Xebia Articles

State of Product Management Conference – November 16, 2018

We all dream of being a rocket scientist
Everybody's inner geek probably has an inner rocket scientist that has probably contributed great theoretical advances to inner rocket science, advances that the real world is probably not ready for at present! :) The past couple of months I have had the pleasure of letting my inner geek rocket scientist out to play with the actual rocket scientists! I wanted to share some of my experiences.

In the previous post I stated that there is more need for engineering talent, and that there is a war on talent going on which will only increase. However, we see many organisations that have trouble hiring engineers, and even then there is a high chance that these new hires leave within a year - sometimes even within a month. The reason is that those organisations do not provide the right environment - they do not understand the engineer’s mindset. In this part of this series we will talk about what the engineering mindset is.

The internet makes information available everywhere, but it also comes with a downside. If a user wants to gain access to specific pages and apps, they are often forced to hand over personal information to third parties, which can lead to undesirable consequences. This article examines the current situation online and describes how decentralized technologies could empower individuals to take back ownership of their data.

One of the defining aspects of a public blockchain is that anyone can add information to it. However, before it is added, the information must be verified. All cooperating nodes in the network must agree on the definitions of valid, and invalid, information. For example, in the case of Bitcoin, there must be a consensus on what defines a legitimate transaction. When the new information is deemed valid by all participating nodes in the network, then the consensus is reached. This article explores how a decentralized network could achieve consensus through two different algorithms: proof-of-work and proof-of-stake.

There’s a lot of blockchain-related development already in progress. Start-ups that focus on its various aspects are popping up everywhere. Companies in all sectors are looking at its thread to determine what it could do for their business. There’s even a new career role flying around on LinkedIn, the "blockchain consultant.” So, hype or not, clearly, this trend is gaining some traction.

But how “enterprise-ready” is blockchain technology? 

This three-part series explores how Wechat, the Chinese alternative to WhatsApp, is transforming the on- and offline lives of Chinese consumers and forcing companies to reconsider their marketing and sales strategies.

Part I compares WeChat to WhatsApp and explains why a presence on WeChat matters for any Chinese-facing business. Part II provides an overview of WeChat’s most essential features, describing how it’s typically used day-to-day. It also explains how companies can use WeChat to improve their business in the Chinese market.

These days, you can’t mention “blockchain” without someone else bringing up bitcoin. Of course, it’s an intriguing topic. A digital coin, with no value at all, suddenly skyrockets and makes people rich, out of thin air! It must be a bubble, scam, fraud - even criminal!

Or is it?