Defining Dev
|
State of the DevOps Report
|
User Experience
|
software development
As reflected in last year’s State of the DevOps Report, where the intersection of technology feasibility and business needs is more crucial than ever, user-centered design becomes the guiding light for success. To utilize it properly, focusing on users doesn’t stop at the UX team — it requires synergy between the entire company. So, how do you ensure that the user is considered at every step? Our Director of Customer Experience, DJ Jahn, shares his insights into the importance of engaging customers and clients, understanding user behavior, and balancing technical constraints with user desirability to show how organizations can seamlessly integrate user-centered design principles into their DevOps practices.
Digital Transformation
|
Quantum Computing
|
artificial intelligence
|
modernization
|
software development
2023 has been one of the most defining years in the technology space in quite some time. The development journey of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a perfect example of its rapid growth and evolution this year. Artificial Intelligence has ascended to new heights, integrating itself into our daily lives and industries worldwide, but what can the industry expect to see next year? With advancements in expandable AI, an intensified focus on ethics, and seamless integration with emerging technologies, 2024 is poised to redefine the boundaries of what is achievable. Join us as we explore the possibilities of the expanding technology landscape for 2024.
State of the DevOps Report
|
User Experience
|
devops
|
software development
DevOps is a powerful and crucial combination of software development and software operations that allows organizations like Aviture to deliver better products, faster. As we get closer towards the end of the year, many organizations like ours are taking a step back to look at the data surrounding DevOps from not only our company but others in our space. DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA), a long-running research program recently acquired by Google, has produced the Accelerate State of DevOps report for the past twelve years — gathering data and testimony from over 36,000 technology professionals from around the world. The 2023 State of DevOps report was recently released, and after reading through the 95-page document, I am excited to share some of my takeaways from their major findings this year.
Aviture Inc
|
Company News
|
Culture
|
News
Aviture, Inc. has promoted Brandon Suponchick from Chief Engineer to Chief Technology Officer — positioning the company for future advances in the intersection of business and technology.
Aviture Inc
|
Company News
|
Culture
|
News
Jerry Koske transitions into a new role as Chief Strategy Officer at Aviture Inc., to guide the company towards growing technology markets while overseeing strategic planning for the future. OMAHA, Neb. — November 13, 2023 — Aviture is excited to announce that Jerry Koske has been appointed Chief Strategy Officer at Aviture Inc., effective immediately. Jerry has served as Aviture's CTO for nearly 14 years, and his deep understanding of our technology and industry will be invaluable in this new role.
Digital Transformation
|
User Experience
|
User Interface
|
business dashboard
|
modernization
In today's data-driven business landscape, having access to accurate and actionable information is crucial for strategic planning and decision-making. With the right, modern systems in place, you can visualize complex data sets, track key metrics, and gain real-time insights into your company's performance. Whether you're tracking sales figures, website traffic, or customer satisfaction scores, a well-designed interface lets you monitor these metrics at a glance.
Aim High
|
Air Force
|
Company News
|
software development
Aviture secures a four-year contract with the United States Air Force for the continued development and enhancement of the Aim High application. This application effectively educates 4.4 million eligible recruits about news, events, and the career opportunities the Air Force offers while arming the Air Force Recruiting Service with better networking tools.
Aviture
|
Company News
|
Conferences
|
Culture
|
agile
|
community
Nebraska.Code() was a blast this year — with Jerry Koske, Brandon Suponchick, and Art Doler giving sets of fantastic talks! Did you miss the talks or weren't able to attend? We're back with curated recordings of all four speaker sessions! Take a peek below or visit our playlist as Jerry, Brandon, and Art share their experiences of their craft.
Aviture
|
Company News
|
Conferences
|
Culture
|
agile
|
community
Nebraska.Code() is the annual technology conference held in Lincoln, Nebraska focusing on various aspects of software development including deep dives into programming languages, frameworks, tools, and best practices for developers. This year, Aviture is not only a Gold Sponsor but has three Aviturians hosting their own speaker sessions! Jerry Koske, Brandon Suponchick, and Art Doler will be taking attendees deeper into aspects of their knowledge of their craft. Take a look at their video promos and descriptions below to lean more about the speakers and their talks.
Create Impact
|
IT Modernization
|
Scaling
|
agile
|
business analysis
Agile is one of the most effective ways to deliver value at the speed of business. To be successful, you have to get the appropriate stakeholders on board with the reality that we might not always know what we're going to be working on next. There will be times when a stakeholder will ask “I have this idea. When can it come to fruition?”, and the development team won’t be able to provide them with the answer they’re looking for. Instead, we will do everything we can to ensure that our teams are always working on what’s most valuable to them at the moment. By doing this, we will make progress and deliver capability along the lines of what you're looking for. We will take what we learn along the way to make this capability better with each iteration — and as long as it's still the most important thing to you, we'll keep making it better.
Castaway Week
|
Culture
|
Events
|
Working Remotely
|
community
Feeling disconnected and isolated from coworkers has been a problem that almost every company has been facing for years (and wasn’t exactly helped by that whole pandemic thing either). While being a remote worker offers a lot of flexibility and can help with a work-life balance, maintaining a strong and healthy company culture that stretches across the states, sometimes even across continents, is a real challenge. Company culture is not only a huge part of our company, but a very important aspect to any company’s identity and stability.
Conferences
|
Culture
|
community involvement
|
tech community
So, you’ve decided to go to a conference. Great! This is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in an environment that allows you to thrive in your career. Whether you’re looking for tips to overcome networking nervousness or need some help to fine-tune your conferencing skills, there are a bunch of situations and scenarios that we can help you navigate with ease — we’ve got some experience! Meagan Anderson, Project Manager at Aviture, along with Art Doler, Community and Culture Steward and Senior Software Developer, are here to help guide and provide tips for various conference networking scenarios.
Air Force
|
Technology
|
UX
|
carson
|
decison logic
|
guardian
Designing a great user experience is more than just updating your website or application's user interface — it encompasses everything your users interact with. In addition, every dollar invested in UX results in a return of $100 — generating an ROI of 9,900%. In a world where customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable, it pays (literally) to prioritize UX. Understanding why user experience is important will have a positive impact on your business — the same as it did for these four companies.
Defining Dev
|
Quantum Computing
|
Technology
Alongside recent discussions of artificial intelligence and the idea of “what’s next” for the technological world, you’ve probably stumbled across the idea of quantum computing. It’s a rapidly-emerging technology that is seen as a milestone in the computing space due to the fact that machines that utilize quantum computing can outperform the practical capabilities of normal computers.
Defining Dev
|
artificial intelligence
|
machine learning
In today’s world, it’s nearly impossible to not have heard the words, “artificial intelligence” or “machine learning” when talking about some of the most bleeding-edge technology across multiple fields. (Cough, cough — ChatGPT!)
Culture
|
agile
|
company culture
|
product development
|
product lifecycle
|
software development
|
thought leadership
As we round out 2022, take a dive into a collection of our greatest articles written by Aviturians from our Create Impact series, an initiative focused on sharing and developing the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. Each article will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
IT Modernization
|
Technology
|
data strategy
|
digitalization
|
modernization
When it comes to your company, at some point in time you must consider an end-to-end approach for managing and upgrading your business technologies — moving away from older technology to new products and solutions that can automate processes smoothly. Modernization is an effort that can be applied to any portion of your technological ecosystem which can ultimately deliver greater results for your organization. Let’s dive more into the modernization of technology and its benefits.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Cloud Migration
|
Cloud infrastructure
|
Defining Dev
|
digitalization
As you look into data solutions for your business, it’s nearly impossible to not see mentions of the cloud. Your organization might even be using the cloud right now to help store data and files that perform one or more services while being accessible to those who need them within your organization. There are several cloud services that can easily help transform your organization, but depending on the company, a full switch to a public cloud service may be too big of a change or simply not the right choice given the data you handle. Cloud/hybrid networks, better known as hybrid cloud architecture, offer a blended solution to keep your data both accessible and secure.
Culture
|
agile
|
product lifecycle
|
software development
Welcome to Create Impact, a series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients.
Defining Dev
|
Technology
|
big data
|
system integrations
Looking for something specific while ordering food, shopping online, or booking a flight on your apps and wondering how it brings up what you need when you need it?
Company News
|
News
Aviture will be responsible for developing the Contingency Quarters Management Accountability Platform, or CQMAP. This application will modernize current protocols with a GovCloud-based solution that works online and offline, enabling services managers to assign airmen to their quarters faster than ever before.
devops
|
product development
|
software development
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. In this post, Senior Solution Architect Joel Elixson explores how continuous delivery can revolutionize the software development process. He defines continuous delivery, explores how to overcome barriers to widespread adoption, and shows how the right tools and culture are crucial for spurring innovation.
minimum viable product
|
proof of concept
|
software development
When you have a big, bold idea with the potential to grow your business and revolutionize an industry, the temptation is to immediately jump to the end result. Yet having a fully fleshed-out, perfectly made, exceptional product or service takes a significant amount of time and money to accomplish. Going from idea to “in market” is a process that can take years of brainstorming, development, configuration, reconfiguration, and testing. Skip any step in that process and the end result may not be everything you want it, or your customers need it, to be. To make sure your developers, investors, and ultimately your users/customers are happy, it sometimes helps to take an intermediate step between bold idea and the final product: a minimum viable product (MVP).
agile
|
software development
So you’re doing Scrum. Great! But are you Agile? “Wait a minute,” you might say. “Isn’t Scrum an Agile framework? How can you be doing Scrum and not be Agile?” Well…it’s actually quite easy.
User Experience
|
User Interface
|
accessibility
Making your products and services as accessible to as many people as possible isn’t only the right thing to do; it’s good business sense. Too many companies continue to approach accessibility as an afterthought within the design of their websites and applications. This excludes many prospective members of the target audience who may have the intent to purchase a product or service but find it difficult to do so. It can frustrate current customers who feel they aren’t adequately able to use what they’ve invested their money in. Making a website or application that’s accessible is crucial when designing your tech. But knowing how to evaluate your current efforts is somewhat tricky and can be even more difficult than starting from scratch. Here are a few things you’ll want to consider.
UX
|
company culture
|
software development
Create Impact is a series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. 2021 saw Aviturians exploring a number of topics that got our readers excited. Here's a compilation of some of the most popular insights.
agile
|
product development
|
software development
"Human nature is to need a map. If you’re brave enough to draw one, people will follow." — Seth Godin Wise words from author and business executive Seth Godin. In the daunting context of implementing a new system or software for your business, his words ring even truer — a solid roadmap ensures things run as smoothly as possible throughout the process. We’ve curated a quick and handy guide to help you gain a handle on how to approach software implementation planning.
Technology
|
software development
|
system integrations
Tech debt is one of the biggest obstacles facing organizations who seek to modernize their operations, but its relative invisibility is precisely what makes it so hard to tackle. Without a thorough accounting of the technological debt that a company has accrued over the years, old and outdated systems and programs can have an outsized negative impact. Tech debt can act as an unseen albatross around the neck of even the most successful organizations, preventing engineering teams and the business from reaching their unseen potential.
Data engineering
|
software development
|
virtual reality
Every year brings new terms to add to the tech lexicon and familiar terms given new spins as they make their way to the general public. 2022 is no different. As we look ahead to what the world’s top engineering minds are focused on in the near future, we’ve identified key takeaways about the rise of artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and all manner of tech advancements. Buckle in, because these are the AI to Z of engineering terms to know for 2022.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Cloud Migration
|
Cloud infrastructure
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. In this post, Chief Engineer Brandon Suponchick takes us through the biggest highlights of AWS re:Invent, the annual event from the world’s leading cloud provider. Brandon explores how things like private 5G networks and serverless data warehouses will transform cloud computing in 2022 and beyond.
Company News
|
News
The two Nebraska-based companies have joined forces to make keno throughout the state smarter, more fun, and more secure than ever. As a result of this partnership, Aviture will support Big Red Keno during a transformative time for the state and for gaming in Nebraska.
Business Innovation
|
Digital Transformation
|
innovation
|
product development
|
vision casting
We’ve dispelled the myth (and many others) that innovation only happens in a “Eureka!” moment. Lightning doesn’t need to strike for you to cultivate innovation, so why is it so difficult for some organizations?
Internet of Things
|
augmented reality
|
virtual reality
Is 2022 the year virtual reality finally takes off in the mainstream? Some of the biggest companies in the world certainly hope so. Facebook recently declared its intention to go all-in on virtual reality with a media distraction campaign/name change to Meta, a moniker meant to evoke the concept of the metaverse, where people congregate and interact in virtual reality environments.
UX
|
User Experience
|
User Interface
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. In this post, Frontend Engineer Chris Kollars explores design systems and their importance to creating a cohesive user experience. He explains how to define design systems, how they differ from and interact with component libraries and style guides, and why they are crucial for unifying your team around brand-based best practices and experiences.
artificial intelligence
|
machine learning
|
sentiment analysis
What’s the best way to know how people really feel about your business, product, or service? Sales are certainly one metric. If your sales increase, that’s a sign that people appreciate what you’ve put in the market. But this metric is imperfect, as it could also suggest that you have a product or service that’s so valuable, people are willing to overlook minor or even major inconveniences.
Data engineering
|
analytics software
|
business analysis
|
business dashboard
|
data strategy
|
system integrations
We’ve written at length about the power of strategic system integrations, especially when effectively visualized in a client or business dashboard. After all, what business leader isn’t looking for some version of a single source of actionable insights to improve their operations?
UX
|
User Interface
|
gamification
We’re long past the point where gaming is considered a niche culture. According to the Entertainment Software Association, over 226 million people in the United States played video games of some kind in 2020. That’s more than two thirds of the entire population of the country. Some of these might be the prototypical hardcore gamer playing online via a console or PC, while others take a few minutes per day to indulge in a free-to-play mobile game on their phones. Is it any wonder, then, that aspects of gaming have seeped into so many other areas of life?
UX
|
User Experience
|
User Interface
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. In this post, Director of Customer Experience DJ Jahn explores the differences between UX and UI, common misconceptions about each, and how incorporating user-centric strategic and design practices into every step of the process can provide an exceptional product that wows the end user.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Cloud Migration
|
Cloud infrastructure
When it comes to data integral to your business and software, you basically have three storage options to choose from:
Data engineering
|
data strategy
|
system integrations
It’s a well-known, deeply felt fact for every company: technology silos impact your operational efficiency.
UX
|
User Experience
You’ve got a brand new product, app, or update coming in the near future. Your engineering team is ready to fire on all cylinders to bring it to the masses. The time is now. But hold on for just a moment. How sure are you that people will use your product or service the way you intend? Assumptions are the enemy of technology. They can lead engineers, departments, and entire companies down the wrong fork in the road, wasting time and resources and delaying innovation. This is precisely where usability testing comes in.
Technology
|
software development
|
thought leadership
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep-dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients. In this post, Aviturian and Decision Logic Chief Technology Officer Matt Mixan explores why strategic guidance is crucial for software consulting, allowing you to move beyond bug fixes and toward real long-term solutions.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Cloud Migration
|
News
The software consultancy has become an approved member of the AWS Public Sector Partner Program, which will enable Aviture to provide key services to space, healthcare, government, nonprofit, education, and Foreign Service Institute (FSI) customers. The distinction, which requires an extensive application and advanced expertise related to the needs of the public sector, enables Aviture up to offer unprecedented support to partners and initiatives.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Cloud Migration
|
data strategy
The #1 concern of companies thinking about migrating to the cloud? Security. After all, every few weeks we see headlines about some company that has suffered a data breach. And in almost all these scenarios, the organization in question was reliant on the cloud for the storage of their data. Does this make the cloud inherently unsafe, or privy to data breaches in a way that on-site data storage wouldn’t be? Absolutely not!
Internet of Things
|
augmented reality
|
software development
The buzz around augmented reality is that it’s one of those promising technologies that always seems to be just on the verge of going mainstream but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. But this reputation is not really fair; in fact, augmented reality (AR) is an increasingly common part of modern life that continues to thrive and evolve even if it’s not visible to you at all times.
Technology
|
software development
|
thought leadership
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep-dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients.
Internet of Things
|
Technology Convergence
|
software development
The internet of things has grown so all-encompassing that you probably don’t pay it any attention. You drive your car without thinking about how it seamlessly weaves intelligent traffic analysis, internal system monitoring, physical processes (i.e. push gas pedal = go), internet connectivity, and Bluetooth-based music playback all at once. You log in to your work computer without truly noticing how amazing it is that you can use one device to check the weather, look at emails, listen to music, write a report, browse social media, and make banking transfers.
agile
|
product development
|
product lifecycle
|
software development
Every new product begins with a vision. It’s an enticing picture: your idea brought to life, delivering value for your users, impacting your industry for the better, and innovating with every iteration. This vision of the future must begin with a plan to get there: your product roadmap. In this blog, we’ll share our best example of a product roadmap, including what it should (and shouldn’t) include, ideas for tailoring your roadmap to larger-scale projects and initiatives, and the role of a technology partner in helping you achieve your product vision.
Technology
|
software development
|
thought leadership
Welcome to Create Impact, a new series from Aviture focused on the topics that inspire our engineers to innovate. In each article, an Aviture team member will take you on a deep-dive into a subject they’re passionate about, showing you the thinking behind cutting-edge engineering advances, the latest UX trends, development theories, and other unique topics that enable Aviturians to embrace the Art of the Possible for our clients.
Internet of Things
|
embedded systems
You don’t always need an application or device to do everything. Sometimes you just need it to do one thing really, really well, again and again and again.
Data engineering
|
artificial intelligence
|
machine learning
The world isn’t made of 1’s and 0’s (unless you subscribe to the theory that we’re living in a simulation a la The Matrix, in which case, who hurt you?).
Business Impact
|
agile
|
software development
How do you engineer a technical solution without first understanding the problem you’re trying to solve? You may as well blindfold yourself and try to go about your day as you normally would. Inevitably, you’ll run into some roadblocks.
automation
|
big data
|
data strategy
Every manual task is an opportunity missed.
Technology
|
software development
|
thought leadership
Sometimes, the smartest engineers in the room can make some incredibly not-so-smart decisions.
Health Tech
|
big data
|
predictive analytics
More than any other field, healthcare is perhaps the area where predictive analytics is poised to make a massive difference in operations.
proof of concept
|
software development
In the lifespan of a tech venture, there is both a beginning and an end. The beginning is an idea. It’s ethereal, conceptual, something that exists only in our minds, doodled on the back of a napkin, or sketched out on a whiteboard. On the other end of the tech spectrum, after all the hard work and development, is the end product. It’s the idea shaped into reality, tried and tested and put through the wringer in order to come up with viable hardware or software that addresses a need in the marketplace going unfulfilled. But there’s one key stop on the journey that every tech idea should go through, long before you go into production, before Q & A testing, even before development and prototyping: Proof of concept.
Smart Tech & IoT
|
Technology
Chances are, even if you aren’t in the tech industry, you’ve heard the term Internet of Things (IoT).
Technology
|
data strategy
Your data is one of your most strategic, valuable assets.
Data engineering
|
big data
Knowing the habits and behaviors of your business’s target audience is key to providing an experience that converts prospects into customers and customers into evangelists for your company. Enter the customer data platform.
Difference Makers
|
Events
|
carson
|
thought leadership
|
webinar
Welcome to Difference Makers, a webinar series spotlighting people and organizations driving a culture of innovation across the country.
artificial intelligence
|
machine learning
The following article on machine learning was written by an algorithm. Not really. You’d be forgiven for believing that little lie. Machine learning has become a point of fascination for so many industries. The idea that a machine can be “taught” brings with it any number of potential solutions for life’s once-intractable computing and business problems. Seen in this light, would it really be all that shocking to read a blog that was written by an algorithm that “learned” how to mimic the style of a human author?
Cloud Migration
|
Cloud infrastructure
When developing a cloud migration strategy, having all your bases covered ahead of time is essential to achieving success. By asking 12 key questions, you’ll set your business up for the successful transition of data and systems to the cloud.
UX
|
User Experience
|
User Interface
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart (an incredible old-timey name) is most famous for a particular quote. In the case Jacobellis v. Ohio, he and the other Justices on the court were being asked to, in essence, determine what constitutes obscene content, something that is notably subjective and difficult to pinpoint. In response to this seemingly difficult assignment, Justice Stewart came up with a rather simple, straightforward criteria: “I know it when I see it.” We bring this up because you could say the same thing about user experience, or UX.
Difference Makers
|
Events
|
decison logic
|
thought leadership
|
webinar
Welcome to Difference Makers, a webinar series spotlighting people and organizations driving a culture of innovation across the country.
big data
|
software development
On the surface, trying to parse the difference between data lakes versus data warehouses seems complex. Both act as repositories of data collected by your organization. Both can be utilized for apps and programs and analytics that enable you to optimize your business processes. As such, it’s easy to get them confused. But do you want to know a secret? The difference is actually really straightforward, and we’re going to provide the easiest data lake/data warehouse explanation you’ve ever heard to help you remember.
Difference Makers
|
Events
|
LifeLoop
|
thought leadership
|
webinar
Welcome to Difference Makers, a webinar series focusing on spotlighting people and organizations driving a culture of innovation across the country.
Cloud & Hybrid
|
Digital Transformation
|
Technology
|
innovation
You may have done an audit recently and seen or heard the term “greenfield project” tossed around when discussing new software solutions. Whether you’re ready to make your systems more cloud-compatible or are looking to delve into unexplored territory, a greenfield project might be just the right fit for you. We’re going to take a look at the parameters of a greenfield project and help you understand the benefits, risks, and potential impact it can have on your business.
After covering why digital transformation is valuable for every organization (including the differences between smaller-scale digitalization projects vs. a full-blown transformation), we thought it was time to talk specifics — like how to get started.
User experience vs. customer experience: is there a difference? It’s a common question, but ultimately both play important roles in attracting and retaining clients for any business.
Difference Makers
|
Events
|
ReRuns
|
e-commerce
|
nonprofit
|
thought leadership
|
webinar
Welcome to Difference Makers, a webinar series focusing on spotlighting people and organizations driving a culture of innovation across the country.
Smart Tech & IoT
|
Technology
|
artificial intelligence
One of the biggest buzzwords in the tech industry over the past decade has been “artificial intelligence” — also referred to as “AI.” In fact, when looking at innovation initiatives, it’s almost difficult to find a press release that doesn’t mention AI. Case in point: startup companies on the forefront of innovation that have been using AI received more than $7.4 billion in funding during Q2 2019.
Not too long ago, we covered the differences between digitization, digitalization and digital transformation.
Data engineering
|
Technology
What We'll Cover: 1. Data encryption definition and applications. 2. Various pros and cons of using data encryption. 3. The value it can bring your business. The move to cloud services has exploded as people continue to work from home. However, with this rise, there’s been an equally big uptick in something not as nice or useful: cyberattacks. The Cloud has allowed businesses to keep things running, but as people take laptops home and internal servers are moved online, cyberattackers aren’t slowing down.
News
|
Technology
2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year. While the landscape of how we work has changed this year, there’s a lot of exciting developments that have also changed. With all of this rapid innovation, it’s important to come out of the gate swinging in 2021, and knowing the digitalization trends that are leading the pack can help set you up for success. We’ve curated a list of some of the things we think you should be keeping your eyes on.
Business Impact
|
Business Innovation
Business innovation is bigger than technology.
Digital Transformation
|
digitalization
|
digitization
Digitization, digitalization, digital transformation. (Say that three times fast.) Alliteration aside, despite how often these terms are used interchangeably, they each have a distinct meaning — and an impact on your business. Below, we’ll define each and talk through how they all drive impact for your organization.
Data engineering
|
big data
|
data strategy
|
modernization
|
system integrations
Many businesses deal with out-of-date systems, separated spreadsheets, and siloed data. Without strategic system integrations in place, these segmented technologies negatively impact your team’s decision-making ability and as a result, cost you money. In fact, according to IBM, surveyed organizations estimate that poor data quality is costing them an average of $15 million per year — with even greater long-term impacts such as reputation damage, missed opportunity, and loss of revenue. As a business leader, you’ve heard of the value integrated data can bring your organization. You may have considered merging systems before but need better examples of the ROI. System integrations take time — does the cost justify the outcome? The answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Here are just a few examples of the benefits merging your systems brings to your business.
Application
|
Aviture
|
Scaling
|
Technology
|
UX
With a younger generation quickly entering the financial market alongside older generations, it is becoming more and more important that a financial institution can capture clients from both demographics. Systems need to be updated to remain appealing to current design standards, but they also cannot alienate any one client group either. As new technology is introduced across the industry, the bottom line keeps getting pushed. If your business cannot adapt, it can seriously damage a competitive edge.
Cloud infrastructure
|
Scaling in the Cloud
|
Technology
While the cloud industry continues to mature, it is becoming more accessible to businesses in every industry - as well as more necessary. When the world was hit with the pandemic earlier this year, changes were needed to almost every business sector with how data was accessed. Cloud solutions were paramount to making those changes happen quickly and effectively and will continue to be essential into the future.
Aviture
|
Castaway Week
|
Company News
|
Culture
Our "Castaway Week" is one of the most important culture weeks we host for our Aviturians every quarter. It's a way for everyone, including anyone working remotely out of state, to come to the Omaha headquarters for a week of team building and fun. However, with the ongoing restrictions of COVID-19, we already had to make some changes. After holding our first remote Castaway Week in April, we knew we wanted to do something a little different this time around. After some brainstorming, a group of Aviturians put their heads together and decided to rebuild our culture week from the ground up - in a process that can be applied to not only our company, but yours as well.
Air Force
|
Application
|
Aviture
|
News
|
Technology
Aviture is excited to announce the release of the brand-new Aim High Air Force recruiting app! The app is a “sister app” to AirForce.com designed to draw in non-traditional recruits while expanding non-traditional networking around candidates and recruits. The Aim High app opens communication channels using rich “social-like” content to communicate with families and friends of recruits in ways that create a positive network, leading to recruiting success and career retention.
Aviture
|
Culture
|
News
|
Working Remotely
Over the past two months, many companies have switched to 100% remote work environments. We gave some insight into how we stay connected with our fellow Aviturians in a virtual setting with some helpful tips from our full-time remote employees.
Aviture
|
Castaway Week
|
Culture
|
News
|
Working Remotely
Working from home isn't just doing the same thing in a different location. There are a lot of natural rhythms that happen in an office that just don't happen when you work from home. For example, in an office, you might walk to the kitchen with a coworker to grab a cup of coffee. But if you're working from home, you simply close the Zoom window and get back to whatever it was you were doing.
Health Tech
|
JDRF
|
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
|
community
Aviture was incredibly honored to be the 2020 Presenting Sponsor for the JDRF Nebraska-Southwest Iowa Chapter’s annual Promise Gala. Funds raised at this year’s event totaled over $1.7 million, exceeding last year’s total and an incredible continuation of the upward trend in donations by our community for this cause.
Aviture
|
Aviture Values
|
Culture
|
News
Aviturian Molly Misek departed for a year-long sabbatical across the globe on January 4th. To stay in touch, she's sharing blogs about the world she's experiencing ... all through the lens of Aviture's six core values. Below is her second blog about life in New Zealand. ---- Hello again! As the months go by I’ve gotten officially settled into travel life — perhaps too much so. I’ve just gotten back from a four-day solo camping trek that rocked my world (in good and bad ways), so I’m a bit late on this update.
Aviture Values
|
Culture
|
News
Aviturian Molly Misek departed for a year-long sabbatical across the globe on January 4th. To stay in touch, she's sharing blogs about the world she's experiencing ... all through the lens of Aviture's six core values. Below is her first blog describing the first leg of her journey from LA to New Zealand.
Omaha
|
UNO
|
community
|
entrepreneurs
Aviture is proud to partner with the University of Nebraska Omaha’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) to help support and launch the next generation of entrepreneurs. The global organization’s mission is to inform, support, and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and to seek opportunity through enterprise creation.
Aviture
|
Culture
|
News
Starting today, Aviture will look a little different.
Awards
|
News
|
Technology
|
geoint
|
guardian
|
innovation
Aviture is excited to announce that the GUARDIAN project, built on the AWS GovCloud in partnership with the Texas Air National Guard, has won the 2019 USGIF Military Achievement Award. The GUARDIAN Team includes Texas Air National Guardsmen Maj. Alexander Goldberg, Maj. Curtis Wilson, Maj. Michael McDermott, and Maj. Travis Williams.
Culture
|
nationalwomensday
|
womenintech
Happy International Women's Day 2019! The campaign this year is #BalanceforBetter, a call to action for "doing everything possible to help forge a more gender-balanced world." At Aviture, we strive to live this “Balance.” Gender diversity makes us a better company and to encourage these efforts, Aviture has enhanced our maternity leave program to include additional time-off with pay and greater flexibility when returning to the office following leave. Additionally, 70 percent of our new hires this year are women, including some of our senior leadership. To make this year’s International Women’s Day special, we recognize and celebrate women in technology by highlighting a few of the women of Aviture and why women strengthen and enhance our company.
Technology
We recently had a project that included several unique and interesting technical problems to solve. One of those problems involved 3D scanning an object in order to create an in-memory representation of the surface of that object.
Aviture
|
Castaway Week
|
Culture
Great company culture isn’t built overnight. It’s the values, beliefs and spirit of your organization, and it takes effort and experimentation to grow. We’re proud of the environment we’ve cultivated at Aviture, but we are always striving for improvement and growth. Like many workplaces today, we are constantly trying to answer this question: How can we create culture that transcends the barrier of space between headquarters (Omaha, NE) and our remote employees (Austin, Chicago, DC Metro, Hartford, Las Vegas, Portland, and Phoenix)?
React
|
Redux
|
Technology
|
UX
|
forms
Let’s face it, forms can be extremely complicated. There are all sorts of issues you run into with forms to provide a nice user experience. That’s why it’s really handy to have a library to help you out. If using React/Redux, Redux Forms is a great library to help you manage that form state in your Store. Having Redux Forms work with the store also opens up the possibility to customize behavior via your own reducers. This will let you take advantage of all the built-in functionality of the library but also handle your potentially complicating scenarios. I’m going to show you how to leverage this concept to build a specialized form that reflects a requirement we had for a project, a derived but editable field.
Technology
|
automated acceptance test
|
automated testing
|
cucumber
|
gherkin
|
protractor
This is a follow up to my previous post Automated Testing and ATDD with Gherkin, Cucumber and Protractor: Getting Started where I discussed the path taken on my first project using BDD and how manual testing time and the # of bugs generated were both significantly reduced. With this post we'll be setting up a project to run automated acceptance tests with Cucumber and Protractor using human readable acceptance criteria written in Gherkin. Our feature tests will be hitting the ToDo MVC AngularJS example site.
Clean Coder
|
Culture
|
Events
Previous Posts in this Series How to Host a CodeFest/Hackathon, Part 1: Why Have a Hackathon? Answering Questions in Advance So last time I hopefully convinced you that you should at least consider having an internal company hackathon, or as we call it here at Aviture, a Codefest. But before we really get started, you have to flesh out enough of the details that you can get yourself excited, and so you can actually communicate the idea to everyone else! And believe me, they’re going to have a lot of questions. Here’s a couple big questions to ask yourself that should help you get the structure of the event settled:
Aviture
|
community
Empower. Engage. Grow. Three things we aspire to do every day at Aviture. So, when I was introduced to Girls Inc. and their mission to inspire and engage young women to create a vision for a bright, healthy future, I knew Aviture could provide a perfect opportunity for them to explore their potential in technology.
Aviture
|
Events
|
Garage Speaker Series
|
News
How do already great developers become even better developers? They spend time learning with other talented developers, of course! And there’s no better place to soak up the latest industry tools, trends, and techniques than at the Kansas City Developer Conference (KCDC).
Aspire-STEM
|
Technology
|
community
What was your favorite subject in school? If you answered “recess,” we’re right there with you. It’s true that playing games with friends is the highlight of most kids’ days, but the fun doesn’t have to be contained to recess. There’s a lot to learn as technology continues to change the business world and we want the next generation to be prepared. All of this is why educators and national leaders are focused on keeping subjects engaging, relevant, and fun with STEM curriculum. So, what is STEM?
Clean Coder
|
Culture
|
Events
Agitating for Innovation A little over a year ago, I sat down with Mark Griffis and Jerry Koske (Aviture’s President and CTO, respectively) to make my case that Aviture should have an internal hackathon. I had a Powerpoint presentation all ready to go, a head full of ideas about how awesome it was going to be, and some pretty high hopes for the end results. I came out of the meeting feeling luckier than ever. Mark and Jerry are just as nuts about innovation and exploration of ideas as I am, and I got the go-ahead to put the event together.
Aviture
|
Clean Coder
|
Culture
From the trenches, Our experiences with Style Guide Driven Development Style Guide Driven Development (SGDD) is a technique of developing your UI components in a living “Style Guide.” There is no one set definition but the basic idea is that you develop a separate page or pages outside your application that use the same CSS and HTML that your application uses. There is an excellent introduction to SGDD and its benefits at Smashing Magazine and we encourage you to check it out! This post will be about our experiences working with this technique, which suggest that on a green-field project, it is extremely difficult to know enough about your application to fully embrace SGDD out of the gate. We found that waiting for the UI patterns to emerge from your application and then creating a style guide was a better approach. Key to this recommendation is to develop and build all your UI components (style guide or not) with discipline, using known best practices.
Application
|
Clean Coder
|
News
|
Technology
Introduction This post is about my project’s experience implementing Acceptance Test Driven Development of our web applications, the process around automating our Given, When, Then (GWT) specifications, the path we took, problems that surfaced, and how we dealt with those problems. The motivation for automated testing was a corporate mandate. Most of the company’s previous applications were services APIs and I expect the main goal was to gain a higher level of confidence with those APIs.
Company News
|
News
|
Technology
Static Images I’ve been on the prowl for several years now for the perfect solution to bridge that communication gap between designers and developers. I’m a “graphic” (read: print) designer turned web designer turned UX designer. Like many print-turned-web designers, I started with Photoshop as my primary communication tool. My first hand-off to developers involved static images made in Photoshop thrown over the fence with crossed fingers that a decent-looking screen would come out alive.
Clean Coder
|
Community Support
|
Events
|
Garage By Aviture Speaker Series
|
News
|
Speaker Series
|
Technology
|
The Garage
|
Uncle Bob
|
Uncle Bob Martin
|
clean code
|
community
|
software development
Uncle Bob Martin is coming to Omaha on January 20, 2016 for two workshops and an evening lecture. We're thrilled to help host this day of learning from an esteemed leader in the field. Register for the workshops on Eventbrite, and please navigate to the Splash page to register for the evening lecture.
Aviture
|
Events
|
Garage
|
Health IT
|
Health Tech
|
PortCAS
|
The Garage
|
UNMC
|
UNeMed
|
iEXCEL Expo
|
laparoscopic
|
medical
|
partnership
|
portable
|
portable laparoscopic surgical simulation platform
|
simulation
|
surgeon
|
surgical
|
training
Aviture hosted a day of demo-prep on Monday for the PortCAS team as they prepared for UNMC’s 2015 Innovation Week. Garage By Aviture representatives were proud to be part of the team building and bringing PortCAS to market, a public-private collaboration success story. The tool and software were on display all day Tuesday, October 20 at the UNMC iEXCEL Expo.
Aviture Speaker Series
|
Company News
|
Events
|
Garage Speaker Series
|
Neal Ford
|
News
|
Speaker Series
|
Technology
|
The Garage
|
ThoughtWorks
|
architectures
|
devops
|
microservice
|
microservice architectures
|
software development
The Garage By Aviture is excited to announce its second Speaker Series - Neal Ford, Software Architect and Director at ThoughtWorks. The event is free but registration is required, please RSVP on the Event Page. Building Microservice Architectures His talk, Building Microservice Architectures, describes this architectural style, as exemplified by Netflix and Amazon, as the first post-DevOps revolution architecture. Ford describes the larger context, what problem is being solved, characteristics of microservice architectures, and engineering best practices.
Aviture In The News
|
Awards
|
Company News
|
DI2E
|
Plugfest
|
Technology
Aviture sent a team to compete in the 2014 DI2E Plugfest. They were awarded 14 stars for achievements during Plugfest, the highest possible rating for the 2014 conference.
.NET Insider
|
Application
|
Aviture
|
Aviture Speaker Series
|
Cloud infrastructure
|
Events
|
Garage By Aviture
|
Iowa Code Camp
|
Microsoft MVP
|
Scaling
|
Scaling in the Cloud
|
Speaker Series
|
Technology
|
javier lozano
On August 14th, Javier Lozano (@jglozano) gave a demo and led a discussion on “Scaling an Application on the Cloud.” Cloud hosting is an important topic in the entrepreneurial community given the drive to be scalable quickly without the initial cost and maintenance of expensive infrastructure, just one of the many technology decisions that teams will make along the life-cycle of their product and company.
.NET Insider
|
Application
|
Aviture
|
Aviture Speaker Series
|
Cloud infrastructure
|
Events
|
Garage By Aviture
|
Garage Speaker Series
|
Iowa Code Camp
|
Microsoft MVP
|
Neal Ford
|
News
|
Scaling
|
Scaling in the Cloud
|
Software
|
Speaker Series
|
Technology
|
community
|
javier lozano
|
speaker series
|
tech community
Aviture Inc. and The Garage by Aviture are proud to present the Garage By Aviture Speaker Series programming for the Omaha and Lincoln tech communities. The Garage by Aviture Speaker Series will be a quarterly offering of talks and presentations by great tech minds from across the US.
Aviture
|
Aviture JDRF
|
Aviture for the Cure
|
Community Support
|
Company News
|
Culture
|
Events
|
JDRF
|
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
|
Omaha
|
Omaha community
|
community
|
company culture
|
heartland
Aviture and its employees are joining in supporting the Heartland Chapter of the national T1D research organization, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), for the second year in a row. Aviture’s President Mark Griffis has participated in the organization for multiple years as a board member and active supporter. The entire Aviture family also rallies around the cause, with employees and their families from HQ participating in the Omaha walk and other activities to help raise funds. We’re proud to engage in efforts in the community and support our friends and loved ones who face the reality of T1D every day.
Aviture
|
Community Support
|
Entrepreneuring Days 2014
|
Events
|
The Garage
|
UNL
|
community
|
entrepreneurs
UNL held its annual Entrepreneuring Days conference at Lincoln’s Embassy Suites hotel from March 18-20, 2014. Members of Aviture staff were excited to assist in judging the events. Congratulations to the competition winners and the honorees, and we commend the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for their support of small business and entrepreneurial development.
Aviture In The News
|
Aviture Inc
|
Company News
|
big data
|
company
|
corporation
|
incubator
|
innovation
|
pivot
|
startups
President/CEO of Aviture, Mark Griffis, was featured in an article from the March edition of B2B Magazine, "Aviture pivots from big corporations to big data," excerpt copied here:
Aviture
|
Community Support
|
Events
|
Hack-Omaha
|
community
This past weekend Aviture hosted the third annual Hack Omaha, a three-day hackathon where data geeks, developers, designers, creatives, and open data enthusiasts came together to volunteer for a new kind of public service: developing public data into useful tools for citizens.
Aspire-STEM
|
Community Support
|
Events
|
community
Aviture is completing a site license agreement with UCCS for use of Aviture's Aspire-STEM™ educational product. Aspire-STEM™ supports the national goals and objectives of the Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) program which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Aviture
|
Company News
|
News
Aviture was awarded a contract to modernize the current Air Force Surveillance Intelligence Reconnaissance Information Systems (SIRIS), developing a next-gen system to utilize the latest visualization technologies and to align the architecture with existing and emerging Air Force and DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) technology standards.
Aviture
|
Company News
|
News
Aviture has been awarded a software consulting contract to support USSTRATCOM’s Critical Infrastructure Protection program. The program focuses on the identification, preparedness, responsiveness and protection of the nation’s critical infrastructure assets.
Company News
|
Garage By Aviture
|
News
|
R&D
|
The Garage
|
community
|
community involvement
|
innovation
|
local economy
|
startup incubator
|
startups
Aviture is pursuing funding to support R&D and incubator activities that foster growth and innovation within the local Omaha/Lincoln metropolitan areas in Aviture’s “Garage”. This incubation effort includes numerous strategic partnerships, community involvement, and funding from local investors.
News
Aviture has been awarded a follow contract effort to support USSTRATCOM's Mission Planning and Analysis technical R&D Activities. This effort continues risk reduction activities of next-generation technologies and processes related to USSTRATCOM's strategic deterrence mission planning systems.
Aviture
|
Company News
|
News
|
Technology
Aviture has been added as key teammate to the Agile Cyber Technologies (ACT) contract managed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The contract will support rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation, and transition of cyber solutions for the Department of Defense (DoD).
Aviture
|
Company News
|
News
With the award of the Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS), Integrated Backbone (DIB) recompete, Aviture has been added as a key teammate to support further development and deployment of enterprise-level federated search solutions for the Department of Defense.
Aspire-STEM
|
Aviture
|
Events
|
News
This July, Aviture hosted a Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) event at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The week-long event utilized Aviture's Aspire-STEM™ software solution that helps high school students approach computer science in a fun and exciting way.