Varsha Modake has worked in the tech industry for over a decade, taking on various roles within her career from team lead to software engineer. With an array of international experience under her belt and credits on a number of large scale projects, we want to learn more about Varsha and her journey too Anaeko. 

What is a Software Engineer

As a Software Engineer at Anaeko, you will work on projects where you can make a real difference to people’s lives and help develop solutions on a global scale. You will work in a constantly evolving environment, due to technological advances and the strategic direction of the organisation you work for. You’ll create, maintain, audit and improve systems to meet particular needs, often as advised by a systems analyst or architect, testing both hard and software systems to diagnose and resolve system faults.

You receive great support and mentoring, balanced with the experience of being given real, meaningful work to do, to help you truly develop both technically and professionally. You will learn from other experienced developers, project managers and customer-facing staff.

You will be responsible for:

• Developing high quality solutions which impact the lives of users worldwide.
  
• Working as part of a team to solve problems and produce innovative software solutions.
  
•  Learning about new technologies and approaches, with talented colleagues who will help you learn, develop and grow.
  
•  Developing excellent technical, team-working and Agile project experience.
  
• Contributing to peer reviews of designs, code and test specifications
  
• Continuous innovation and improvement

Software Engineer Skills

Communication Skills

It’s extremely rare that Software Engineers work in isolation. In fact, what separates Software Engineers from similar roles like Software Developers tends to be the amount of high-level collaboration, leadership, and team building required of a Software Engineer – and communication skills are key to all of that. Software Engineers should be able to clearly communicate – in writing and orally – with virtually any type of team or company stakeholder, regardless of that person’s technical background.

Team Player

Software Engineers typically work as part of a team – or leading one – and creating or maintaining great software programs requires the input and expertise of a great number of people. Success or failure will be shared by that team. Successful Software Engineers must understand how to compromise, how to motivate others to deliver the best work they’re capable of, and how to take and learn from criticism.

Problem Solving

Successfully steering software development projects to completion requires quickly identifying and solving a lot of issues along the way. Software Engineers must be curious and creative problem-solvers, able to sift through code to pinpoint a programming error while also anticipating other issues before they arise and adapting quickly to solve them.

Attention to Detail

Software Engineers are expected to be precise and meticulous, with a high level of attention to detail applied to everything from coding to testing to documenting projects. Some software engineering industry best practices – like using version control systems to keep track of old work – fall into this category of soft skills.

VARSHA MODAKE ON WORKING AT ANAEKO

TIM : Hi Varsha, do you want to introduce yourself, and your position within Anaeko?

VARSHA : My name is Varsha Modake, and I am a Software Engineer at Anaeko

TIM : How would you summarise what you do at Anaeko?

VARSHA : My current role at Anaeko is Software Engineer/full stack developer, this is a big role that involves working on front end, back end and database development. As a software developer you need to be up-to-date with technology, because in the current era platforms and tools are constantly evolving and you don’t want to be left behind.

As a Software Engineer, myself and my team must understand the customers requirements and develop a web or app with the help of front end and back end technologies. After implementation it goes through several rounds of testing and after that we present it to the customer and use any feedback to make adjustments to the final product. We repeat this process many times during a project.

TIM : And how long have you worked at Anaeko?

VARSHA : I joined Anaeko in March of this year, Anaeko gave me an opportunity to work in a UK environment. I had started my career in India as this was where I grew up, so this opportunity has allowed me to diversify. I had taken a two year career break after the birth of my first child and Anaeko gave me the opportunity to start my career again.

TIM : What makes you want to stay at Anaeko and what do you enjoy?

VARSHA : Anaeko gives me the chance to work with various new technologies, and as I said earlier being up-to-date with the latest technology is very import as a software engineer. Anaeko has given me the oppurtunity to work on so many different projects, and I love the variety that it gives me on a weekly basis.

TIM : What does your average day look like?

VARSHA :  I usually start with looking at my calendar and then plan my work and day accordingly. We work in an Agile Model and on a weekly basis. So after checking my calendar I usually check my JIRA board and see what work has to be done for that day. A typical day starts with looking at new feature developments or working on a new requirement that’s come in. A lot of my day is taken up with extensive research and exploring various developments to ensure that they’re feasible.

TIM : Tell us about a recent project you worked on or a nice encounter you had with a co-worker.

VARSHA : Currently I am working on an outsourced project within a small team of four. There is myself, a UX developer, a project manager and a junior developer. I am currently mentoring the junior which is hugely rewarding work. The entire team is friendly, helpful and supportive! And always ready to take on any challenge! I love working with them!

If a career at Anaeko sounds like the perfect fit for you, or someone you know! View our current vacancies HERE.

Dylan Wall is a newbie to the tech industry in Northern Ireland beginning his career within the team at Anaeko. With a large amount of experience under his belt already and an enthusiasm to develop and innovate in the future, we want to look at Dylan’s journey from graduate to Software Engineer at Anaeko.

What is a Graduate Software Engineer

As a Graduate Software Engineer at Anaeko, you will work on projects where you can make a real difference to people’s lives and help develop solutions on a global scale. A graduate position allows you to implement your academic study in real time, and develop your skills as an Engineer in multiple disciplines and work on many projects.

You receive great support and mentoring, balanced with the experience of being given real, meaningful work to do, to help you truly develop both technically and professionally. You will learn from our experienced developers, project managers and customer-facing staff.

You will be responsible for:

• Developing high quality solutions which impact the lives of users worldwide.
  
• Working as part of a team to solve problems and produce innovative software solutions.
  
•  Learning about new technologies and approaches, with talented colleagues who will help you learn, develop and grow.
  
•  Developing excellent technical, team-working and Agile project experience.
  
• Contributing to peer reviews of designs, code and test specifications
  
• Continuous innovation and improvement

Graduate Software Engineer Skills

Communication Skills

It’s extremely rare that Software Engineers work in isolation. In fact, what separates Software Engineers from similar roles like Software Developers tends to be the amount of high-level collaboration, leadership, and team building required of a Software Engineer – and communication skills are key to all of that. Software Engineers should be able to clearly communicate – in writing and orally – with virtually any type of team or company stakeholder, regardless of that person’s technical background.

Team Player

Software Engineers typically work as part of a team – or leading one – and creating or maintaining great software programs requires the input and expertise of a great number of people. Success or failure will be shared by that team. Successful Software Engineers must understand how to compromise, how to motivate others to deliver the best work they’re capable of, and how to take and learn from criticism.

Problem Solving

Successfully steering software development projects to completion requires quickly identifying and solving a lot of issues along the way. Software Engineers must be curious and creative problem-solvers, able to sift through code to pinpoint a programming error while also anticipating other issues before they arise and adapting quickly to solve them.

Attention to Detail

Software Engineers are expected to be precise and meticulous, with a high level of attention to detail applied to everything from coding to testing to documenting projects. Some software engineering industry best practices – like using version control systems to keep track of old work – fall into this category of soft skills.

DYLAN WALL ON WORKING AT ANAEKO

TIM : Hi Dylan, do you want to introduce yourself, and your position within Anaeko?

 EMMA: My name is Dylan Wall, and I am a graduate software engineer at Anaeko

TIM: Perfect, so how would you summarise what you do on a daily basis, what does a graduate software engineers day look like?

DYLAN: My average day involves going to my current projects JIRA board and seeing what work needs to be done for that day. I will then work through it independently and attend any team meetings that I need to. At the end of each day we have a scrum meeting to ensure we are on track and to catch up with the US team due to the time difference. I also keep up with the Slack channels on the IBM platforms, and try to answer as many questions as I can. And then ask as many questions as I can also.

So currently, I’m subcontracted to IBM, which involves working in a team with Anaeko colleagues, and also IBM employees including many from the US. I love to be involved in large scale projects such as this one with IBM as they are incredibly interesting, because it’s so vast and dense. And being new to the industry I have already gained so much experience and being able to pick the minds of my Anaeko colleagues has been fantastic.

TIM: And how long have you worked for Anaeko and what made you want to work for the company?

DYLAN: So I’ve worked at Anaeko from January of this year, and I basically started straight off the back of my master’s degree. I completed my master’s in IOT or the ‘internet of things’.

I’ve learned so much since starting here. And that’s a credit to management, as in the relatively short time I’ve been here I’ve been exposed to a lot of different technologies that were new to me and since then I’ve learned a lot. Since starting everyone has made me feel very welcome, and i’ve yet to meet someone who refuses help or has refused  to give me help and support when I need it. And the learning opportunities are fantastic here at Anaeko.

You get the chance to work on many different projects, that utilise various technologies which as a graduate software engineer is brilliant as you are constantly developing your skillset. And as a new age software engineer, you have to be adaptable, as trends and methods are changing everyday. Also the hybrid working model is great, and offers amazing flexibility.

TIM:  What do you look forward to most at work? 

 DYLAN: I love to learn and I definitely would say that I learn something new everyday in my current role. I enjoy working with my team and we have formed a great working relationship with one another and I think when your working on such large projects, this is super important. I couldn’t pin point just one aspect of my job that I enjoy the most because I think it takes each piece together to really make it a great team and company to work with and for. 

If a career at Anaeko sounds like the perfect fit for you, or someone you know! View our current vacancies HERE.

The Digital Leaders 100 Awards are over, after their 9th successful year celebrating the individuals and organisations from the public, private and non-profit sectors who are demonstrating a pioneering and sustainable approach to digital transformation in the UK. We had an incredible time attending this event and watching  this year’s winners be selected high above the London skyline on the 11th of November.

Anaeko were proud to sponsor the ‘Big Data Innovation’ category at this years Digital Leaders 100 Awards in London. Anaeko our thrilled to have sponsored a category that seeks to highlight tremendous innovation in the technical industry. Organisations are increasingly defined by their data and how they use it. This award is for a digital product or service that in the last year has had a measurable impact and delivered real outcomes in the field of big data.

The DL100 list is created by public vote and celebrates the teams and individuals who are working hard behind the scenes to secure the UK’s Digital Transformation. Digital leaders have been asking the public to help find these digital pioneers from across the UK and from the public, private and non-profit sectors, every year since 2013. While the selection process is led by industry professionals, the final result in each category is decided by public vote, so it was fantastic to see such a strong public present during the lead up to the event and the final itself. 

Digital Leaders is an initiative that has created a shared professional space for senior leadership from different sectors promoting effective, long-term digital transformation. Our community of 100,000 senior leaders are involved in leveraging technology to promote economic growth, increase social well-being and narrow social gaps across the UK.

We believe that Anaeko is a perfect fit for the Digital Leaders platform, not only to sponsor the ‘Big Data Innovation’ category but to also be a part of this event and many like it as we are a Data Analytics and Digital Services Specialists, who deliver intelligent multi-cloud analytics for mature organisations in regulated industries.

From our Belfast headquarters we have delivered over 400 data management and analytics projects since 2004. We design data fabrics across millions of assets, build platforms that analyse exabytes of data, operate applications that engage millions of users, and transfer products that process billions of records. 

Big Data Innovation Winner 2021 

DAERA Information Hub

The DAERA Information Hub has been transformational, enabling the department to discover, view, and analyse data; supporting informed and effective policy-making decisions within Food and Farming, the Environment, Fisheries, Forestry, Animal and Plant Health in Northern Ireland.

DAERA have developed Dashboards to view and explore data from the main statistical publications produced by the Department. This dashboard includes information on livestock, municipal waste, food and drink processing and green house gas inventory.

Congratulations to this fantastic team for their hard work and dedication to using technology for big data innovation in Northern Ireland and across the UK!

Digital Leaders Local Champion (Northern Ireland) 2021 

Jayne Brady

Head, Northern Ireland Civil Service

Jayne is an engineer at heart with extensive, board experience and a track record of success that transcends blue-chip corporations, start-ups and funding ecosystems. She has over 20 years’ leadership experience and a diverse skillset including venture capital, due diligence, corporate governance, setting strategy, leading teams, technical ownership and finance across complex organisational structures internationally.

And that’s a wrap!

To find out more about this years champions or to view information about all the finalists, visit the DL100 website for more details. 

Nominations for next year’s awards will open in April 2022.

Anaeko is excited to be supporting this year’s Digital Leaders Week 2021.This will be the events 5^th year with the national initiative promoting digital transformation, leadership and innovation. The event will launch at 9am on Monday 14th June, and will see 200+ sessions, 300 speakers and 30,000 free places online covering 12 topics, 4 sectors and 7 UK regions and the three home nations.

This year’s event will be like no other, with the entire event being held virtually due to covid-19. The virtual aspect of the event will truly showcase the resilience and adaptability of the technology industry across the UK. Digital leaders 2021 are working with a professional videographer to edit the talks into an engaging and well edited film, which will be streamed live on the Monday morning. This will be supported by a vast amount of interactive social media content with the ability to book in to watch selected lectures and sessions.

Denis Murphy, Chairman and CEO of Anaeko, said: “We are delighted to be Digital Leaders Partner for Northern Ireland this year. We very much support the Digital Leaders mission of building leaders to drive digital transformation across the public sector. This is particularly important in a post pandemic world”.

The theme for the week in Northern Ireland will be achieving Net Zero Carbon. This is becoming a major focus, not just across Northern Ireland but across all the regions. And will require collaboration between private sector, public sector and academia. Belfast’s ‘Net Zero Roadmap’ was launched in December 2020 by Climate Northern Ireland to improve the regions carbon footprint. Another initiative launched in early 2021 has been ‘Towards Net Zero’ a major strategic focus for Northern Ireland Water as the biggest user of electricity in the region.     

This theme will be looked at in further detail at Northern Ireland’s annual lecture keynote address on 15th June 2021. This presentation will focus on Northern Ireland’s strategies to mitigate the climate emergency through smarter water management. As a leader in software, Aneako will partner with NI Water to deliver this year’s annual lecture and panel discussion on the challenges around becoming carbon neutral by 2050. As part of Digital Leaders Week, Alistair Jinks, Director of Business Services at NI Water, will present Northern Ireland’s creative strategies in the water sector for slowing climate change by coupling bold leadership with digital innovation. For further details and to register follow the link HERE.

This event comes at a very important time as we work to unlock the UK’s economy and emerge from the tight lockdown restrictions that have been in place, since March 2020. This is the UK’s single biggest gathering of people focused on digital transformation and will address three key questions our partnering organisations face during this accelerated period of digital transformation: What works? How to? And where can we get advice? Over the five days delegates will get access to the best practice, meet the organisations that can help them answer these questions, develop new ideas and find practical solutions. There is also the opportunity to build peer-to-peer networks in order to share new thinking – all from the comfort of our home working environments.

We hope that you will all join us for an exciting week of content and innovation for the Digital Leaders week between 14^th and 18^th of June 2021.

Follow the link below to register: 

Emma Foster has worked in the tech industry for over a decade, taking on various roles within her career from web design to digital marketing. Emma’s vast experience has led to her current UX Lead position at Anaeko .

WHAT IS A UX LEAD

UX stands for “user experience” and, as you might imagine, UX is critical to both the customer experience and the success of modern web and mobile applications. Increasingly, companies are seeking UX specialists to help improve sales and build their business.

A UX Lead is responsible for understanding user needs and behaviour and designing an application to meet these needs. The role is part designer and part developer; you must research and understand users, have creative skills and know how to develop applications. Your job is to improve the experience for users of an application or website. How a person interacts with an application or website considers:

•  Aesthetic Design: The creative design of the application and its brand identity 

•  Usability Desgin: The ease of use when discovering, exploring and interacting with the application
  
•  Functional Design: The selection and prioritization of meaningful and relevant functionality 

A UX Lead will often interview user groups, define user personas, or interpret requirements from a product owner to identify and prioritise requirements. They often build prototypes of creative design concepts. Their job is to build an idea and test it out. Having worked in previous design roles, the position of UX Lead has been ideal for Emma as her creativity and leadership skills on large projects have proven invaluable over the past five years.

UX LEAD SKILLS

UX Lead understands the big picture; they design the application workflow in response to a user journey. They must be skilled programmers as well as creative and on top of the latest industry and cultural trends. If you’re an out of the box and methodical thinker, then working in UX could be for you.

A UX Lead requires strong interpersonal and communication skills. Individuals must be team players able to actively listen, take verbal instruction and extrapolate it to create concrete designs. UX Lead skills include being adept at brainstorming but also great researchers. Patience is always required during the protyping, alpha and beta testing process of any application, and flexibility is a must.

The UX Lead designs the overall user experience, marking them as one of the most influential team members on whether an application will go viral – or languish in Internet limbo.

To gain a greater understanding of how Emma has navigated her career and to learn more about her position, I conducted a short interview to learn exactly what it takes to become a leader in the vast industry of technology.

EMMA FOSTER ON BEING A UX LEAD

TIM : Hi Emma, do you want to introduce yourself, and your position within Anaeko?

 EMMA: My name is Emma Foster, and I am UX Lead, and Anaeko.

TIM: Perfect, so how would you summarise what you do on a daily basis, what does a UX Lead’s day look like?

 EMMA: A UX Lead is a mixed role that involves working on user experience across multiple projects and helping the customer to realise their vision. I also help out on a lot of internal projects for Anaeko, whether that be figuring out user requirements, application and web design and interpreting web and mobile analytics. Projects can begin at many different stages. Sometimes clients will have requirements and clearly know what they want, which makes the development process easier. I then lead a team to start putting their vision into action by doing loads of user research, creating wireframes and user stories and outlining those requirements from the user’s perspective and from the perspective of the application that the customer wants. I have to take in the customer’s idea of an application and try to define what is required from a user’s perspective, then decide what we include in the application. That process will run through to building out designs, prototyping, testing, and looping back in the process to user research, through testing, to build out further features and requirements. 

TIM: Perfect, so your role obviously involves a lot of creativity, for example if someone has an idea for something, for example a mobile application, would you then design the user side of the system? So you’re responsible for what the interface and stuff would look like?

EMMA: Yeah, some customers come to us with a full presentation lined out, detailing exactly what they need, and the features that they want. At that point, it really is about getting it in front of users and trying to prototype it and test to see if they have the right app that they think their users need. Some people might come with just an idea, and then we build it out. This can take a lot longer as they need to decide what features they want to include and determine how beneficial their product will be to the end user. At this point we would also work with different users to test it, prototype it and to see if it provides the best user experience.

TIM: And how long have you worked for Anaeko and what made you want to work for the company?

EMMA: I came to Anaeko around eight years ago. I finished university and did a diploma with a company called Parity. They put me into another company for a year’s work experience. One of my friends from university, Amanda, went into Anaeko. The company I went into with that work experience was a bit more e-commerce and marketing and things like that and I wanted to get into more development work because I felt I was losing it from university. I wanted to keep on that side to learn more about the development process. At the end of my time with Parity Amanda recommended me for Anaeko. I did the interviews and I was lucky enough to get the chance to work for Anaeko. I think what drew me to the company was the variety, and the chance to work on a whole mix of projects. 

You get involved in so many aspects of a project. It helped me get more experience working with development teams and working on UX design and coding. I was able to pick up new coding languages while on different projects, and was able to build up my experience that way. I did leave Anaeko for a year. It’s one of those things that you think the grass is always greener, and you want to try new things, but it didn’t quite work out for me so I went back to Anaeko and I’ve been with them ever since. That’s been a total of six years with Anaeko

TIM: Perfect, and then what would your average day look like? So obviously, everything’s changed due to working at home and hybrid working, but I would assume that most of your days would still have the same structure, even though you’re at home. So what would that look like?

 EMMA: I am currently working across quite a few projects. Most of the time I would be across three or four projects at one time. I usually try and plan out my days or designate sections of the week to specific projects. At the start of the week I might work on a specific project. That might include stand ups with teams. If I have my stand ups or calls about a certain project on a Monday or Tuesday, I will try and focus on that project for a couple of days. The same with other ones, a couple of days on the next project and then a day or so, maybe add another one. It does chop and change. On a typical day it can range from starting new feature developments or working on a new requirement that’s come in, and they want to start looking at a new feature for an app. I would start looking at the UX side of it  –  user research, journeys and flows. Or it could be designing mock-ups for customers that want upgrades to their existing features. Designing screens of what it might look like in the app so they can get a view before they start development. Then there’s some other work that is more bug fixes. I do most of the HTML and CSS across the projects. There might be refinements that are needed across all projects through ticketing systems like JIRA, working on bugs that I need to focus on and add fixes to. It can be quite a mix on a day to day.

TIM:  What do you look forward to most at work? And it doesn’t have to just be projects and roles within UX. Perhaps work events, additional duties or office life?

 EMMA:  I think the UX Lead role is really nice, because you get to work closely with customers and clients. There’s a lot of brainstorming and collaboration, and this has obviously been a little bit different, not because we’re at home, but when you’re in the office, you can get people together, and deal directly with your team. It’s nice for customers to see the process and get excited about what is being created, about how it can go from just an idea to a fully-fledged product that they can start putting in front of users. Creating a functional and usable app is the fun part. The team is a great one to work with, Anaeko is a friendly, warm company that you know everyone in.

TIM: And then, is there a particular project that you’ve got to work on that you enjoyed the most?

EMMA: There is one at the minute that has been very enjoyable. It’s one where the customer had an idea and was fully behind it and needed it built into an app. He had quite a lot of ideas already in place. It was really enjoyable. It was a small team and still remains a small team, but we’ve been able to get it to a really good, functional, minimal viable product. We have created a really tangible product in such a small amount of time. The customer is really excited and happy about it. It’s been a smooth and enjoyable project, and I suppose a smooth project makes it more joyful for me…as there aren’t too many bumps in the road.

If a career at Anaeko sounds like the perfect fit for you, or someone you know! View our current vacancies HERE.

INVENT is an annual competition organised by Catalyst with headline partner Bank of Ireland, that recognises and rewards local innovations and proof of concept ideas that have the greatest commercial potential.

INVENT is an opportunity to gain high profile exposure, to validate your idea, to unlock a quality network of influencers and to win a share of the £47,000 prize fund. If you have come up with an innovative product or solution that you are passionate about then this is the competition for you.

INVENT CATEGORIES 

Your innovation must fit into one of the following five categories:

• Greentech – Products, solutions and tech that enable a sustainable future.
• Health and Wellbeing – Improving the quality of life through pushing the boundaries in life sciences, med tech and health promotion.
• Product – A physical product designed and fabricated to offer the consumer or business a novel innovative solution.
• Business Software – Computer software products or solutions used to satisfy the needs of an organisation rather than individual users.
• Consumer Software – Consumer software is a class of commercial software that is sold directly to end-users as opposed to businesses.

Anaeko sponsored the Business Software category for this years awards in an effort to support the next wave of entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. Our COO David Kerr acted as the lead judge within the category. 

David has been with Anaeko since 2014 and has almost 20 years experience in building and leading Software Services, Support and SaaS organisations. Prior to Anaeko, David held a variety of Global Customer Support and Professional Services Management roles at Openwave Limited, a leading innovator in Mobile Internet and Broadband Communications technology. David holds a BSc in Computer Science from Queens University, Belfast.

MEET THIS YEARS #INVENT2021 FINALISTS!

10 companies made it through the semi-finals to the final stage of the competition, that took place on the 30th of September in Belfast!

AND THE WINNER OF INVENT 2021 IS…..

STIMOXYGEN

INVENT shines a light on the creativity of local entrepreneurs who are at an early stage of developing their business, with 10 finalists chosen to compete for the main prize at a showcase event in the ICC Belfast. The final was attended by a live audience and streamed online after being delivered as an entirely virtual event last year.

The overall winner, Stim OxyGen, took home a prize package of £26,000 from a total prize fund of £47,000.

Stim OxyGen’s technology enhances the effects of cancer treatment by overcoming the problem of hypoxia in solid tumours. It uses oxygen generating nanoparticles to generate transient oxygen within solid tumours and has the potential to improve the efficacy of many cancer treatments and transform patient outcomes across the world.

WINNER OF BUSINESS SOFTWARE AS SPONSORED BY ANAEKO

ANNEAL

Congratulations to Anneal on winning in the Business Software category at this years awards! Anneal is an engineering collaboration and knowledge management platform for high-performing engineering teams, designed to help accelerate and improve the engineering development process.

The software initiative was founded and developed by Nick McCleery, an award-winning, simulation and analysis focused mechanical engineer. Nick’s professional background spans seven seasons of Formula One engine development, race strategy, and vehicle dynamics – including being part of the 2014 and 2015 F1 World Championship winning Mercedes teams, and the 2016/2017 4th place Force India teams.

It also includes senior roles in signal processing and quantitative financial software development, working alongside professors of Astrophysics and Computer Science from Cambridge and Princeton, respectively. 

Well done to all that entered INVENT 2021, you all demonstrated amazing levels of innovation and invention! We can not wait to see what you will all do next as Catalyst alumni and we look forward to welcoming the next influx of entrepreneurs at INVENT 2022.