a similar way.

Programming is one of the fields which have a lot of perspective in the whole world not only in Kosovo. My advice to the young passionate female programmers would be to keep your heads up, get stuff done and pay no mind to the small minded people.

They’ll eventually learn to respect you through your work ethic and good manners so don’t waste your time and energy to focus on your gender, but rather channel your focus towards the things that really matters and would impact your future and personal growth as having the right work ethics, to be well mannered, to have values and principles, to learn how to operate in a team in order to be effective as much as possible, and of course being competent and highly skilled at your work is a necessity in my humble opinion.”

Egzontina Krasniqi, Software Engineer at Joris Ide

“During my studies at the University of Prishtina I have not encountered direct gender differences from UP staff. But, what bothers me is that in the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering in all programming subjects we have male assistants and no female assistants. The University of Prishtina and our society should work harder on the emancipation of girls, especially in rural areas.”

Elsa Vitija, student at University of Pristina, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Effective intercultural communication in Software Development Outsourcing

The business world is changing rapidly with more advanced technologies evolving. Thus, human factors may still present the greatest challenge to outsourced engagements.

We, at Kutia worked with international clients for more than seven years. Different experiences have allowed us to become acquainted with the many complexities of communication that occur while interacting with various cultures. To gather tips for overcoming cultural differences and maintaining smooth communication in outsourced commitments in software development.

Through this blog post we seek to provide the right information and analyze the top key points everyone needs to keep in mind while struggling with communication.

Intercultural communication

Intercultural communication is the effective sharing of information between cultural and social groups. Taking into account the different ethnic, social, religious, educational, and socio-economic background of the individuals in such groups.

It is sometimes also known as cross-cultural communication or global communication. Since offices are filled with a diverse range of people, from all backgrounds and walks of life, this form of communication is of vital importance and is necessary for the smooth running of any modern business.

A reason that people might overlook the cultural differences in outsourced IT projects is the fact that the host’s culture is so familiar and sensible that companies might not realize differences while outsourcing.

How to create lasting business relationships with people from around the world?

  • Do your research first
  • Find a way of communicating that works for both teams
  • Keep an eye on the relationship between teams
  • Agree on processes and methodology
  • Align expectations
  • Keep an open mind

1. Do your research first

There are multiple tools and frameworks that we can use in order to help us understand attitudes and behaviors influenced by different cultures.

The most basic tool, introduced by Edward T. Hall in his 1976 book Beyond Culture, is a distinction between high and low context cultures. The scale is a measure of the explicit nature of the messages exchanged in a society, and the significance of the meaning in that communication. Successful outsourcing companies take these lessons to heart and integrate them in our everyday work.

2. Find a way of communicating that works for both teams

The next step to achieving fruitful cooperation in outsourcing is getting to know the personal style of your counterpart. Communication can be difficult even within in-house teams and miscommunication can, to say the least, be costly in software development.

Things such as movements or a certain way of speaking can influence how one team views the other. This can either help or hinder cooperation. So, minor things like email greetings or misconceived definitions of deadlines may lead to awkwardness or discomfort.

To ensure that decisions are made together so that both sides will benefit, develop a set of ground rules. Each team member—deployed or in-house—can speak up, ask questions, and take part in a constructive discussion.

3. Keep an eye on the relationship between teams

When the relationship between a company and an outsourced software team is focused on confidence, successful cooperation can be accomplished. In software development, confidence is expressed when one side trusts in the skills, experience and the professionalism of the other.

One way teams can build stronger bonds is to encourage them to build relationships and learn about one another. In-person visits that allow team members to meet face-to – face and get to know each other better can support this.

At Kutia, customers often meet their outsourced team or have certain team members join them on site for a kickoff. Everyone works face to face, creating a good partnership from the beginning.

4. Agree on processes and methodology

Misunderstandings can be easily avoided. Sharing a way of doing things puts us on the same page. Providing a blueprint for priorities and objectives and setting down the ground rules.

It is very important that organizations first understand the culture of their deployed team. Thus, use this knowledge to better manage their team.

5. Align expectations

Valuing the health and well-being of your outsourced staff, as well as honoring their religious and national holidays, would in the long run result in improved profitability. Make a plan that includes schedules, product complexity and functionality. Set the team size and capacity, and consider any challenges that may arise.

Consider the time that workers can take from the start and prepare accordingly for special holidays, vacations and religious events. Both of these aspects ensure production dates are met, and teams reach their targets.

6. Keep an open mind

Working with different cultural backgrounds can sometimes be a great challenge.

Discover ways to inspire people based on their shared values, to promote both person and team success.

Forming a high-performance software development team is a matter for both parties to make clear their priorities, objectives and principles, as well as decide on procedures that will allow smooth development practices.

Keys to a successful digital transformation

The journey of digital transformation is something that goes beyond “the business making” as we know it. 

We are all witnessing the  drastic change that has taken place around the world, as the experience of pandemic Covid- 19. Until the whole world was shut down, our attention exceeded its limits on the great importance of digital transformation.

Digital transformation has been a journey we have all been preparing for. A transformation from which visible and immediate results are expected.

To achieve real change and remain important, the digital future of our business needs to be constantly rethought, re-imagined and reinvented. If IT strategy doesn’t drive our business strategy, then we are likely to get lost.

Here are 5 elements we consider the most effective leads to a successful digital transformation:

Having the right leaders 

During a digital transformation change occurs at all levels, especially when it comes to talent and capabilities. Many people state that the top teams in their companies shifted during the transformation. Most specifically, when new members who are familiar with emerging technology joined the team.

The addition of such a leader is indeed one of the keys to successful transformation.

Another key to success is dedication to leadership. If people in key positions are more involved in a digital transformation, the effectiveness of a transformation is more likely.

Different research results indicate that when companies achieve transformation success, they are more likely to have certain digital-savvy leaders in place.

Developing talents – building the workforce of the future

Developing talent and skills throughout the organization is one of the most important factors for success in a digital change effort. Three of our keys to success relate to the workforce’s digital capabilities. First is redefining individuals’ roles and responsibilities so they align with a transformation’s goals. This can help clarify the roles and capabilities the organization needs. It is more likely to report a successful digital transformation when this practice is in place.

Other keys relate to the fact that there should be a potential bridge between the traditional and digital parts of the business. Integrators and technology-innovation managers are in the role of affording this bridge and help foster stronger internal capabilities among colleagues. 

Integrators are workers who convert and incorporate into current ways of operating new emerging methods and processes. They are well prepared to combine the business’ traditional and emerging pieces.

Technology-innovation managers, for their part, possess specialist technological skills and lead work on a company’s digital innovations. 

We believe that businesses with winning transitions have a more comprehensive and better financial approach to talent than others. Transformation is successful when organizations have invested the right amount in digital talent.

Performance is even more likely when companies improve planning and skill growth for their employees.

For example , people report positive transitions when their businesses set recruiting targets. Usually, those are cross-functional or enterprise-wide based on different skill needs.

Inspiring employees to adopt new ways of working

Digital transformations require cultural and behavioral changes like calculated risk taking, increased collaboration and customer centricity.

Strengthening new habits and working practices through structured processes has long proven to be an activity that promotes organizational change. Another related key to positive change is the development of new forms of working practices.

Employees who claim their companies have developed at least one new way of operating, are more likely to report positive changes.

Giving employees a say on where digitization can and should be taken is a very positive step that we would recommend. When employees generate their own ideas on where digitization could help the company, reporting a success is more likely.

Another approach to a successful transformation and  empowering workers is ensuring that people in key roles play parts in reinforcing change. Success depends on both senior leaders and those engaged during the transformation.

One important aspect is to allow workers to question traditional ways of doing business. This is more likely to show performance for workers who say their senior leaders and the people involved in transformation-specific positions do this.

Another success factor relates to taking risks. Success is more likely when senior leaders and leaders involved in transformation are all motivating workers to experiment with innovative ideas by rapid prototyping and learning from their mistakes.

A third key to success is people in key positions who ensure their own teams collaborate alongside others while working on transitions. If workers tell that to their senior leaders and others in transformation-related positions, they ‘re more likely to experience progress than others.

Upgrading daily digital tools

Digitizing technologies and systems should promote productivity so that companies should inspire workers to function in different ways.

When the transformation started, we asked workers about institutional improvements their organizations had made.

Three of these improvements – each involving the use of digital technologies a new corporate practice – have emerged as essential to success.

The first element is the use of digital technologies to make information more available across the enterprise, providing a successful transformation. 

The second is the implementation of digital self-serve tools for staff, business partners or all groups to use; when companies do so, transition progress is twice as likely.

The third key is modifying standard operating procedures to include new technologies. Beyond these factors, an increase in data-based decision making and in the visible use of interactive tools can also make the process more successful.

Finding the right way to communicate through traditional and digital methods

During a digital transformation, consistent communication is important. More specifically, one key to success is to communicate a story of change. This helps employees understand where the organization is heading, why it is changing, and why the changes are important.

An effective transformation is more likely at organizations which adopt this method. A second key is senior leaders who promote a sense of urgency to bring improvements in the transition. A practice where effective communication is crucial.

When communicating change stories, successful organizations tend to relay a richer story than others do. The elements with the greatest influence on success are clear targets for organizations’ key performance indicators. Also, a clear communication of the transformation’s timeline.

Using remote and digital media to communicate the vision of the transition does a far better job than in-person or conventional networks promoting success. If senior managers and members of projects use emerging digital platforms to access staff remotely, the performance rate is higher.

Take away

  1. Create an inspiring workplace!

If a company has already started a digital transformation, it is crucial to think critically about ways that digitization will impact their businesses. One important move is to establish consistent workforce plans for companies to help assess the digital skills.

  1. Build up the company’s connection. 

Considering that technology needs new ways of working, workers need to be motivated to work differently. Leaders still have vital positions to play by letting go of old habits (for example, command-and – control oversight). Not all leaders could have the expertise to endorse or adopt these changes. Dedicated leadership-development initiatives may help both leaders and workers make the required adjustments in mindsets and behaviors.

  1. The way you communicate matters! 

Good communication has always been a key success factor in traditional change efforts! In a digital transformation, it is equally important. Organizations need to become more innovative. Especially for the tools they use in a digital environment to allow the fresh, quicker ways of working. One shift is to move away from traditional channels that promote only one-way communication (for example, company-wide emails). The other is to seek more collaborative networks (such as internal social media). This allows open discussion around the organization. Another path to effective communication is to create more concise and shorter messages for the employees  rather than longer communications.

Turning Possibilities into Realities

At Kutia, we developed a lifecycle approach to performing and transforming technology. Our new reality requires even faster transformation and realized business outcomes. We support you through the entire solution lifecycle. Our new world requires even faster transformation and realized business outcomes, turning your possibilities into realities.

E-commerce creates new opportunities for businesses

• In communication, e-commerce is the distribution of goods, services, information or payments through a computer network or by any other electronic means.

• In the business process, e-commerce is the application of technology towards the automation of business transactions and work processes.

• In the service, e-commerce is a tool that responds to the desire of businesses, consumers and managers to reduce service costs while increasing the quality of goods and the speed of service delivery.

• From an online perspective, e-commerce offers the ability to buy and sell products, online information and other online services.

What is the best for your business?

1. The correct e-commerce platform.

Many e-commerce development companies would tell you that all trading electronic solutions are the same but in fact it is not true. If you choose the wrong platform you may fail in your e-commerce project. An accurate and strong platform will allow you to expand your website with the expansion of your business.

2. Simple view and ease of use

Appearance is one of the main elements that influences the online shopping process. An attractive view for the visitor encourages them to stay longer on the site and appreciate the products. The constituent elements must be clear and easily identifiable.

3. Importance of images

Website users are attracted to visual images so images play an important role in attracting customer attention. The site should be rich with illustrative images of the process and products.

4. The content should be as structured as possible.

Users are used to having the main information at their fingertips. Therefore the information should be as detailed as possible and contain data that will not be repeated. Products must be detailed with descriptions as well as relevant prices.

5. Completion with as much information as possible.

If search engines don’t find you, then customers won’t find you either. Try to make the catalogs public by not setting prices. This way you attract the customer to enter the site to get more information.

6. Place incentive elements to include visitors.

Put public incentive elements such as downloading brochures or contact the company for any questions or add to cart and so on. These messages prompt the customer to take the next step. Include these buttons wherever possible so that the consumer is involved in the product purchase process.

7. Completion of the purchase process.

The easier this process is, the more chances you have for the customer to come back and buy other products. Make sure the information is stored to make it easier for them consumer, preferably use only one page to complete the purchase.

8. Process integration

Process integration is a stage that many companies overlook. Make sure your site can be integrated with other components of your business and you will not need to duplicate workflows by increasing the chances of making mistakes.

These are the 8 basic components in portal development that have a special impact on the success of your virtual store.

Is your product easily understandable to your online customers?

Remember, buyers will not be able to touch or test your product. To buy, they need to be sure that they know what they are buying. Providing detailed product descriptions and photos can significantly increase your sales. A clear return policy, product warranty and reviews can reduce the fear that some buyers feel when they want to make a purchase.

Can you sell a product with an acceptable profit margin when you set the time and costs of packaging and delivery?

If you sell low-bill items, you may need to sell in large quantities to increase profits. If you sell items that break down, you’ll need a quick posting service.

Can you sell a digital (or non-physical) service or product that can be delivered efficiently online or by e-mail?

Many service providers or information providers have made such interactions online, for example by converting journals to digital publications.

Pin this blog post to keep an eye for updates on how to make your business work online. We will keep up to date with other blog posts to share advice and tips on how to benefit from digitizing your business and keep up the good work!

E-commerce – a tool to save the business world!

Beyond the expected and the unexpected, the world is shaking by a frightening challenge called Covid-19. With the closure of thousands of businesses and other activities, people are facing the inevitable question: How to make it work?

With the situation changing rapidly around the world, the buying habits of consumers have changed as well. They have switched from offline activities to e-commerce. This brings relief for the economy and sets the course for a rapid recovery.

With businesses allowing workers to work from home, a visible step was made towards social distancing and a transition to the digital world.

E-commerce service will open up completely new selling opportunities. This allows businesses to position their goods and services to a wide audience in the country and the world. It is a very effective way of increasing sales in a very efficient way, advertising goods or services on websites and accepting online payments immediately.

How to survive through e-commerce?

Digital approach has now become the popular stream. Every business is stepping into the new strategy to build a high competitive strength. To increase the customers and make the business a supreme, starting digital is the leading way to foster the business.

There are a large range of companies that can profit from their own e-commerce platform. Starting from start-ups and small businesses right through to big brands, where they can offer their own goods or services.

E-commerce allows commercial transactions to cross cultural and national boundaries more conveniently and cost-effectively. Practically the size of the market is approximately equal to the size of the online population. To penetrate and be part of it, businesses need to reevaluate their business process to e-commerce.

Most processes within the e-commerce system are performed through the Internet. Products and services are featured in online catalogs on the websites of companies with e-commerce features, product and service profiles, online financial transactions and all services related to the normal functioning of online buying and selling processes. Customers can order online items and then pay for them in various ways such as credit / debit cards, PayPal, bank transfer, payment by phone credit as well as payment on delivery.

E-commerce emerges as a platform for promoting products and services that will rebuild the existing economy. This will affect the organizational structure; will require different planning skills, new regulatory and legal framework. The evolution of e-commerce will have a profound impact on competition and consumer behavior, changes in how work is defined and managed. 

Through e-commerce, businesses will be able to save time in sketching the product, designing according to the individual specification of the customer, ordering and distributing components, traveling sales and getting feedback from customers.

Ways of improving your business:

New technology transforms business processes. These processes include the way products and services are created and marketed. To go on with the dynamics of competition, the organizational structure of the enterprise and the nature of the enterprise itself. This includes marketing, customer supply management, sales management, product development, and more.

Transparency makes business strategy more effective. Many businesses have already started recognizing key customers, employees and major suppliers. E-commerce will lead to better customer service, more personalized products, lower costs, process efficiency and faster market delivery.

Expanding the market: This is one of the main advantages of doing business online. A small company now has the ability to reach markets beyond its traditional capabilities and gaining access to markets beyond the current customer base.

B2B and B2C solutions

There are many ways to classify e-commerce transactions. One of them is the analysis of the nature of participants in e-commerce transactions. The main categories of e-commerce are e-commerce business-consumer (B2C) and e-commerce business-to-business (B2B).

E-commerce B2C 

B2C, the acronym for “business-to-consumer”, is a business model based on transactions between a company, that sells products or services, and individual customers who are the end-users of these products. B2C e-commerce definition suggests the commerce transaction through a company website featured with online catalog.

Most Internet users are familiar with the B2C e-commerce model. Consumers appreciate the convenience of online shopping where they now can purchase clothes, electronics, media subscriptions and services via the internet. 

E-commerce B2B

Business to Business, in which businesses focus on selling to other businesses, is the largest form of e-commerce. Examples in this regard are related to online distributors, electronic procurement, exchange of goods, creation of private industrial networks, etc. Through this virtual ecosystem, the companies involved have the opportunity to communicate more efficiently and expand their capacities. Thanks to the advanced qualities of information technology, companies are able to cooperate by avoiding the barriers that appear to standard business.

Leading and managing remote teams to work effectively

Managing remote teams is similar to managing regular teams. However, it requires greater emphasis on building trust, fostering communication, implementing team processes, and utilizing technology. Keeping your finger on the pulse of the team’s progress and individuals’ work is essential. This will let you know whether or not your team is on track. Therefore, you need to have a good understanding of technology and excellent technical support to ensure that your team network is performing at its peak.

It can be a challenge!

Trying to manage teams across different geographical regions and perhaps time zones, can be difficult for even the best manager.

Communication is essential to keep all team members on board and up to date. This includes the most pertinent details of their tasks and the latest revisions including:

  • Schedules (project, work, holiday)
  • Outcome of meetings (decisions, action plans, minutes)
  • Plans 
  • Other information 

It is up to you to manage the interaction of the team members and ensure smooth communication between your team members. After communication, another critical challenge as a manager of a remote team is building and maintaining trust and cohesion with your team members.

How to successfully manage a remote team?

90% of your problems will be people problems, and only 10% will concern utilization of technology. It is smart to address your people’s issues first. 

1. Set up your communication plan: Outline what you need to communicate, how will you communicate it, who needs the information, when do they need it, and what happens if communication breaks down. The communication plan should also outline meeting structure- when do we need them; what will be their purpose; in what format will they take place (chat, video conference, teleconference, combinations of methods); who will be in control of the meeting; and who is responsible for publishing the outcome. 

2. Outline the decision making process How, as a group, will you make decisions; what is your back up plan to make a decision; what escalation path have you set when a decision cannot be made.

3. Determine your conflict resolution strategy How will you deal with conflict and what are your rules for avoiding them.

4. Distribute goals, roles and responsibilities It is very important for everyone to know what his/her task is. Set out the goals, then communicate who does what, including their specific responsibilities. 

5. Ensure fair work distribution You may need to adjust this as time goes along and the project or work changes.

Now that your plan is in place, you should get to know your team. If you can’t see them face-to-face, pick up the phone and talk to them. Let them know what you will be expecting of them and ask for their input. Determine how much time they can realistically expect to be working on your project. Try to have face-to-face meetings, especially when the team is initially launched, or when a new member joins in. Face-to-face connections help build trust quickly, and it is trust that strengthens relationships on the team. Use video conferencing to enable members to make more of a personal connection as they initially meet to facilitate better communication in the future. 

  • With expectations set for each team member, check in regularly to monitor their progress and provide them with feedback (both good and bad). Make sure that they are well informed of the workflow. Not only what is expected of them, but what other team members are responsible for and how their work affects them. 
  • Stay on top of your meetings. Make sure that they remain productive. Produce the desired output such as brainstorming, editing documents and files, and making decisions. Ensure that the right decision makers are present at meetings to ensure that decisions are made on a timely basis.
  • Even if the meetings are video conferences, they will need the same level of preparation to be well executed. Keep your remote workers in the loop and motivated to work. 
  • Encourage collaboration on ideas and decisions to keep them connected. Keep your communication consistent to avoid the trap of “out of sight, out of mind”. And make a plan so that team members can easily contact you.
  • When you are unavailable, contact someone in authority who can ensure work progresses. This will involve you determining an escalation path including decision-making authority levels.
  • For meetings, take advantage of video feeds, conversation streams, access to documents and slide presentations. and even smart white boards that can be hand written on at one location and the images then printed at others. Meetings may take a little more preparation to ensure that sites can link-up properly, so appropriate time and resources are to available at all locations prior to meetings.

Tips to Successfully Manage Your Remote Team 

  • Try to have an initial face-to-face meeting and incorporate team building activities. Build trust as you launch your remote team – this will help you dramatically if problems arise later.
  • Establish strong procedures around communication– phone, e-mail, and video conferencing etiquette and corporate guidelines for sending and replying to email and phone calls. Establish how you will schedule meetings and who needs to attend.
  • Determine how work will be managed and information shared, reviewed, and modified (develop a change control procedure).
  • Vary the time of meetings so that no one group or individual is consistently having to meet after hours. 
  • Can’t meet face-to-face? Try distributing photos of team members on a communication list, or attached to their chat identity so that team members will be able to relate to each other personally.
  • Put multilingual people in key positions to bridge the language barriers.
  • Encourage social interactions between remote teams. 
  • Test video conferencing equipment thoroughly before each and every meeting.
  • Have someone make introductions at the beginning of the meeting and include what their responsibilities to the team are.
  • Make sure everyone participates.
  • Encourage personal communication such as face-to-face or over the telephone, as long as it does not interfere with the work being done. Remember-technology tends to be very impersonal and can easily lead to misunderstandings.
  • Keep your information tight, such as up-to-date mailing lists, to keep everyone informed of current questions, answers, and general progress of the work.
  • Watch out for cliques that may form that tend to work independently of the team. Cliques tend to seek each other out instead of going through proper channels. Therefore, it is in your best interest to keep in the loop.
  • Keep your eye on groups that have worked independently in the past, especially home-based employees. Ensure that they are fitting into the team and working well. Keep in mind that these workers function well alone and will tend to gravitate toward that mode of operation.
  • Ensure your team is attuned to cultural sensitivities. This may require cultural sensitivity training. It should be done as close to the beginning of the team forming as is possible to avoid misunderstandings. 

Communication Tools: 
Slack, Google Meet, Zoom, Skype

Project Management Tools:
Jira, Trello, Claritask, Monday

Holding efficient online meetings during quarantine

Since businesses are trying hard to prevent workers from transmitting coronavirus with travel restrictions and remote work arrangements, there is a strong risk that in-person meetings with staff, clients, or suppliers can be postponed for weeks, or even months.

Holding online meetings seems to be one of the “life savings” trends at this difficult time for the whole world. The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, in addition to health, have resulted in our daily work  and most of the companies have returned to the world of technology, transmitting all capabilities to ‘online mode’.

As work continues remotely, it is important to keep the spirit of collaboration alive between the team members! 

Meetings are the events where you exchange ideas, assing tasks, make commitments, and brainstorm. Whether they’re face-to-face, virtual, or a combination of both, meetings are an opportunity to connect with your colleagues. In other words, they are a chance to discuss critical tasks and issues, determine the important next steps to get work done, and collaborate to achieve more. At their best, meetings are productive, stimulating, and worthwhile—making them powerful team builders, motivators, and taskmasters. At worst, they can be distracting, boring, and pointless—making them big time wasters.

“If you want to kill time, a meeting is the best weapon.”

6 tips on holding an effective online meeting

Come with a clear plan and agenda

A meeting without a clear agenda is a waste of time and often leads to confusion. 

Your preparation for the meeting greatly influences the perception of others about this meeting as well as the tasks assigned. Schedule the agenda early and send it by email at least 1 day in advance, so that others come prepared at the meeting knowing exactly what will be discussed. In this way, you make the meeting productive without  getting out of the frame of what the meeting is about. 

Appoint a meeting moderator

A meeting without a moderator who leads it is a great opportunity for noise and clutter. It is always preferable to appoint a moderator who leads the meeting to ensure that no one is left out. In the other case, he should make sure that no one overdoes it with excessive talking, leaving no one else in line. The meeting moderator plays a major role in keeping the focus on meeting topics, even when a team member tends to talk about personal topics unrelated to the purpose of the meeting.

Ask questions to enhance engagement

In online meetings some participants might opt out from the conversation and some might feel that they are not heard or cannot express their opinions of the topic. During the meeting it is important to hear what everyone has to say. As an organizer of the meeting go through all participants and ask their opinions regularly.

Try not using cameras – during the coronavirus situation the connection is slower

We all know that seeing each other during an online meeting is more attractive but we should be aware that during this time of the pandemic Covid 19, people are staying and working from home, so the internet connection is a challenge nowadays. Poor connection can lead to misunderstandings and the meeting can easily fail.
 Try the safe road- cameras off!

Conclude with clear actions

The moderator of the meeting should extract action items for each of the agenda points and get acknowledgement from all the participants. The key rule is to identify an action item, assign it to one individual and agree on a deadline.

Share Meeting Notes

Once your online meeting concludes, make sure a summary of all the meeting notes is sent to the participants. List the action points identified for each agenda item along with the name of the person responsible for its delivery. Ask all the participants to acknowledge the meeting notes and confirm their understanding.

Remote teams = innovation

In our previous articles we have highlighted the benefits we derive from outsourcing and how working remotely can be quite qualitative.

The IT business is changing rapidly and one of the most important factors in this change is undoubtedly the role of the remote teams.

We are all familiar with office work, with the group of people we see every day and with whom we collaborate. Remote teams bring us something else. They come in all shapes and sizes with an ability to work from any location, so by default they bring on board the heterogeneity, flexibility and cultural diversity making them an ultimate source of innovation.

With all these features that characterize remote teams, there are some issues that different partners emphasize:

How do you manage a team if they are in 5 different places? Is quality the same as working in-house? How to define the definition of don?

We invite you to go through this article and read more about remote teams as a source of innovation. 

But first, what is a remote team?

The definition of remote team refers to the workforce with an ability to work from any location, reaching beyond the restrictions of the traditional office environment. Essentially, a remote team is the same as a regular team, with a common project, objective, and task, but operating in various time zones and geographic areas, united with the power of technology.

“We believe who you work with is crucial to success. Ambition; Dedication; Talent. These are all traits that make the difference between average and amazing.

Location is not.”

Remote team’s members have more than two eyes

Operating in a shared environment with others has definitely brought some positive occurrences. On the other hand, this phenomenon has also led to some patterns of behavior that have invisibly hindered the development of people’s new ideas and critical thinking.

When a team comes together through the transmission of ideas rather than physical presence, a creative and highly productive situation arises. A remote team is more flexible and new in its versatility. In addition to this, a remote team brings together people of different backgrounds, making their decision making processes different from each other, and this certainly brings high productivity and creativity to the company.

In this kind of environment interruptions are often much rarer and communication more considered. That enables a more focused working environment where people tend to get more done when working on tasks that need less collaboration.

The combination of various cultures, thought patterns and experiences makes the team great and creative.

Finally, a distributed culture also helps diversity in many ways. Greater international diversity can guide the company to better understanding of international markets in their product and marketing. Greater timezone diversity can reduce operational and support burdens by encouraging hand-offs, and not having to wake people up as much, or keep people up late. And greater diversity of backgrounds can be a great context for practicing empathy and leveraging new problem-solving perspectives.

“A team that never sleeps”

“Letting people work remotely is about getting access to the best people wherever they are,” write Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson in their book Remote: Office Not Required.

The freedom to work from anywhere you desire is an attractive benefit—but it’s only true freedom when you can also work whenever you’d like.

Time variations typically head the short list of inconveniences when thinking of geographically remote teams. In reality, they can cause a few problems, such as missed deadlines or foiled meetings. Nonetheless, time zones offer up an unforeseen benefit when it comes to innovation and creativity.

Let’s imagine a team that never sleeps! Time difference can actually play its part here.

Meanwhile a team member in America finishes work and falls asleep, the other one wakes up in Europe and starts the day all fresh and ready to work!

It’s an unstoppable process of good work.

By far, one of the biggest benefits of being a remote company is the fact that you can have staff from near and far working across time zones on various schedules. This continuous coverage means that, in theory, there should be staffers who provide the company 24-hour support.

Distance brings everything

Communicating within remote teams is challenging for most people. Communicating with people in your own country with whom you share a language, culture, and many other similarities is already challenging. With people from another country, time zone, culture, and language, it is even more challenging. Remote communication can be both enjoyable and frustrating.

You can still love opening your PC, starting Skype, and talking with your colleagues from other countries.

Collaborating with different  nationalities to complete projects is highly rewarding. At the same time, you can be misunderstood as well as not understanding what is happening on ‘the other side’. Through practice, we learn how to communicate.

Being behind a screen can create new opportunities for certain team members, making space for those who might be less inclined to speak out in groups. Text-based communication places less importance on interpersonal skills and physical appearance, offering an effective way to share power and decision-making.

And the absence of body language doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not giving away more than we intend to when we communicate remotely. There’s still a great deal of meta-communication and virtual leakage that happens in digital environments, and it only takes paying attention to read between the lines.

This certainly puts another score for the remote teams. Remote teams show a great example of imagination and innovation. Calm atmospheres stimulate our brains more and this is a great chance to improve our performance. 

How to make it happen?

As more and more of our interactions happen digitally, we will continue to experience new forms of miscommunication and misunderstanding. The solution will not come from new technologies (although, no doubt, developers will keep trying to bridge that gap). Instead, the solution is in understanding the new rules of engagement; in building a communication skill set that reflects the demands of our digitally-driven age.

Why outsource to Kosovo

When we think of the ideal place for IT outsourcing, almost everyone agrees to the point that the first thing that comes to our minds is saving time and finishing tasks on time in order to succeed with our projects.

Lower costs, higher quality, easier and faster communication- who wants more?

If you haven’t yet heard about Kosovo or you still haven’t considered it as one of your options you have the chance to understand more about how much you can benefit from this country that is making big IT turns and  is increasingly becoming a magnet for clients from around the world.

Kosovo has emerged as one of Europe’s top locations for global sourcing of IT services. According to the Global Sourcing Association (GSA) the Southeast Europe – Kosovo region has become an attractive location for sourcing/outsourcing due to the low cost of qualified staff and a large number of highly educated, bilingual and qualified IT professionals. Almost 1/3 of Kosovo companies are engaged in export services. (https://www.marketopportunities.fi/home/2019/ict-sector-in-kosovo/)

Kosovo: A Place to Do Business

Every year, more and more companies come to Kosovo at different events that bring together ICT enthusiasts and professionals. It is amazing how much interest is growing every year for this small country with such a big heart. The thing that stands out most is the power of the Kosovar youth and their great development in the field of technology.

Kosovo’s economy is at a stage of rapid  development, especially in the IT field. Most of Kosovo’s population is made up of people under the age of 30 who study at various universities both inside and outside Kosovo. What is characteristic of the youth of Kosovo is the fact that many young people have studied in different countries of Europe, but also in the United States, and with their return to Kosovo, they have brought a new spirit of mentality.

Kosovars are characterized by good English language skills and very rapid cultural and intellectual adaptation with people of different backgrounds. This is a great advantage when it comes to working with different companies abroad.

Being responsive, motivated, highly practical in their work, informed of the latest trends and always updated, Kosovars have quickly become attractive to different companies providing customer service abroad.

Its advantageous geographic location has also allowed Kosovo to access global markets easily and develop logistics infrastructure to support these connections. More than half of the Information Technology companies in Kosovo are exporting their services. According to the Kosovo ICT Association – STIKK report, IT companies are mainly providing services and products to the international IT Services and Outsourcing sector and the Technology sector. 

Kosovo: A place to nearshore software development talent

Kosovo offers talents who have completed computer science at one of the universities offering this area of education as well as academies and training schools across the country. 

Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe with 53% of the population being under 25 years old. Computer science and IT related subjects are taught in 6 universities and approximately 350 students graduate each year. 

At the University of Prishtina – Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering has a considerable number of students. The number of graduates in this field is increasing every year. Since the interest of young people to study in this field is becoming a trend, there are also private universities who offer different programs. 

A considerable  number of students have the chance to work as internships in various companies while studying, while many others are going to various universities around the world through the Erasmus program, benefiting from this exchange with a device of different cultures and outlook.

Kosovo: A Place to Innovate 

After the war of 1999, everything started from the zero point and during these years, Kosovo’s youth are “exploding” in technology trends. In spite of the enormous challenges the state faces, the technology workforce has made Kosovo very quickly reach an enviable level. 

The curiosity of people to learn new things  from different examples, the ability of people to adapt to international trends and the open understanding of others has made people from all over the world collaborate with digital companies in Kosovo. 

The ICT market in Kosovo is growing with the fastest pace in comparison to other markets since the end of the war in 1999. Currently, the ICT sector is considered as one of the few sectors with positive trade balance. The vast presence of international organizations has been one of the main drivers for the rapid ICT growth, starting with demand for equipment and later shifting to software and services. The ISPs were among the first services, making Kosovo’s network one of the most developed fiber optic networks in the entire Balkan region. The coverage of Internet access in Kosovo territory has then exceeded 90%. (https://www.marketopportunities.fi/home/2019/ict-sector-in-kosovo/)

Kosovo: A Place to Grow

Kosovo is a small country which has started to grow more rapidly with investments being made by foreign investors. Although education has not provided sufficient opportunities for young people who have chosen to study computer engineering, a new culture of education has begun in recent years that is offering more opportunities for young people. Kosovo’s youth has made a shift from traditional education to progressive education. A spirit has begun in Kosovo that is being driven by the provision of training and the creation of conditions to attract IT talent.

STIKK (The Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology) provides assistance in the advancement and development of youth in the field of technology.

STIKK currently accounts for 200+ members, which represents 90% of the whole ICT market of Kosovo. STIKK is dedicated to help out the long-term-growth of the Information and Communications Technology industry in Kosovo; is committed to improving the business environment for the ICT, as well as promoting the contribution of the Information and Communications Technology to economic growth and social progress in Kosovo”.  (https://stikk.org/en/about-stikk/)

As we have mentioned above, the population of Kosovo consists mostly of people under the age of 30. Being an emerging society, Kosovo is thriving in a place to grow. The open mindedness of the people, with a good knowledge of English and German, is making this country a place worth collaborating with and investing in.

“At the end of the 2000s, the Kosovan government ran the ‘Young Europeans’ campaign to communicate the message that the country was ‘a fountain of youth’ and that the Kosovar people have something special to bring to the European continent by taking a younger, fresher, perspective to everything they do’. Not only is Kosovo the youngest country in Europe, after having declared its independence in February 2008, but it also has the youngest population in the Old Continent.”

(emerging-europe.com/intelligence/kosovo-population-talented-young-entrepreneurs-waits-europes-door)

In addition to that, Kosovo has quickly become a favored spot for corporate tourism and is becoming an attractive place to visit.

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/kosovo/articles/why-you-should-visit-kosovo-at-least-once-in-your-lifetime

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