Why You Need A Federated Software System

Dylan Herbert

VP of People, Opreto

7 minute read

To date, most enterprise systems targeted at specific industries have been designed as centralized systems, rather than those with open protocols and a federated model. Adopting a federated model for a systems architecture is typically deemed to have too much complexity and risk. This has, since the advent of computing, funneled organizations into buying proprietary software from controlled silos which do not afford flexibility and portability for their critical data, and which inherently ultimately undermines their autonomy. If an industry is particularly fertile ground for IT system innovation, they may see multiple competing vendors carving out kingdoms of clients; this is the current scenario of least harm, and usually the only options in front of a procurement officer tasked with buying software for their enterprise. How can you retain your autonomy as a business, and still exchange and interact with others in your industry network? The answer is: Federation.

The Triumph of Open Source: Mixxx

Aaron Mavrinac

VP of Operations, Opreto

1 minute read

I first tried the open source DJ software Mixxx in the early 2000s. At a time when most DJs were still spinning vinyl and the CDJ-1000 was the new hotness, I was an accidental PC pioneer.

The Need for Threat Modeling

Xavier Spriet

VP of Technology, Opreto

5 minute read

Threat modeling, a proven process for identifying potential system vulnerabilities, often needs to receive more attention in strategic cybersecurity conversations. Given the rising cyber threats such as ransomware, the need for threat modeling is more pronounced than ever. By anticipating such threats, threat modeling paves the way to enhanced resilience.

The Art of Camera Use in Remote Meetings

Alan P. Laudicina

President, Opreto

2 minute read

In the era of remote work, the camera has become our best friend and worst enemy. At Opreto, we’ve discovered how to tap into its power without succumbing to energy drain. It’s not about being “on” all the time, but rather being “on” when it truly matters.

The Coming Age of AI: Eight Billion Idiosophies

Dylan Herbert

VP of People, Opreto

7 minute read

What the Internet has begun, Generative AI will complete.

There are some people these days that beat the drum of fear about Artificial General Intelligence, and the chaos that it will supposedly wreak - perhaps (some say) to the extent of wiping our species from the face of the earth.

But we do not have AGI, and the type of AI we have now is nothing like it. Even so, Generative AI poses its own existential threat to the human species - above and beyond the jobs it might take.

We might not last until the advent of Artificial General Intelligence, which can think and act like a human being - if such a thing is actually even possible. We may be wiped out by the kind of Artificial Intelligence we already have, and our own hands will be the ones wielding the knives.

And it will all be because we have blinded ourselves with the output we asked it to craft on our behalf.

Bricks and the Unix Philosophy

Aaron Mavrinac

VP of Operations, Opreto

3 minute read

My first experience with Unix was my father’s Silicon Graphics Indy workstation, whose sleek new Indigo Magic Desktop hid all the complexity behind what was arguably, at the time, the world’s most beautiful desktop GUI. Much like the first time I found myself firing up the C shell command line for the first time on that system, I had my first go at masonry work out of necessity.

Harnessing ChatGPT for Career Growth

Xavier Spriet

VP of Technology, Opreto

3 minute read

Career development is a topic that frequently comes up during 1-1 meetings. It’s essential to consider our future, the opportunities we can unlock, and the skills we need to learn. Yet, many organizations and managers make career transitions difficult, either by design or by lack of process. Recently, I’ve started using ChatGPT to help create curricula, and this has been valuable.

Metrics & How To Measure Success in Agile Software Team Delivery

Alan P. Laudicina

President, Opreto

4 minute read

At Opreto, client success is our absolute priority. We optimize our teams by focusing on five critical goals, with client-selected Key Performance Indicators topping the list. In addition to the client’s chosen metrics we also measure Cycle Time, Planned-to-Done Ratio, Escaped Defect Rate, and the Happiness Metric.

Why are modern software applications so terrible?

Aaron Mavrinac

VP of Operations, Opreto

2 minute read

A lot of modern software is really quite bad.

You know what I’m talking about. It’s most true of the software you interface with directly as a human—applications. Modern applications are buggy, and lock up or crash all the time; the time since your last incident can probably be measured in hours. They are also enormous and slow. The hardware they run on is dramatically more powerful than it was a quarter century ago, yet for the most part, we see apps consuming similar percentages of CPU cycles and RAM, and feeling more or less as sluggish as ever.

How did we get here?

Pair Programming forced me out of my comfort zone

Xavier Spriet

VP of Technology, Opreto

2 minute read

As a software architect and developer, I’ve always enjoyed working independently. There’s something satisfying about diving deep into lines of code, tackling complex problems on my own, and working uninterrupted for hours on end. So when my boss suggested trying pair programming, I was immediately skeptical.