Auriga’s 2012 year was successful in many ways. However, we consider a few areas strategically important for the company and its clients in the long term.
Mentorship System Development and Taking the Training System to a New Level
The importance of learning and growth is one of the fundamental principles at Auriga. The curriculum of our educational program is tailored to the ever-evolving business environment, and apart from technical knowledge, which includes up-to-date practices and methods of software development and project management, the training system also focuses on developing employees‘ soft skills.
In 2012, a new long-term corporate training program with a focus on employees’ communication skills development was launched at Auriga. The comprehensive program, designed specifically for Auriga, employed various study modes, including training sessions, webinars, and online courses. The program helped to improve employees’ hard and soft skills and received high accolades from the participants. The number of seminars and webinars amounted to 100, and the total number of training man-hours amounted to around 2,000.
We also focused on the unique program Senseition, which is a combination of a mentorship and leadership program where experienced employees introduce newbies to the company’s values and rules, help them adjust, and supervise their activities. This program is open to all employees and is completely voluntary. Experienced employees (Senseis) are positioned as an elite group of leaders with open career opportunities and who enjoy additional benefits from top management as they prove their exceptional leadership abilities. As a result, we expect an improved knowledge-transfer process, better adjustment of new people in the company, the development of technical expertise, and an overall improved leadership-development culture.
The program was an instant success, with 24 people expressing their interest in becoming a Sensei in the first month. Auriga is not planning to rest on its laurels. Instead, it focuses on further development to conform to up-to-date software development standards and continues exceeding our client’s expectations.
Information Security
Information security issues have become more prominent due to network and computer infrastructure virtualization and the widespread use of mobile platforms, cloud technologies, and big data.
From the very beginning, Auriga has been building information-security policies in strict accordance with the advanced global standards in this area.
During 2012, a number of customers conducted external audits that covered (among other things) cyber-security aspects. This was a very valuable experience, yielding interesting recommendations. Based on the audits’ results, we analyzed the existing information security system and improved the processes related to data protection and the prevention of cyber-attacks.
As a result, we updated Auriga’s comprehensive set of measures dealing with cyber threats and enhanced the company’s security policy. Along with standard security measures (e.g., regular scanning of the IT infrastructure to detect and eliminate threats and vulnerabilities; the use of up-to-date anti-virus systems, firewalls, systems for prevention and detection of intrusions/attacks, logging systems, etc.), Auriga is now also using enhanced information-security measures. Among other things, we implemented two-factor authentication to protect remote VPN access.
