OUR WORKING VISIT TO CYPHER CRESCENT, PORT HARCOURT
Purpose of Visit: Business Mentorship (In Commercial Software and Operational Models) Duration of Visit: Four Days (Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th of October 2019)
The DREAM team: ▪ Ahmad Aminu Idris ▪ Latinwo Olugbenga Olasumbo
▪ Hassan Bello Dantata
Tuesday 1st of October 2019: Arrival and briefing on the agenda for the duration of visit
Wednesday (Day 1 at Cypher Crescent) Activities
▪ Introduction and presentation of Cypher Crescent Team and Steamledge Team
▪ Health and Safety briefing from Cypher Crescent: by HS Coordinator - Enoch George
▪ Presentation from Cypher Crescent on products, services and business operations in Nigeria
▪ Introduction to Sepal Suite and how the whole product was built as a bespoke solution for a client
▪ Interactive chat with the CEO, Head of Operations and Cypher Crescent Technical Team Leads
▪ Interaction of Steamledge Digital Media Team Start-up (Raven & Macaw) with Cypher- Crescent Media startup
▪ Interactive chat with Cypher Crescent Business Consultant (Mr Wale Adisa) on Steamledge organizational structure, product(s) viability and services
▪ A short Strategy Articulation session with Cypher Crescent Business Consultant and a take away (document to study and work on)
Key Take away(s)
▪ Develop products that meet specific industry needs and challenges
▪ Create a knowledge-driven environment and Knowledge sharing system
▪ Have a strong company culture
▪ Know how to make your company and products visible
▪ Knowledge of a Balance scorecard and how it will impact on the growth of Steamledge Limited and a company
▪ Strong focal points for company growth (Corporate services and Finance) while Product development/Technical/Business Development is what makes the company valuable
▪ Retain and have a growth plan for High performing and dedicated personnel
▪ Managing personnel’s instability during the company’s growth process
▪ Focus on Technical and Product Development will stunt the company’s growth
Thursday (Day 2 at Cypher Crescent) Activities Presentation from, and Interaction with, Cypher Crescent Technical Team (ITSS, Machine Learning and UI/UX)
Key Take away(s)
▪ There was an Intensive interactive session and exchange of project experiences with each department
▪ All departments should be focused on Applied Research ITSS
▪ The Technical Lead for ITSS shares insight on why product needs to be an end to end solution
▪ Insight into Enterprise Network Management
▪ Why Steamledge development team needs an IT Infrastructure department (Have a deep and vast knowledge of client infrastructure when building a product)
▪ Helping your client (end users in client’s organization) accept and effectively use a custom software product built, i.e. taking timeout to help client personnel overcome the phobia of migrating from old methods to new software products
▪ How to factor in free add-on services when deploying on a client site
▪ Structured communication channels from ITSS to other departments
▪ Managing your IT infrastructure for Software Development
▪ Safer methods of protecting software source codes (code protection), system security and data back-up using Git-Hub and Local Servers; use of Digital signature, when and when not to make use of Open source platform and frameworks while checking on limitations and licensing infringements
▪ How Cypher Crescent in house software solution makes processes easier for clients and personnel growth (Automated Notification System to clients for software updates, Automated learning Tracker where quizzes are embedded within video tutorials, hence monitors learning progress of each individual)
UI/UX
▪ The Technical Lead shares insight on his experience and journey with Cypher Crescent (Managing Teams and Managing Change)
▪ A walkthrough on experience dealing with the peculiarity of building software for clients based in Nigeria (How thorough user-requirements phase should be)
▪ Effective use of GIT-Hub for software repository, collaboration among teams and safeguarding source codes (Creating Master as where the final project source codes reside and Testing systems where changes are consistently made in GIT-Hub)
▪ Knowing situations to raise invoices to clients for additional features added during software product development
▪ How to structure your software team (Building subject matter experts around a software developer, to meet end-user needs)
Machine Learning The Technical Lead walked us through the Digitalization Team responsibilities and how the team is structured and functions (Machine Learning, Computational Statistics, Data Analytics, Software Engineering)
How Artificial Intelligence played a key role in solving the Missing Log Prediction for a Cypher Crescent client
Dwelt on Data Labelling and opportunities to explore within the space
Machine Learning Expert and Data Analytics Expert + Software Engineer can make a great team to develop products, (Computational Statistics comes into play for intense customization)
Friday (Friday Day 3 at Cypher Crescent) Activities
▪ 3 Hours Strategy Articulation Session with Cypher Crescent Business Consultant (Wale Adisa)
▪ Walkthrough of Strategy Articulation document for Steamledge Limited
▪ Final Recap with Head of Operations (Tombari Emeka-Duruzor)
Key Take away(s)
▪ The Consultant walked through each step of re-focusing and re-positioning Steamledge Limited for growth in its business areas (Custom Gov-Tech software and Education)
▪ Strategy to re-position Steamledge to be the “Andela” of Northern Nigeria
▪ Steamledge’s Strategic Assumptions, Competitive repositioning for Gov-Tech, Human Resources and Finance Strategy, Functional Strategy Articulation, Analysis of Internal and External Realities, Strategy Execution and Resource Allocation Plan
▪ Review and design of a workable and realistic organizational structure to meet with new and future objectives
▪ Hiring competent personnel at a lower cost (Hiring hands from Lagos, Securing an apartment for staff from outside the state, mentoring local educated young minds into developers at a lower cost)
Action plan: Time-lines and responsibilities allocated for implementation of Strategy Articulation Document
Saturday Departure from Portharcourt