Many companies can’t seem to shake the belief that IT is so abstract that non-IT employees could never understand it – a misconception that stands in the way of IT modernisation. Instead of fearing complexity and other IT fragmentation factors as insurmountable business challenges, fragmentation should be seen as the one controllable constant in a highly specialised corporate reality. Knowledge is power, so here is a breakdown of 7 insights for improved understanding: 1: FUNCTIONAL FRAGMENTATION Tech plays a multi-dimensional role, so the breadth of IT tasks is considerable – from providing and maintaining basic infrastructure to choosing the right…

Implementing an API strategy has become essential for all companies that want to remain competitive in today’s digital landscape. A well thought-out API strategy and API management not only opens up new, scalable revenue streams and increases customer loyalty, but also helps to streamline internal and cross-company processes. For every company, in every industry. Today, more and more companies are realizing that data as a raw material and commodity can make a decisive difference in global competition.    Therefore, Lobster allows you a smooth entry into the world of application programming interfaces and the API economy as a network of interface-supported…

It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in the world of IT. But what is the experience of real women ‘on the ground’? What does it feel like to be in the minority in a male-dominated environment? Or does being female in a sea of men, in fact, have its upsides? To get to the bottom of this, we had the privilege of hosting a round table with seven clued-in female colleagues at Lobster HQ. Their responses are poignant and enlightening. Roundtable participants: Suelyne Batista (Software Development, PRO), Ayleen Bocretsion (Head of Technical Consulting, PRO), Anne Cybok (Technical Consulting, LLC),…

In many EU countries, e-invoicing – the electronic issuing, sending and receiving of invoices – is not only mandatory between companies and public authorities (business-to-government, B2G), but is also becoming increasingly common in business relationships between companies (business-to-business, B2B) and end customers (business-to-customer, B2C). In December 2022, the EU Commission took this development into account and presented a new draft directive under the name “VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)”.  THE EU COMMISSION’S NEW ViDA INITIATIVE.  In addition to the current e-invoicing directive 2014/55/EU, the European Commission presents the following starting points for modernizing the VAT system in the EU…

Christina Tabernig is a published author, specialising in business etiquette and manners. When she’s not writing, she runs korrekt!, a training institute offering courses and seminars on professionalism in the workplace. In light of her experience of working in Sales and Marketing for renowned IT companies, we sat down with her to discuss how to dress to impress for the office. As a software development company, Lobster works with employees that are generally more IT than lifestyle focussed. Unlike other more customer-facing sectors, our industry isn’t really known for having a particular business dress code. What’s your take on this? …

Mr Engelbrett, could you please introduce yourself?  I represent the fashion company hummel. We are mainly involved in sports fashion, and we have more brands than just hummel, for example, Newline and Halo. Next year we celebrate our 100 year anniversary, so we are a modern company, but with a long tradition regarding sports clothes.   As for myself, I started 5 months ago as Head of IT at hummel. My aim is to prepare our IT department for the growth journey that the company is on. We have the ambition to be one of the top 10 sports brands in…

Has the UK’s drive for digitalisation stalled before it even started? After placing 5th in the G7 and 15th in the G20¹ in terms of digital transformation and competitiveness – one might certainly think so. And yet no-code software solutions, in particular, present the ideal solution for improving the digital readiness of non-IT employees. When combined with innovative strategies, such the Lobster Group’s unique approach of integrating data and processes as one, there are still plenty of avenues companies can take to expedite their digitalisation journeys and drive growth. Nobody ever said digitalisation would be easy or that it would…

Data integration, application development, business process management, database analyses… the to-do list once reserved for in-house and third-party developers with their lines of Java, Python or C++ is long. Now no-code is taking centre stage. No longer the new kid on the block, no-code gives non-IT-trained employees the tools to take the development of process-centric applications into their own hands, becoming citizen developers. Certainly no fleeting fad, no-code should not be overlooked – particularly in light of the acute shortage of IT specialists at home and abroad1.  WHAT IS A CITIZEN DEVELOPER?  Articles dedicated to digital transformation and no-code software…

Drumroll, please! It’s time for a brand-new update for Lobster_data that comes with a plethora of new options and solutions: Lobster_data 4.5! Let’s look at some of the highlights of the release, the full list of changes, fixes and – most importantly – how you can start using Lobster_data 4.5. From GUI updates, new modules, and better API management to improved security and more ways to communicate. Whatever you need in the world of EDI, EAI, IoT, Industry 4.0, big data, automation and much more: we’ve got you covered. LOBSTER’S LIST OF MODULES KEEPS GROWING. WITH ETL/ELT, WORKFLOW AND DATACOCKPIT.…

HOW EASY IS IT TO CONFIGURE API AND WEBSERVICES? In a constantly changing digital market, companies are required to continuously introduce innovative services and rely on the greatest possible exchange of data: to optimize processes, to increase sales and awareness of their own brand via online marketing and advertising, to measure the success of their own business activities, or to make prompt modifications when necessary. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and web services offer a solution to this complex challenge. WHAT ARE API AND WEB SERVICES? A data interface is part of an application or database. It is developed to give…