What is App Foundry?
App Foundry is Softrams’ one-of-a-kind software research lab and innovation hub. In our App Foundry, we explore and bring to life ideas that are pitched throughout the company, innovation opportunities identified within programs, and potential avenues to expand our business offerings.
App Foundry is a place where collaboration is prioritized; various team members can come together in a seamless environment where everyone’s input is valued. We use dynamic collaboration spaces, which are consciously designed open areas that enable and encourage collaboration between teams, as well as learning from one another. While much of dynamic collaboration can now be done virtually using tools like Slack, Mural, GitHub, and Confluence, this concept and emphasis on collaboration can be continued whether in App Foundry in person, or working together remotely. Virtual and in-person dynamic collaboration spaces also enable different teams to work together. Many important contributions to App Foundry come from our practice teams because they work across programs and have a wealth of collective knowledge.
These collaborative efforts have resulted in the development of nine products so far. This year, you can look forward to hearing more about several of our App Foundry developed products including Job Ring and Accel. App Foundry has also developed four accelerators. Accelerators are one of the ways that App Foundry helps other programs at Softrams. Accelerators provide programs with an initial framework to start from and build upon, rather than starting from scratch. App Foundry also helps program teams to build proofs of concept, assisting with the team’s workload. Other products of our App Foundry include boilerplates, design exercises, and open-source contributions.
Our App Foundry is also an opportunity to continue sharing information in and outside of Softrams. Developers who have worked in App Foundry are encouraged to share what they have learned with Softrams employees during brown bag sessions. They also can present directly to our clients about their findings and progress, as well as at conferences and webinars. Blog posts are also a great way that developers communicate with our social media community.
App Foundry exemplifies not only one of the ways that we foster and accelerate innovation at Softrams, but also our belief that our employees have an abundance of knowledge and experience in the various industries they have worked with. We have strived to build a culture that encourages people to continuously learn from and share that knowledge with others. App Foundry offers opportunities to push the boundaries of our innovative products and services, and continue to learn from one another.
