Food Foundry Accelerator by Relish Works Announces Third Cohort Serving Innovative Food Industry Startups

The Chicago tech market is growing rapidly and we want to learn about our community’s data maturity. Aptitive is conducting the 2021 Data and Analytics Survey to understand how your organization and others like you are managing data and using analytics to achieve your goals.

The survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete, and your answers are completely confidential. However, if you want to be entered to win one of three YETI coolers, make sure to provide your contact information at the end of the survey.

You’re Frozen Again  

It happened again. Your computer froze at the worst time possible. You may be asking yourself, “Why does my computer keep freezing?” The truth is there are several reasons why your computer may be freezing up. Below we have listed some of the most common reasons why your computer is freezing up and what you can do to fix it. Let’s get started! 

You Have Too Many Programs Open 

The number of programs you have running will affect the processing speed of your computer. If you have too many programs running, your computer will likely be moving at a sluggish pace.  

Overheating  

Why does my computer keep freezing? It may be due to your device overheating. If you allow your computer to overheat for too long, you may even risk damaging the integrated circuit of your system processor. 

A Faulty RAM 

Constantly asking yourself “why does my computer keep freezing?” It could be an issue with your RAM. Frequent computer freezing is a sign that you may have insufficient RAM. Upgrading your RAM or reinstalling your operating system could fix your problem. 

External Device Issues  

Whether it be a USB, mouse, or keyboard any external device with issues can be causing your computer to freeze. To uncover which device is causing your computer to freeze, you will have to use the process of elimination. 

Computer Viruses  

So, why does my computer keep freezing? Sadly, it could be due to a virus on your device. Be sure your security measures are up-to-date and perform an antivirus scan to detect any viruses plaguing your system. 

If a virus was found on your computer, back up all necessary files to an external hard drive, update your OS, and shut it down. This can prevent further damage to your – or if the device in question is a work computer, your company’s – files. If you’re unsure about the extent to which your device has been compromised, it’s time to contact an IT Professional.   

BIOS Settings 

Did you know that altering BIOS settings could put your system in freeze mode? To check, reset the BIOS to default, and this should fix the issue. 

Buffering WiFi

Part of your problem may be that you do not have enough megabits (Mbps) in your wireless plan. The more devices and people you have using the WiFi in your home, the more megabits you will need. Things like video calls, streaming, and gaming all eat up a lot of Mbps. Talk to your provider to make sure you are operating with enough power for your own needs. 

Final Thoughts

Computer issues can be frustrating, so never hesitate to reach out for professional help when you are unsure how to fix something. With technology, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Originally posted here

When you attend college right out of high school, it’s all about getting good grades, graduating, and moving into the work world.

Justin Stull, talent acquisition manager for CSC Corptax® and hiring manager for CSC TCI®, is taking a different path and still ending up where he wants to be. He’s earning a degree from Oklahoma State University online—while working full-time.

Justin took community college classes after high school and landed a job doing route sales for Nestlé ice cream products. He got into recruiting when a friend told him about a position at a staffing agency, where he was able to use his relationship-building and strong interpersonal skills. After about four years there, Justin learned about a technical recruiting job at CSC Corptax that aligned with his interest in technology.

Happily, he scored an interview. He wasn’t sure about going into corporate tax at first, without experience in that area. “I’m glad I did because the interview was awesome. I got to meet with some of the team and felt an immediate fit. It’s been a great choice.”

Justin chose Oklahoma State because it’s considered one of the top online human resources programs, and it’s relatively affordable. He’s majoring in business management with a minor in human resources management. Justin’s online curriculum includes classes in organizational development, talent development, and business data analytics. After he completes three more classes during summer session, he gets his degree in July. “The classes give me ideas on how to do things more effectively at CSC Corptax,” he says. “We talk about interacting with people while recruiting and finding the right audience for your message. I’ve learned a lot about building compelling messaging and job descriptions.”

CSC Corptax’s education assistance program allows full-time employees with at least six months of continuous employment to take classes, provided the courses directly relate to the employee’s current work assignments. The company reimburses 100% of tuition with a $5,250 annual maximum. Employees must provide documentation and maintain a B average.

CSC Corptax has grown rapidly since Justin joined the company. In his five-plus years there, he estimates he’s onboarded at least 200 new people. “I started as a senior technical recruiter. Now I’m a talent acquisition manager and more involved in budget conversations, working on recruitment marketing, and shaping our brand presence and HR-related social media posts. These are things I’ve wanted to do for years.”

Justin plans on working with an intern soon, which will give him some hands-on management experience and the opportunity to coach and mentor. “Kelly Bentley, our Director of Human Resources, has been fantastic about giving me more opportunities,” he says. “I’m continually going in a direction I want to go and getting to work in different areas of recruitment, which I really enjoy.”

Justin loves having a job that gives him the flexibility to balance what matters, along with interesting work that keeps him learning. “There’s always something new going on, and it’s fast-paced,” he says.

He tells job candidates that CSC Corptax is a perfect landing spot for people looking for challenging work and the opportunity to advance their careers. “We look for people who can help us make an impact with new ideas that will fuel our continued success,” Justin says. “We look for employees who will disrupt the status quo and push us to new levels. If you bring that type of mentality to the job here, you’re going to be successful.”

CSC Corptax has employment opportunities throughout the Chicago area and beyond, including remote roles in software development, project management, DevOps, digital and product marketing, and tax analysis. For more information, visit corptax.com/careers.

For months, we’ve been inundated with TV commercials, digital ads and media headlines touting 5G as the “next big thing” in wireless technology. Industry trade show conversations have centered on the technology’s potential, carriers have been offering deals on consumer 5G devices, and companies of all sizes have been clamoring to know what this means for them – especially if they just migrated from 3G to 4G. Making this even more confusing, we’re being hit with a never-ending wave of techno-jargon like “mmWave,” “Sub-6”, and “Mass MIMO.” There’s even more chatter about “private networks” using 4G or 5G and leveraging a new frequency band called Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) operable under both licensed and unlicensed models.  If things weren’t complex enough, on the wireless LAN side, there’s a new Wi-Fi standard, called “Wi-Fi 6.” It has barely penetrated the market and there’s already a follow-on called Wi-Fi 6E.

We are certainly living in interesting times!

Enterprise customers must be prepared to make some challenging, strategic technology decisions, as each new wireless technology promises speed, capacity and/or convenience benefits. However, not all of these technologies may benefit your organization – and those that do may not offer the immediate return on investment (ROI) you’re expecting. That’s why we asked Zebra engineering fellow Bruce Willins to provide clarity on the current wireless inflection and how it will impact your enterprise mobility strategy in the coming months. Our goal with this conversation and others we’ll have in the coming months with top mobility experts is to help customers make intelligent, informed decisions that best suit their respective needs.

Keep reading below to learn which of these new technologies warrant closer attention right now, and possibly a near-term investment, by both small businesses and large enterprises. 

Your Edge Blog Team: What is 5G, fundamentally speaking? 

Bruce: I’m often asked “what is 5G technology?” to which there is no answer since 5G is not any one single technology. It introduces an array of new technologies, such as mass-MIMO spatial diversity at the physical radio network layer and network slicing in the back-end infrastructure. So, even though one “G” beyond 4G doesn’t sound like much, 5G represents a major step in the evolution of cellular technology.

However, it is important to understand that 5G “performance” can vary based on frequency band.  5G spectrum is divided into three different bands. The low and mid bands are Sub-6 GHz. In contrast, the high band operates at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, which are >24GHz. The lower bands are well suited to extended coverage and range and can more readily propagate through and around physical structures. But they have limited bandwidth/data rates. In contrast, mmWave – some carriers refer to this as ultrawideband – supports very high data rates and enables very small antenna structures which are used to create antenna arrays. But it does not readily extend coverage through walls or other physical structures. So, there’s a bit of a tradeoff: some will enjoy more widespread wireless coverage while others may be able to send and receive more data in limited geographical areas.  

Once fully rolled out, 5G has the potential to deliver speeds equivalent to wired Internet (somewhere between 10 to 100 times faster than 4G LTE), reduce end-to-end latency, and enable new deployment models. Depending on its wireless infrastructure, solution design and application, an organization might find 5G is able to provide enough bandwidth to support 100 times the number of devices 4G LTE can today. 

But, it’s critical to understand, the transition from 4G to 5G is not going to be as cut and dry as the transition from 3G to 4G. It could take up to 15 years for us to fully realize the 5G benefits I just described.  

Your Edge Blog Team: Why is that? Isn’t 5G here already? We hear a lot of ads in the consumer market boasting about these speed and bandwidth gains today. Are those asterisked? 

Bruce: Though it’s true that many consumers have 5G coverage now, they probably aren’t seeing all the benefits of 5G yet. It’s going to take a long time for full 5G capabilities to become pervasive. Early 5G networks on low frequency bands will not have adequate bandwidth to provide very high data rates. Initial 5G “Non-Stand Alone” networks will be partially constrained by legacy 4G infrastructure. The transition from 4G to 5G isn’t going to be an instantaneous rip and replace situation.

Your Edge Blog Team: How do you know if your 5G service is sub6 or mmWave? 

Bruce: Don’t expect to see any noticeable physical differences in the exterior of the mobile device.  Though mmWave requires multiple antenna arrays distributed throughout the device, these are generally within the enclosure. Now, if you have an mmWave device and are operating on a mmWave link, you might feel the device getting warm, as current mmWave silicon solutions consume a considerable amount of battery power. Thus, the best way to tell is to simply look at the device specifications. On this note, do realize that 5G mmWav-enabled devices will operate in lower 5G bands and 4G. So, one shouldn’t assume that a 5G device can only operate with mmWave coverage. 

Your Edge Blog Team: Will businesses that invest in 5G devices today benefit immediately?

Bruce: There’s no easy answer to this question. When we sit down with our customers to talk about 5G, the first thing we ask is if they have a use case that demands 5G. The next thing we want to understand is if they will be operating in a geographic area that has 5G coverage, and if so, what type of 5G coverage is currently available.

For the near future, customers need to realize that devices will be in and out of 5G coverage.  A parcel delivery person in an urban environment may have 5G mmWave, but as he or she drives away from high population density areas, the signal will likely fall back to 5G Su6 and 4G. Thus, writing an application that relies on mmWave performance may not be prudent. The majority of our customers should consider applications that execute well when operating in the lowest-common-denominator of performance, which will remain 4G for several more years.  

Furthermore, low bandwidth data applications in relatively uncongested areas may operate fine under existing 4G. In fact, 4G performance may actually increase as devices shifting to 5G offload these networks. 

But if you’re looking at 5G because you’re planning to rollout more augmented reality (AR) applications, for example, then it may be worth spending the money now on a 5G-enabled, enterprise-grade handheld mobile computer or tablet. AR applications, which are used to provide “next best step” guidance to workers in warehouses, factories, retail stores and other high-tempo environments, require seamless connectivity and low latency between the host mobile computer, the heads-up display and other wearables, such as ring scanners. In this case, a lot of data is being captured, shared, processed and redistributed between the operational edge and back-end systems. There’s also a constant, real-time video feed that must be maintained. 5G’s ability to provide a high-speed, low latency experience within a semi-confined area could prove very beneficial. 

However, if you have those types of applications in play today, and you don’t plan to introduce applications that require 5G performance into your workflows anytime soon, then you’re going to be fully covered with 4G devices for the foreseeable future. By the time you’re ready to replace those 4G devices, 5G networks should be up and running at full mmWave speed, which means you’ll start to see the benefits of a 5G radio in the handheld mobile computer or tablet.  

Your Edge Blog Team: Are there other enterprise applications that would benefit from 5G?

Bruce: Anyone trying to serve a densely populated area where a lot of devices are going to be simultaneously trying to stream video and other data – such as on college campuses, in apartment buildings, and at football stadiums – will see more immediate benefits from 5G. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and even some healthcare technology solutions will likely need the speeds and/or capacity offered by 5G to reach their full potential. 5G will also be critical to machine-to machine communications and many Industry 4.0 applications, such as robotic arms and autonomous vehicles.   

But from a mobility perspective, with the exception of niche applications, we’re going to see the enterprise adoption rate lag consumer adoption. This is primarily because the enterprise use cases are still evolving, and coverage is still not yet ubiquitous enough to justify the additional cost of 5G and the power or battery impact of mmWave. 

Your Edge Blog Team: What about Wi-Fi 6?  What is it?

Bruce: Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of Wi-Fi technology. The Wi-Fi Alliance has changed its naming nomenclature so you might know Wi-Fi 6 as 802.11ax. It’s beyond the scope of this discussion to go through all the Wi-Fi 6 features, but a few notable benefits include increased capacity, increased network density, provisions that enable more control of latency and bandwidth provisioning, and support for lower power IoT devices. 

Wi-Fi 6 devices will operate in legacy Wi-Fi infrastructure and, similarly, legacy Wi-Fi devices will operate in a Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure. Wi-Fi 6 devices are increasingly coming to market and will proliferate in 2021. And, if you are wondering if you can get to Wi-Fi 6 via a firmware upgrade, the answer is generally no. 

Your Edge Blog Team: What about Wi-Fi 6E?

Bruce: Wi-Fi 6E is essentially the turbo version of Wi-Fi 6. Past Wi-Fi networks operated in 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Wi-Fi 6E adds a third band: 6GHz. The 6GHz band offers more than twice (1200 MHz) the total available bandwidth – read as capacity – than the 2.4 and 5GHz bands together. Thus, it has the potential to add significant capacity to customer Wi-Fi networks. 

However, operating at higher frequencies does present a tradeoff. Higher frequency signals have more loss when penetrating physical barriers like walls. Expect range to diminish when using 6GHz vs. 2.4GHz, excluding other factors like spatial diversity. Thus, you may only achieve full added capacity of Wi-Fi 6E when closer in proximity to the access point. Depending on access point locations and density, organizations might want to consider changing their network designs to take full advantage of Wi-Fi 6E. 

A question often asked is whether Wi-Fi 6E is a firmware upgrade from Wi-Fi 6. The answer is generally no. The radio frequency (RF) hardware in the access point must be specifically designed to support 6GHz.  

Your Edge Blog Team: Does Wi-Fi 6 offer a strong value proposition for businesses in its current state? 

Bruce: Wi-Fi 6 is a different story than 5G. Enterprise customers have expressed a number of compelling use cases for Wi-Fi 6 and, as they upgrade older access point infrastructure, they are also upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 enabled devices. As the infrastructure transitions, customers buying long-service-life enterprise devices want to make sure they can take full advantage of Wi-Fi 6 capabilities.

A number of large retail enterprise customers have expressed the need to equip all workers with a mobile device, which they understand will stress their existing Wi-Fi networks. Hence the need for Wi-Fi 6. Customers are increasingly seeing the need for a converged, voice-data Wi-Fi solution, which is also driving the need for Wi-Fi 6.  More and more customers are also streaming video over their Wi-Fi networks, such as training videos. They’re also starting to increase the number of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cross reality (XR) devices as well as Wi-Fi IoT devices. These all need Wi-Fi 6. Finally, in contrast to a cellular solution, enterprise customers have complete control over where, when, and how to rollout a Wi-Fi 6 upgrade, which increases its value proposition automatically. 

Your Edge Blog Team: Is there a rule of thumb on which Wi-Fi 6 flavor is the better starting point?

Bruce: Again, it’s really going to depend on the use case. I strongly recommend that any organization considering an upgrade to either Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E sit down and have an honest conversation with a trusted technology partner about its current needs and anticipated growth plans, both from a workflow and technology utilization perspective.Right now, we’re working with several customers to evaluate the ROI potential for all of these emerging wireless technology platforms in the context of their current operating states and growth ambitions.In several cases, they’re coming to us with a plan to go all-in on Wi-Fi 6, but we realize over the course of a discovery session that they really need Wi-Fi 6E to achieve their goals. When that happens, we start to weigh all options: should they jump right into Wi-Fi 6E? Should it be an incremental upgrade over the next 3-5 years?Will they ever really need Wi-Fi 6E based on their industry and projected technology innovation? In some cases, customers will never need the turbo version, just like they don’t need premium features on their mobile computers today.  

Your Edge Blog Team: You weren’t kidding when you said the transition to these next-gen technologies weren’t going to be a simple switchover.

Bruce: Unfortunately, not. As technology becomes more prolific, connectivity requirements are no longer as simple as saying we need cellular, Wi-Fi or both. There’s a lot to think about to ensure the solutions work as they must to maximize worker productivity and overall operational output. And, of course, we must always keep thinking in the back of our mind about the future adequacy of technology upgrades. Remember the classical Bill Gates’ line: “640K ought to be enough for anybody.”  Today, we have mobile devices with four orders of magnitude more memory than this, so perhaps 640K isn’t enough. 

Your Edge Blog Team:  There’s been a lot of buzz about private networks, is that something that customers should be considering?  

Bruce: Private networks have been around for quite some time. In simplistic terms, as the name implies, a private network is generally isolated with only gated access to any public network(s).  It leverages WAN protocols (e.g. 4G or 5G) and cellular devices. It also offers enterprise customers data isolation/protection and self-managed, dedicated resource availability, meaning it’s not shared with the general public.

The interest in private networks in the U.S. has grown tremendously with the introduction of CBRS, which is the buzz you’re referring to.  CBRS represents a swatch of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band and can operate in either licensed spectrum or “lightly” licensed spectrum. This means that an enterprise customer without a spectrum license can install a CBRS base station – or stations – and own and operate a CBRS network. One advantage of this scenario is coverage with minimal infrastructure. A single CBRS base station can cover as much area as 10 Wi-Fi access points. For example, a customer looking to cover a campus with a minimal amount of network infrastructure devices might choose to go CBRS. Since CBRS networks are based on cellular protocols and technologies, they inherit many of those technologies’ benefits, such as protocols that provide more deterministic latency for voice communications. Though the example just cited is for an outdoor application, we have seen interest from customers looking to provide indoor coverage in large open spaces.   

Your Edge Blog Team: It sounds like CBRS offers a lot of benefits to a lot of different types of organizations. 

Bruce: You’re absolutely right. Everyone from retailers and hospitality providers to healthcare organizations and transportation companies could probably benefit from CBRS in some way.  With that said, customers that already have a Wi-Fi network and are looking to extend coverage using CBRS must be able to manage two disparate networks.

Your Edge Blog Team: Is there a scenario in which an organization would benefit from cutting the cord, so to speak? Could someone use CBRS to completely replace traditional cellular service or Wi-Fi infrastructure?

Bruce: There are some situations in which CBRS and other private LTE network technologies will be used to completely replace traditional cellular and Wi-Fi solutions. However, I think we’ll see CBRS layered in more as a supplemental solution when someone needs to boost coverage or bandwidth capacity in a very targeted application. For example, a big box retailer isn’t going to necessarily rip and replace its entire Wi-Fi architecture with CBRS. But it might add CBRS to the mix to provide better coverage in its parking lots. An organization that needs to facilitate conversations about sensitive data may also opt to add CBRS on top of existing wireless infrastructure. A good example would be a hospital where doctors are conducting telehealth appointments and want to ensure patient conversations are kept private. 

Your Edge Blog Team: It doesn’t sound like there’s a single best roadmap that organizations should follow to transition to these next-generation wireless technologies, then. 

Bruce: There really isn’t. That’s why it’s so important to first define every application that needs wireless connectivity in some capacity. Then you can sit down with your technology partner to think about how much speed and bandwidth is needed to support those applications in a current state and the anticipated future state. You also have to figure out your tolerance level with regards to latency and reliability. How big of a deal will it be if a signal drops for a split second or doesn’t reach to the furthest edge of your operation? 

You’ll also need to think about how many devices – and how many different types of devices – you need to support. Will a single LTE network be sufficient or will it serve you best to utilize cellular, Wi-Fi and CBRS at once? Can you consolidate from Wi-Fi and CBRS down to just CBRS? Can you afford to wait for 5G to mature more in the enterprise space as long as you upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E right now? And can you afford to upgrade twice in a two-year period if you opt to start with Wi-Fi 6 and progress to Wi-Fi 6E later? 

This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of considerations, but it is a baseline of what organizations need to think about before spending any money on new wireless technology. It’s our job at Zebra, and it’s the job of our channel partners, to help organizations ask the right questions and then find the right answers specific to each customer’s operating environment. Though today’s wireless ecosystem is more complex than ever, it gives us more flexibility than we’ve ever had to build the right technology solutions for our customers based on their very specific needs. Plus, with the wide variety of flavors now available, businesses no longer have to settle for subpar wireless technology performance or struggle to scale certain applications. We’re going to be able to be very innovative from here on out. The sky’s no longer the limit. 

Originally posted here.

This book offers guidance for CPO and CIO’s activating digital transformations, in-house teams saddled with product debt and legacy systems, it’s for every product manager, product designer, or engineer looking to improve delivery with a proven methodology. It’s not theoretical. It’s tactical. It’s how we do it at Devbridge.

The Secret Source

This book covers the entire lifecycle of product development at Devbridge. It details how we successfully build digital products on a foundation of healthy metrics, delivery process, and technical maturity.

“Hi team, let’s all chat about something I’ve noticed.”

This is the voice and mindset of a steady yet transparent Software Tester ready to suggest an important amendment to the team’s process.

We (Quality Assurance) might be perceived by some as disrupting the process of “code to production” much like the “Farm-to-Table” concept when pointing out any issues during planning and execution. Software or Quality inspectors, if you will, must dissect (no pun intended) the code prior to reaching our consumers and debone the process to ensure all requirements – or in Agile terms, “user stories” – are met. An easy feat? Not at all. A necessary one? Yes! It is our eye for all things misaligned that is crucial to the quality of a product, even if that means incorporating a few extra steps with a side of constructive feedback.

Like many of you, I like to eat – and eat well. There is a very structured process to getting the food we love to our tables. However, if we want our food to maintain the highest standards, to be in season, organic and local, a farm-to-table process is best. Companies delivering software and wanting their customers highest approval will find that the adoption of Agile along with a strong QA is best. Like Farm-to-Table, the Agile process ensures all work is completed in-season (within a sprint). Who enforces or oversees this process within an Agile team? The answer to that question is the team. There are key roles we won’t define today, but the Quality Assurance Tester should always find themselves in process observation mode while testing. The tester should be empowered to let the team know when protocol has been broken or if adjustments are needed. An Olenick Quality Assurance Tester can be a very hybrid and all-consuming role. We are not only involved in the technical process, but we are well aware of every step necessary to achieving a successful end state. Let’s take a look at how two very different systems share similar operating behaviors in a quest for a very high-quality product:

Farm-to-Table and Agile Process Parallels

Raising the Animal or Harvesting Produce: Restaurants adopting true Farm-to-Table must find themselves working in-season with local farms. The relationship between farmers and chefs become very close as they work together. This could also mean menus may change regularly based on nature.

– vs –

User Stories (Requirements) and Team Dynamic: Organizations with teams delivering complex time sensitive software within an Agile process will find themselves working within an iteration or sprint: an agreed upon length of time to get the work completed. Teams composed of strong QA Engineers, Developers, Scrum Masters, and Requirements Gatherers will find themselves in a much closer relationship with the users much like the farmers and chefs. Due to this process and similar to the ever-changing menus, requirements could get updated or adjusted based on conversations or further research.

– and –

Picking the Produce and Processing the Meat: Produce must be handled with care, the less bruises the better quality. Also, time matters when preserving the nutrients of produce after it’s been harvested. This all takes place before it is packaged, boxed, and shipped to restaurants and stores. Meat must be processed and graded using a certain system in order to be classified as farm-to-table. The USDA certifies certain beef cuts and poultry grades.

– vs –

Development and Testing: Not exactly the same system but…sort of. Developers must remove or make changes to configurations in the database and implement code according to the standards laid out by the user stories. In this case, I like to think of the Tester as the USDA – strolling in with plastic gloves (or not, I personally would wear gloves) inspecting the very delicate work of the Engineer. The Tester would run every query related to the Developer’s configuration changes in the backend and analyze the actual results from processes performed in the newly implemented UI. It is at this time the Tester will grade what has been produced before it is distributed – or shall I say – deployed to production.

Farm-to-Table and the Agile process could be viewed as “trends”, “buzzwords,” or a “movement” which many organizations deem unnecessary. The reality is that Farm-to-Table was created because there was a need. People decided that food grown within their community with minimal transportation maintains more nutrition than processed food transported from afar. The Agile methodology was created to eliminate time to market by releasing smaller more pertinent changes to the customer which made expectations clear, a more stable product, and saved the company money. Prior to Agile, organizations worked on extensive software development projects that would fail to complete on time causing a huge hit to the budget. Both processes were created to fulfill a need and heighten the user experience by producing a product that leaves the customers feeling secure.

Every highly valued method demands an inspector to keep the process honest and product optimized. Olenick Quality Assurance Testers are the USDA for organizations looking to maintain or improve their software delivery process. Our QA Testers are multifaceted and equipped to protect the integrity of the software project. Olenick Quality Assurance Testers will uphold the standards of Agile, get involved in requirements early in the process, promote sustainability, and locate and find solutions for gaps in the process – all while making sure users receive a product of the highest quality within season.

This blog was originally posted here.

If your business has been looking for ways to start using artificial intelligence (AI) in your marketing, one channel you’ve likely considered is email.

Most businesses rely heavily on email as part of their sales and marketing strategy, and as Google phases out third-party cookies, the need for a strong contact database and an effective email program will only intensify.

Email tends to be a central channel for our clients, and it’s important for us as well, so it was top of mind as we considered new ways to incorporate AI into our toolkit.

After doing our research and comparing options, we recently onboarded an AI-based email marketing optimization tool called Seventh Sense, which uses machine learning to personalize email delivery times and, ultimately, increase open and click rates.

If you’re interested in a manageable, cost-effective technology that can get you started with AI-based email marketing, read on.

The Case for Optimizing Send Times with AI

I’m not sure how many times I’ve searched for the “best days/times to send email for [insert industry],” but it’s too many. Do the search yourself and you’ll find the answers to be an unhelpful mix of “it depends,” “Tuesdays at 10am” or “definitely NOT Tuesdays at 10am.”

Good stuff!

Advice on suggested send times will ultimately hedge its bets with some obvious common sense: the best way to optimize for send time is by conducting tests and analyzing your contacts’ engagement to see when they tend to open and click emails.

This is true, but there are a few problems with this, namely:

• Humans aren’t great at this kind of analysis
• You have other time-sensitive stuff to do
• Your database is constantly changing
• There’s always the remote possibility that your database is not one homogenous block of people who all like reading their emails on the same days at the same times

So, what’s an email marketer to do?

Enter Artificial Intelligence

While humans may not be great at it, testing, analyzing and optimizing email engagement using data is exactly the type of task AI is suited for.

If we could improve email performance while freeing up the time that would go to manually testing and analyzing engagement trends for more strategic work, it’d be a clear win. And we could stop doing searches for the latest on the best days/times to send emails.

Of course, send time optimization is just one application of many within the AI-based email marketing category. For example, there are tools like Phrasee and Persado that use AI to craft and test different email subject lines and copy variants based on engagement data. The list is growing fast.

While we’ve got our eyes on some other tools in the market, for now we’re keeping the copywriting in human hands while we test AI on send time optimization.

About Seventh Sense

Seventh Sense struck us as a good fit because, in addition to having the features we were looking for and overwhelmingly positive customer reviews, the platform is built to optimize email delivery for HubSpot and Marketo. As a HubSpot agency partner, many of our clients use the platform for marketing and sales emails.

By integrating with HubSpot, Seventh Sense analyzes your contacts and their engagement to personalize and predict when they are most likely to read your email. Using machine learning, the tool continually tests and analyzes engagement data so that over time, open and click rates increases, your sender score improves and you get more results from your email campaigns.

Read the full article here.

As many of our clients know, the employment-based Green Card process can take years. Because of the lengthiness of this process, things often change between the initial PERM filing date and the time when the priority date is finally current. In particular, changing jobs or employers can have a significant impact on Green Card processing. This article will explain some common scenarios pertaining to employer changes, with an emphasis on timing considerations and maintenance of status issues for H-1B holders.

Employer Change after I-140 Approval Stage / I-485 Not Yet Filed:

Under the 2017 Final Rule (“Retention of EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers”), the beneficiary of an approved I-140 may retain its priority date even if the employer later withdraws it. However, the timing matters. The priority date may only be retained if the I-140 is withdrawn 180 days or more after the approval date.

Therefore, if you are in the Green Card process and you change employers after the I-140 has been approved for 180 days or longer, you can retain your priority date and continue the Green Card process with your new employer. The new employer will have to file a PERM and a new I-140, but the priority date on the new I-140 would be the same as the previous I-140, since it can be retained in these circumstances.

Employer Change after I-140 Approval, I-485 Pending Stage:

In the past, changing jobs or employers after I-140 approval while the I-485 was already pending meant that the foreign worker had to obtain a new I-140 and start the process again (although the priority date could usually be ported). The 2017 Final Rule clarified some of the AC-21 provisions and permits Green Card applicants who change jobs/employers to continue to use their previously approved I-140 petition, as long as their I-485 application has been pending for at least 180 days and the new job is in the same or similar occupational classification as the job on the approved I-140. In this scenario, the I-485 applicant will simply have to include a Form I-485 Supplemental J with supporting evidence that the new job meets the portability requirements (rather than obtain a new I-140 approval). Sometimes USCIS will issue a Request for Evidence for the Supplemental J during the pendency of the application. Otherwise, the applicant will just bring it to the I-485 interview date.

Employer Change after I-140 Approval, I-485 Not Yet Filed, but Priority Date is Current:

An interesting situation can arise where you have changed employers after I-140 approval, prior to I-485 filing, but yet to start the process with your new employer. This is particularly complex if you are working on an H-1B visa and your priority date becomes current.

Under AC-21, an H-1B employee can continue to extend H-1B status beyond the 6-year maximum in three-year increments if they are the beneficiary of an approved I-140 and a visa is not available to the beneficiary at the time of filing the H-1B (meaning the priority date is not yet current).

There is another exception under AC-21, which allows you to extend H-1B status beyond the 6-year maximum, in one-year increments, if the I-485 has been filed and remains pending. To qualify for the lengthy adjudication delay exemption, the I-485 must have been filed within one year of the priority date being current.

The problem arises when an H-1B holder has an approved I-140 and their I-485 has not yet been filed, even though their priority date is current. This arises most often where the employee has changed employers but not yet started the PERM and I-140 process with the new employer. In these instances, USCIS can deny the H-1B on the basis that neither of the above explained exceptions apply. This is important to bear in mind, as the timing of the change in employers can affect not only your Green Card process, but also your H-1B status.

If you think your priority date will soon be current and you need to extend your H-1B status beyond the 6-year maximum, this is something to bear in mind when making decisions about changing jobs. In this scenario, it may be best to avoid changing employers until after the I-485 is filed, when you can simply submit a Supplemental J rather than start the process all over. When changing employers, it is important to consider not only your Green Card process, but also impacts on your H-1B status.

Conclusion:

In sum, employment-based Green Card processing can be particularly complex and confusing. The lengthy process means often applicants will experience job and employer changes during this time (some voluntary, some beyond their control), adding to the complexity. ILBSG strongly encourages clients to always seek counsel before making these kinds of decisions, to avoid any issues down the road.

If you have questions about employment-based Green Card processing, H-1B implications, or employer changes, please reach out to an ILBSG attorney today.

Originally published here.