Digital business requires fast, secure, and reliable data exchange between organizations, business partners, and internal systems.

TIS Connect is an integration solution that enables centralized management of file transfers, automates B2B communication, and enables the secure exchange of business-critical data. The platform connects different business systems, applications, and partners into a single communication channel through which data can be exchanged quickly, reliably, and with full process control.

A unified platform for managing data exchange

TIS Connect consolidates all data exchange processes within a single platform. The solution enables secure file exchange between organizations, integration of business systems and applications, and automation of B2B and EDI communication with partners. The system also provides centralized monitoring of all transfers and full control over business integrations.

The platform supports multiple communication protocols and integration scenarios, enabling connections between systems that use different technologies, architectures, and data formats.

Key platform functionalities

Secure file transfer

TIS Connect enables reliable and controlled file transfers between systems and business partners. The system is optimized for transferring large volumes of data and large files, ensuring the stable delivery of business-critical information.

The solution supports automated data exchange between systems, synchronization of data between remote locations, and the transfer of large business documents, catalogues or archival records.

B2B and EDI integration

The platform enables integration of B2B communication processes through a central integration point. The system allows organizations to connect with business partners and institutions, exchange business documents, and transform and map data across different formats.

By automating integration processes, organizations can simplify the exchange of business information and reduce the complexity of managing integrations across multiple systems.

Central gateway for data exchange

TIS Connect consolidates all inbound and outbound file transfers through a central gateway. The system enables intelligent routing of files to appropriate systems, data processing and transformation, and management of high volumes of files.

Such an architecture reduces operational complexity in managing integrations and enables more efficient communication between systems and business partners.

Centralized monitoring and management

The platform provides full visibility into all file transfers and integration processes within the organization. Operational teams can track transfer status in real time, monitor system performance, and manage the configuration of integration components.

Centralized monitoring allows faster detection and resolution of issues while ensuring the stable operation of business-critical integrations.

Secure communication with partners

TIS Connect protects an organization’s internal infrastructure by preventing direct communication between external partners and internal systems. Communication takes place through a security layer that ensures controlled access to systems and data.

Security features include user and system authentication, encrypted communication, access control, and network perimeter protection. This approach ensures secure data exchange between organizations and their partners.

Partner management and onboarding

TIS Connect enables centralized management of business partners and their integration into the system. The platform simplifies configuring communication channels and reduces manual effort during onboarding new partners.

By automating the onboarding process, the risk of operational errors is reduced and the time required to connect new partners is significantly shortened.

Benefits of the TIS Connect solution

Security and compliance

The solution protects sensitive business data through encrypted communication, access control, and system authentication. It enables activity monitoring and audit trails while supporting compliance with regulatory and security standards.

Scalability and reliability

The platform is optimized for processing large volumes of data and file transfers. The system is designed for high availability and can be deployed in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments, depending on organizational requirements.

Centralization and control

By using a single platform, organizations gain full control over file exchange and integration processes. Centralized management provides better visibility into data transfers, simpler partner management, and more efficient administration of integration systems.

The post TIS Connect: Secure and Reliable Business Data Exchange appeared first on TIS Grupa.

The Evolution of Technical Manuals

Technical manuals have undergone a significant transformation since their inception. Once bulky and hard to navigate, they are now digitalized, often in PDF format with advanced search functions and rich visual content. This digital shift has allowed for greater accessibility and ease of use, enabling users to find the information they need more quickly.

Current Challenges of Technical Manuals

Despite these advancements, technical manuals still face several challenges that can reduce their effectiveness:

• Lack of Connected Information – Useful information is often scattered across different documents and not interconnected. This makes it difficult for users to understand the full context and can result in missed or skipped important steps.

• Redundant Content – Manuals often contain repetitive information spread across multiple documents, leading to confusion and inefficiency. Users can easily find themselves unsure which version or piece of information is the most recent or accurate.

• Language and Terminology – Differences in terms between documents or even within the same manual can complicate understanding. A user searching for documentation might encounter different terms for the same component or action, complicating searches and slowing down the process of locating the correct information.

• Time-Consuming Search – Finding the correct information in traditional manuals often requires sifting through multiple sections, chapters, and paragraphs, which can be frustrating and inefficient, especially when a quick answer is essential.

How Can AI Transform the Use of Technical or Any Documentation?

AI has the potential to significantly improve how we use technical manuals by addressing the challenges mentioned above:

• Bridging Language Barriers – A smart manual with an AI component can understand and adapt to variations in terminology. Whether a user refers to a part as a “screw” or “bolt” or uses terms like “set up” or “configure,” the AI component can recognize the context and ensure access to relevant information. This functionality greatly enhances data accessibility and accuracy.

• Interactive Assistance – Imagine a manual that answers you in real-time, asks follow-up questions to clarify your needs, and offers guidance aligned with the context you are discussing. The AI component can enable such dynamic interaction, greatly enhancing the user experience, making information retrieval intuitive and efficient.

The Potential Impact of Smart AI Manuals

A smart AI manual could completely change the way customer support technicians use the documentation available to them, offering several benefits:

• Top-Tier Technical Support for Your Customers – A smart AI manual can act like a top-tier technical expert with photographic memory, instantly finding relevant information from multiple sources and eliminating the need for manual document searches.

• Comprehensive and Accurate Information – For support professionals, the ability to quickly access detailed and accurate information is critical. AI-driven solutions can streamline workflows, reduce errors, and improve overall efficiency by providing precise answers and guidance in real-time.

• Direct Sourcing of Information – A smart AI manual can already show users accurate references and links to relevant chapters or sections of documents, enabling quick verification and further exploration of the content.

image by freepic

Where Can Smart AI Manuals Be Used?

1. Diagnostics, Troubleshooting, and Maintenance – Customer support technicians can quickly search technical instructions to resolve issues, reducing the time needed to fix reported problems and increasing operational efficiency.
2. Enhanced Customer Support – A smart AI manual allows for faster and more accurate responses to customer inquiries, improving the overall customer experience.
3. Faster Training and Onboarding – New employees can more easily access the information they need, shortening the time required for training and onboarding.
4. Improved Compliance and Security – A smart AI manual could provide IT professionals with up-to-date security protocols and procedures, reducing the risk of non-compliance and improving overall security.

Use AI to Support Your Tasks, But Don’t Let It Take Over

While tools utilizing AI components are already incredibly useful, it’s crucial to understand their limitations and ensure the necessary human oversight:

1. Data Governance is Key – If you don’t know where your relevant documents and data are located or if you lack clearly defined data governance processes, smart AI manuals will be of limited help. As the old saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.” Without well-organized document repositories, manuals, and clearly defined internal guidelines, any tools—whether powered by AI or not—won’t be effective.
2. Validation of Initial AI Responses – The initial answers generated by AI need human verification and confirmation. This won’t happen automatically. It’s crucial that subject matter experts (SMEs) review and confirm initial outputs to ensure that future answers are accurate and reliable.
3. Detailed Questions Lead to Better Answers – The more precise your question is, the more accurate the AI answer will be. Like with young children or teenagers, if you don’t provide precise context or the necessary details, you can’t expect perfect answers immediately.
4. AI Doesn’t Replace Human Expertise – I was recently asked whether an AI tool could review all our documentation, create a business glossary, and list key performance indicators (KPIs). While AI tools can assist in locating and organizing data (if the data is properly organized according to your data governance procedures), they do not replace the need for human expertise. If you use an AI tool to assist in creating a business glossary or KPI list, remember that the responsibility for the final versions of those documents and their approval lies with you, the expert in the relevant field. Use AI tools as support in your work, but don’t delegate your responsibilities to them.

AI-driven tools can be powerful assistants in optimizing technical support and navigating various forms of documentation, but they should be used as auxiliary assistants, not as complete substitutes for human knowledge and expertise.

By: Josip Kustić

The post Marvel’s New Superhero: A Customer Support Technician with Photographic Memory. Fairy Tale or Reality? appeared first on TIS Grupa.

Data integration is the process of combining data from multiple sources into a unified system to enable easier analysis, access, and utilization. Timely, secure, and accurate data exchange is crucial for businesses and organizations to coordinate effectively, ensuring our economies function efficiently and at high speed.

Just as content is king when it comes to selling your services, data is queen for making any business decision—regardless of your industry or sector.

While issues with content are often solvable with a bit of good structure and SEO magic, data poses a significantly larger challenge (even though content itself is just a form of data). This is especially true when you need to gather information from various systems.

We’re not just talking about individual systems you might initially think of—such as the data stored across different ecosystems where we work.

Data Integration in the Context of Business

To make timely and sustainable long-term decisions for your business, you’ll need more data than what individuals store on personal devices or in the cloud. Accessing, collecting, and analyzing this data is greatly simplified with the help of IT specialists.

For example, making an informed decision about the profitability of a product (whether new or existing) requires considering a broader context:

• Supply chain insights and associated factors, including external collaborators you might work with.
• Distribution data.
• Integrated billing data from all your payment systems.
• Insights into labor costs, including operational expenses, employee wages, and the cost of systems they use. Often, B2B expenses are overlooked in calculations despite their significance.
• Marketing costs, which are part of a complex process stretching from market research, consumer behavior studies, defining client profiles, and presenting your product.

This is only a fraction of the data you’ll need to make an informed decision about an investment’s profitability.

However, these data points often reside in isolated and poorly connected systems. Attempting manual collection and processing would take years, leaving you with outdated, unusable data by the time you finish. This is where data integration tools become indispensable.

What Does Data Integration Entail, and Why Do You Need It?

Data is stored in diverse locations and formats. To centralize these “data islands”—or silos—you need tools capable of automating retrieval, translation, and structuring. This enables specialists to analyze the data effectively and base their decisions on accurate insights.

The process involves several key steps:

1. Identifying data sources: Locate the various databases, spreadsheets, APIs, or other sources you want to integrate.
2. Extracting data: Retrieve or process the required data using appropriate tools.
3. Mapping data: Align terminologies, codes, or structures from different sources to enable smooth communication between datasets.
4. Validating data accuracy: Ensure the data is complete and reliable for seamless system operation.
5. Transforming data: Convert and structure the data into a unified format.
6. Loading data: Consolidate the processed data into a central repository (e.g., a data warehouse).
7. Synchronizing data: Keep your data up-to-date through updates or by integrating new information.
8. Ensuring security: Implement mechanisms to comply with data protection regulations, especially when dealing with sensitive information.
9. Managing metadata: Provide context and meaning to the integrated data for easier interpretation.
10. Accessing and analyzing data: Use analytics tools to interpret the data and make informed business decisions.

Whether your focus is Enterprise Data Integration (EDI)—to combine business system data—or Customer Data Integration (CDI)—to analyze customer insights, these steps are fundamental to any type of data integration.

Advantages of Data Integration

The market for data integration software was valued at $13.2 billion last year and is expected to exceed $30.2 billion by 2030.

While large corporations often lead in adopting data integration, small businesses should not overlook its potential. The digital era, bolstered by advancements in generative AI, generates an unprecedented volume of data.

For context, approximately 328.77 million terabytes of data are produced daily, translating to 120 zettabytes annually. By 2025, this number is expected to rise to 163 zettabytes annually.

Key benefits include:

1. Improved Decision-Making: Integrated data ensures consistency, clarity, and accessibility across teams, enabling faster and more informed decisions.
2. Cost Reduction: Though initially an investment, data integration reduces operational inefficiencies and long-term costs.
3. Enhanced Data Quality: The integration process guarantees precise, complete, and high-quality data for optimal business outcomes.
4. Minimized Errors: Automation reduces human error and streamlines repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on strategic projects.
5. Increased Security: Centralized data storage simplifies data protection, particularly when handling sensitive or regulated information.

How TIS Implements Data Integration

At TIS, we’ve successfully implemented IBM Sterling solutions for clients in finance, distribution, and other industries. These solutions, including IBM B2B Integrator, Sterling File Gateway, and Connect:Direct, offer superior performance, security, and adaptability—whether on-premise or cloud-based.

If you’re interested in securely collecting, processing, and sharing critical data with your partners, contact our Sterling experts for a free workshop to diagnose your data integration needs!

The post What is Data Integration, its Advantages, and Why is it Important? appeared first on TIS Grupa.

HE CAME FROM THE STARTUP SCENE AND NOW LEADS SOME OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT PROJECTS: MENTORSHIP IS TIS’S GREATEST COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

It’s been a while since my colleague Mikulić asked me to write a blog post on the topic: “Why is working at TIS great?” I accepted the challenge without much hesitation. Why wouldn’t I? After all, I do genuinely enjoy working at TIS. But then came the time to put my thoughts into words.

I tried to find a solution by talking to colleagues, and we kept coming to the same conclusion: there’s this intangible something that’s hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it yourself after joining TIS. So, what seemed like a straightforward task turned into an obligation I skillfully avoided, dodging my colleague and his gentle email reminders. You know, the worst kind of emails that haunt you with guilt for days.

Of course, I was also looking for ways to get out of the task entirely, to admit defeat and surrender. BUT everything changed the other day when I attended the finals of the TVZ MC2 student startup competition.

A Moment of Clarity

A brief digression about TVZ MC2.

TVZ MC2 is a project-based/startup competition for TVZ students, where participants develop conceptual solutions to a given topic. They must produce a business plan, a prototype, and then push their idea close to production. The competition consists of several phases and levels of evaluation, making it neither easy nor certain to reach the finals.

My role as one of TIS’s mentors was to use my knowledge and experience to help our chosen one-man band (shoutout to Dominik Cvetan) shape his idea in line with the competition’s guidelines. I played the “devil’s advocate,” questioning Dominik’s directions, decisions, concepts, and business models he wanted to incorporate into his solution.

Spoiler alert: Dominik won, and I left the competition with an unexpected realization about why working at TIS is great.

Mentorship.

What I Do at TIS

Primarily, I work as a project manager, but I’ve also had the honor of taking on the role of a mentor to a young team that has since grown into a serious development powerhouse.

When in a mentoring role, my job is to help my developer colleague translate project architecture into a concrete plan and confidently take over all the reins of managing that project. For instance, when someone starts a new project, they also take on the role of technical project lead. From me, they learn why regular technical meetings are important, what criteria to follow when assigning tasks to team members, and how to empower junior colleagues, teaching them to communicate effectively, ask timely questions, understand business processes, and recognize their role in the project as a whole. It’s also crucial for new leads to immediately grasp the importance of using appropriate tools to track project progress.

At the same time, the mentoring process wasn’t one-sided. While they were learning the art of project management from me, I was learning the secrets of Java development from them. A practical and highly successful symbiosis of mutual mentorship.

The Company’s Greatest Competitive Value

Although it may sound like a cliché, this concept is truly lived out here, supported, and embedded in all employees and collaborators. The collaboration I witnessed over the past few months as a mentor only reaffirmed how people, when enthusiastic, creative, and open-minded, can progress together into realms and directions they wouldn’t reach alone. It’s this transformation, unfolding before my very eyes, that led me to conclude that mentorship is the key to satisfaction at TIS.

When I joined TIS, I made a fundamental shift in the technologies I worked with. I transitioned from the .NET and Microsoft world to the previously unfamiliar realm of Java development, OpenShift, and Sterling. The nature of the clients I work with also changed. Moving from a small team of about ten people to an organization ten times that size required some adaptation to navigate the organization itself.

While I previously worked almost as a one-man band, at TIS I encountered a sprawling infrastructure with highly specialized departments. It’s wonderful, no doubt, but it still demands a certain level of adjustment and a different way of communicating. While specialization simplifies some things, we all know that as the number of stakeholders increases, things can get more complicated—broken telephone, noise in communication channels. That’s why learning to communicate effectively as quickly as possible is crucial.

And Yet

The speed at which I adapted to the new environment and became a useful member of the organization was undoubtedly helped by the energy and approach of everyone in the company, from junior developers to department heads to board members. Everyone had the time and willingness to listen, discuss, and, ultimately, educate me—whether during a coffee break or a meeting. They answered countless “what” and “why” questions without ever saying something like, “Just Google it, it’s not hard…”

It’s precisely this readiness, but also the ability of TIS members to mentor and be mentored, that makes working at TIS a truly great experience.

The post Why TIS GRUPA Has Been Successfully Growing for Over 35 Years: Mentorship, Innovation, and Projects appeared first on TIS Grupa.

Film obiluje brutalnim audio-vizualnim efektima, koji zaista nevjerojatno prikazuju unutarnji svijet naslovnog junaka, ali kritički bih sud o samom filmu ipak prepustio struci. Uz dobronamjernu napomenu da će gledatelju biti lakše pratiti radnju, ako prije gledanja zaviri makar na Oppenhemerovu Wikipedija stranicu. Onodobne velikane fizike ne nazivaju bez razloga „the wild ones“. Oni su živjeli sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle mnogo prije nego što su ga usvojile glazbene zvijezde.

Kako bilo, neovisno o tome koliko mi se Nolanov presjek jedne od najzbudljivijih dionica u povijesti fizike i njezinih protagonista osobno svidio, moram priznati da sam u priču ipak ušao pomalo pristrano – budući da sam i sam fizičar po struci. Ostavimo li, uz to, znanost kratko po strani i usmjerimo pogled umjesto toga na priču o tome kako je Robert Oppenheimer uspio realizirati ovaj kolosalni projekt (o čijim posljedicama itekako možemo raspravljati), dolazimo do teme današnjeg bloga: uloga projektnog menadžmenta u projektu Manhattan.

Project challenges

To begin with, the Manhattan Project, like most projects, exceeded its deadlines, budgets, and anticipated workforce. I read somewhere that Oppenheimer initially planned to need only 6–10 people to complete the project. Ultimately, he had to construct an entire city in the middle of nowhere, complete with all necessary infrastructure, to house the hundreds of people required to bring the project to fruition.

It’s also important to remember that this was a research and development project. Back then, project managers lacked both the theoretical and practical knowledge they needed, and they had to develop it on the fly.

One striking example of the challenges they faced was the potentially apocalyptic concern about whether a nuclear explosion could ignite a chain reaction that would set Earth’s atmosphere ablaze and destroy all life. While theoretical calculations almost entirely ruled this out, the scientists knew they couldn’t be 100% certain until they tested their theory in practice. If that isn’t calculated risk, I don’t know what is!

Thankfully, most of us in our day-to-day work don’t encounter problems of potentially cataclysmic proportions. Still, whether it’s “just another routine task” or an R&D project fraught with more unknowns than facts, this paradigm is undoubtedly familiar to anyone in the industry.

Project management at Los Alamos

Los Alamos Colloquium

Oppenheimer played a pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, overseeing its scientific and technical aspects. He coordinated a wide range of scientific research, theoretical considerations, engineering activities, and even managed military personnel assigned to the project for security reasons. On one hand, he looked after the well-being of all individuals involved, while on the other, he worked to keep them motivated and dedicated to the ultimate goal.

Like me, you may also be wondering what tools Oppenheimer used in his PM role.

1. Expertise

Oppenheimer’s formal education in physics, with a focus on theoretical physics, provided the foundation for his technical contributions to the project.

Thanks to his expertise, he could grasp and address the complex physical challenges encountered daily on the path to a technical solution. This allowed him to lead not only physicists but also chemists, metallurgists, and experts from countless other fields essential to the Manhattan Project’s success.

Equally important was his ability—or humility—to recognize the need for knowledge and skills beyond his own expertise, without letting ego get in the way. This meant trusting his team to do their jobs well.

2. Leadership and Vision

Leadership is often the key factor that distinguishes success from failure. Oppenheimer’s charisma, his ability to inspire hundreds of people, and his clear communication of goals were instrumental in achieving the Manhattan Project’s objectives.

Keep in mind that the team was composed of individuals with diverse worldviews, expertise, and experiences, all united by a monumental scientific challenge on one hand and various fears on the other.

3. Team Building

For extraordinary outcomes, you need extraordinary people. The problem is that the right people for the job aren’t always natural team players. A good project manager knows how to create an environment where even such individuals can be successfully integrated into team efforts. Oppenheimer seems to have been a master at creating enough maneuvering space for individual excellence and innovation to contribute to collective success.

4. Coordination and Management

Developing the atomic bomb required managing an impressive number of locations where different parts of the process were carried out, as well as coordinating people and efficiently distributing resources that were constantly evolving and shifting.

5. Decision Making

Oppenheimer made numerous critical decisions that had a significant impact on the project’s final direction. His ability to balance the scientific and practical aspects was one of his key traits as the leader of the Manhattan Project.

6. Adaptability

Robert’s openness to new ideas and his willingness to implement them in the project made a difference. This approach encouraged others to innovate and experiment while fostering a culture of continuous learning, which he exemplified and expected in return. This was crucial for generating an incredible amount of new knowledge and skills.

7. Pressure Management

Imagine the expectations and pressure brought by the wartime circumstances surrounding the Manhattan Project. On one side was the uncertainty of whether an atomic bomb could even be made, and on the other was the understanding that its creation could be the key to ending World War II. Steel nerves and an ironclad stomach!

A FINAL NOTE

The ethical questions surrounding the Manhattan Project are, of course, open for discussion—scientists involved in the project debated them even at the time. From a project management perspective, however, Nolan’s film is a brilliant case study that highlights the value of effective PM, especially when the stakes could alter the course of history.

Author: Karlo Klečina, Project Manager, TIS Grupa

The post The Role of Project Management in the Manhattan Project: Oppenheimer’s Leadership and Decision-Making appeared first on TIS Grupa.

A quick browse through various job platforms or a glance at the popularity of online courses will soon reveal that project management – or “project managment,” as it’s often colloquially written – is one of the most dynamic and sought-after career fields.

And let there be no confusion: while it is prevalent in IT projects, this phenomenon extends far beyond the IT industry. Considering the type of economy we live in – project-based and increasingly complex – it’s nearly impossible to find an industry that doesn’t require a skilled project management department or at least one competent project manager.

These aren’t just empty claims; numerous reputable studies conducted over the past decade confirm the rising importance of this field. Thanks to such research, we can track the growth of its significance. Today, it’s hard to find senior managers who won’t agree that project management is crucial. A full 90% of experienced managers consider project management vital for business success, and 60% rank investing in building a quality project team among their top three priorities. Recent studies paint an even starker picture: during the pandemic, project management emerged as one of the areas that saw a 20% global increase in resource allocation compared to just a year earlier, alongside critical thinking and strengthening basic digital skills.

This is hardly surprising when you consider the following statistics: due to inefficient project management, approximately $1 million is lost globally every 20 seconds, adding up to $2 trillion wasted annually. To put this into perspective, Croatia’s 2022 national budget was a “mere” HRK 145 billion – and that’s in kuna, not dollars. As if this weren’t bad enough, about 1 in 3 projects fail outright, 43% exceed their budgets, and 48% miss their deadlines.

Now, I understand statistics aren’t exactly the sexiest tools in the world, so let me present just a few more numbers before diving into how project management applies to everyday life. When a project manager does their job well, the rate of unsuccessful projects drops by 31%, 30% of projects are delivered under budget, and 19% are completed ahead of schedule. Productivity increases by 21%, and large projects save over half a million dollars. So, the benefits are clear.

Project Management in Everyday Life

When explaining project management to new colleagues, we often use the analogy of planning a family party. As the organizer, or project manager, you need to know how much money you have, how you’ll collect it, whether there’s anything already prepared that you won’t need to redo, how long the event will last, what the weather will be like, and even how to gather feedback to make the next party even better.

While some undertakings are explicitly labeled as projects, there are many others we can treat as such without an official designation. For instance, consider developing your career. Whether you plan to stay with the same employer until retirement or change jobs every few years, this process has a defined timeline – a key characteristic of projects, as opposed to operations, which can stretch indefinitely.

Now, to complicate matters further, we need to factor in a few additional variables. First, expectations. In any professional setting, we all navigate a sea of expectations – both our own and others’. We must recognize that investing time in additional education to acquire new skills will be necessary to meet some of these expectations.

So, to simplify: a project is any process with a defined duration that operates within specific parameters and aims to achieve a particular goal. This means any unique endeavor with a limited timeframe, whether in our private or professional lives, can be defined as a project.

With this perspective, it becomes clear why project management is so applicable to everyday life. Project management requires analytical skills that allow us to approach a problem objectively, guided by the goals we’ve set, regardless of whether we’re wearing rose-colored glasses or under a cloud of pessimism. Good decisions aren’t made based on emotional states or feelings.

Furthermore, a competent project manager understands that no project – like any life plan – will ever unfold exactly as initially envisioned. That’s why they leave enough room for adjustments. For example, in agile work approaches, this might mean postponing decisions that lead irrevocably in one direction for as long as possible or allocating a contingency budget for Plan B if things go awry. The key takeaway here is to recognize that nothing will ever go perfectly smoothly, there will always be unforeseen obstacles, but such situations shouldn’t be handled on the fly. Instead, they should be anticipated, with potential solutions prepared in advance, while staying focused on the set goal.

While these are all critical elements, good communication often proves to be the most crucial. Effective communication between the project manager, their team, and their supervisors is indispensable. Returning to the numbers for a moment, research shows that 56% of budget waste is due to poor communication between project managers and their superiors and subordinates. In other words, it’s not just about what is said but also how, to whom, and when it is said. Imagine subtracting that 56% from the $2 trillion wasted annually due to poor communication – how much higher would the average Croatian salary be?

Project Management in Practice

To ensure all these components work synergistically and yield optimal results, it’s essential to find the right balance of theory, experience, and suitable communication patterns. This is something we instill not only through our internal workshops, where we train colleagues at TIS to become more efficient project managers, but also by sharing our knowledge and extensive experience beyond our own walls.

A great example is the Soft Skills Academy, where we showed FER students what a good project manager must do in practice. This interactive workshop lasted two days, with four-hour sessions each day, and was organized around group work. After a brief introductory lecture, students chose one of three key project roles and a goal or purpose for the project they would develop. The only condition was that the project had to be as feasible as possible, allowing them to navigate all five phases of a project while confronting the real challenges faced by each project participant. Later, we analyzed their approaches through discussion, highlighting what worked well and what might look different in real-world practice.

Another type of collaboration offered by TIS involves deploying our experts to institutions that require such services. A recent example is the Instant Payments project, where Zagrebačka banka, for the first time ever, entrusted an external project manager to coordinate their experts. Although I joined the project after the kick-off phase and didn’t participate in early planning, I can confidently say I achieved my goals. At Zaba, I didn’t come in as an external expert to forcefully “fix” things but rather carefully examined the situation to identify where my experience and expertise could improve efficiency without disrupting existing processes that worked well.

We’re proud to say this collaboration was highly productive, enjoyable, and successful. Notably, we completed the project within the projected timeline, budget, and quality standards. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Zaba for their support. They provided a pleasant work environment, allowing me to focus my energy on activities that contributed to the project’s success. I believe this supportive atmosphere was a significant factor in our fruitful collaboration.

How to Choose the Ideal Project Manager?

To conclude, here’s an open question faced by anyone considering hiring a project manager: should you hire someone who has honed their skills through experience in the trenches, or is it better to hire a formally educated project manager?

Both approaches, of course, have their advantages and disadvantages. However, our experience shows that combining both is the best solution. That’s why, at TIS, we invest in our technically skilled professionals, regularly supplementing their knowledge and skills with training and internationally recognized certifications essential for every project manager. This way, we consistently deliver outstanding results to our clients.

If you need our assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our experts will find the ideal solution tailored to your specific needs.

Author: Alan Budak, TIS, Head of Project Management Office

The post Project Management: From Big Data to Everyday Life appeared first on TIS Grupa.

Configuring a car online has long been nothing new (in Europe, over half of new cars have been sold this way since 2016). Certain car manufacturers have already offered online sales of their models for some time, including Tesla, which fully transitioned to this model back in 2019. This seems to be a trend that’s only just beginning.

According to data from the Swiss investment bank UBS, online car sales accounted for only 2% of total sales last year. However, that number is expected to exceed a staggering 50% in just seven years. By 2030, tens of millions of people worldwide will be buying new cars without ever visiting a dealership.

Factors Changing the Traditional Sales Paradigm

Three key factors have contributed to this development. Firstly, the pandemic rapidly accelerated digitalization globally.

In addition to new consumer habits, this trend is supported by the growing demand for electric vehicles. Since these models often differ only in battery size, it’s much easier for manufacturers to offer online purchasing, which also impacts production costs. UBS predicts that this trend will lead to $50 billion in savings in the distribution ecosystem by 2030, benefiting both manufacturers and sellers equally.

Then, there’s the proposed European legislation that mandates a ban on internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the EU is taking decisive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, only electric cars and vans will be allowed for sale in the European market starting in 2035.

Domestic Solutions for Future Business Processes

While online sales of used vehicles have already gained significant traction (in Croatia, for example, the first used car was sold online back in April 2017, while the U.S.-based Carvana sold more than 425,000 used cars this way last year, and Germany’s Auto1 expanded to over 30 markets, selling nearly 600,000 used cars with profits exceeding €5 billion), it was only this year that news of a traditional car dealership experimenting with online sales (albeit partially) made headlines.

The dealership in question is Mercedes, which implemented one of the best solutions of this kind, developed by Namirial. Our multi-platform solution for digital signing is based on Namirial’s SIGNificant technology, compliant with EU legal standards and ISO directives.

Using TIS eSIG, e-signatures can be enabled through digital certificates, as well as manual or HTML5 signatures with a single click. The app allows users to define the signing process to accommodate multiple signatories signing the same document. It also enables remote signing. All of this lays the foundation for a virtual ecosystem that will allow the complete online purchase of new cars.

Given that many potential car buyers are understandably hesitant about online purchases due to security concerns—understandable given the sums involved—TIS eSIG offers a significant advantage in ensuring secure transactions. Documents processed through the platform are protected from unauthorized manipulation, with all signing data stored in encrypted form within the PDF document. If the authenticity of a manual signature needs to be verified, this data is only accessible via the private key of the biometric certificate. Additionally, the eSIG platform includes an application for forensic analysis of manual signatures.

Digital Transition Is Inevitable

Mercedes isn’t the only one recognizing the need to adapt to this new digital reality. Most major manufacturers have been quietly working on digital transitions for years. VW, for instance, has been developing a new sales system based on a unique customer ID since 2019. This ID allows navigation through the entire consumer process—from car configuration to handing over the keys—while ensuring that selected distributors retain a central role, as sales processes will continue to operate on a customer-seller relationship.

Toyota has been preparing the European market for the transition to online car sales for years. Pilot projects enabling fully online purchases are being developed in the UK and Norway. These processes, as noted by Toyota’s Head of Sales and Marketing Matthew Harrison, led to a relatively expected conclusion: to succeed, this service must offer a comprehensive financial package. “We found that a significant number of customers expect a complete leasing package: credit, insurance, and the car itself. I’d compare it to signing a mobile phone contract,” Harrison said. Similar experiences are shared by executives from Volvo, Peugeot, Hyundai, BMW, and Mitsubishi.

The question is no longer whether we can buy our dream car online but when it will be possible. That’s why it’s crucial to prepare for a trend that’s about to explode.

The eSIG platform integrates seamlessly with existing business support and document archiving systems. It keeps up with e-signature trends and is continually upgraded with new technologies—like biometric and video identification. Keeping pace with market demands, TIS eSIG also offers video identification services, making it faster and easier to reach remote clients. Once positively identified, clients can be offered any product during the same video session and provided with a contract ready for signing.

Welcome the Future with TIS eSIG

If you’re interested in learning more about our service, the integration process, or are otherwise curious about the digital transformation of your business, feel free to contact us. Our experts will gladly answer any questions.

The post The Future of the Automotive Industry: What’s Keeping Us from Buying Our Dream Car in Just a Few Clicks? appeared first on TIS Grupa.

Digital workforce is becoming an increasingly interesting topic to businesses that have focused their business strategies on innovation or desire to grow faster.

Management are the first ones to see the benefits of implementing digital workers because they have a bigger picture of the business strategy and vision. On the other hand, employees will initially resist them – understandably because new technologies are always disruptive, always change the old way of doing business, old habits and old practices. In the beginning, digital workers are a great mystery, while the insecurity brought about by this mystery is a good enough reason to be skeptical and resist any novelties. Some employees fear their jobs will be taken over by digital workers, which is exactly why it is important to highlight the benefits brought by digital workers for businesses, employees and the entire organization.

What are digital workers?

Digital workers are virtual employees (software-based robots) that imitate sets of skills of human employees and automate business processes. A digital worker may perform complex tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming and tedious for the employees and are responsible for recurrent tasks requiring a low level of creativity, which they are able to perform faster, more efficiently and at lower cost.

Digital workforce is a crucial part of digital transformation strategies. It includes a scalable team of robotic and automated solutions that combine Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

What kind of an advantage do they bring for employees?

Technological progress in the workplace has resulted in an upward trend for digital workforce. Employees no longer need to be responsible for very tedious and cost-sensitive tasks. Instead, this new technology is able to improve an employee’s performance and productivity and give him or her time to focus on value-added strategic activities such as innovation. Technological advancements such as these give human workforce an opportunity to leverage on its ingenuity, creativity, empathy and collaboration. They make time available, which can now be spent working on projects requiring human intelligence and creating added value. This is actually an opportunity for employees to focus on their unique human values.

Ideal tasks for digital workers:

• Chatbots that improve customer experience
• Financial bots that automate financially sensitive activities such as payment verifications, etc.
• AI bots with sophisticated money laundering or retail fraud diagnostic & detection capabilities
• Analytical bots that monitor relevant metrics and prepare reports for stakeholders
• IT bots for integrating internal systems, migrating data from a database to another system/portal, etc.
• Checking inventory levels and analyzing prices in the supply chain.

Depending on the industry, digital workers may adapt to corporate needs and automate the weakest or most sensitive business processes.

Why should businesses implement digital workers?

Each firm that strives to become automated should obtain higher levels of operating efficiency, productivity and business agility. Digital workers are the first line of intelligent automation and digital transformation. They are much more cost-effective compared to automating the whole organization from scratch and also require minimum onboarding.

The digital ecosystem is developing and requires that employees and digital workers coexist in symbiosis. This is the future of work, capable of revolutionizing an organization and all its processes.

• Link to RPA leaflet 
• RPA Solution – Robotic Process Automation

Source: https://www.automationanywhere.com/rpa/digital-workforce

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Talk to our experts on how we can support you in improving your business operations.

Author: Marina Meštrović, Business Solutions Consultant, TIS

The post Digital workforce – a threat or advantage to employees appeared first on TIS Grupa.

The present market situation requires of businesses that are doing nothing about digitalization to reflect on their year-end figures in this context.

For example, if a process includes reports generated by the ERP system and this document needs to be printed, physically taken to the authorized person to have it signed manually and then scanned and archived, this process cannot be considered digitalized. The original document is still in physical form and should as such be kept and stored, while the digital scanned document is a copy sitting in the archive as some sort of proof.

This is where DTM solutions come in.

What is a DTM (Digital Transaction Management) system?

DTM refers to a set of software solutions including:

• a legally compliant electronic signature;
• authentication and identification;
• document management and document flow control;
• transaction security; and
• secure data storage.

DTM solutions touch each aspect of a document’s lifecycle – from its creation to its storage. Four main elements allow a DTM system to handle all activities regarding a document with an advanced level of efficiency and security.

Four elements of a DTM system

1. Digital document archiving and management
2. Digital authentication
3. Digital signature
4. Digitalization and automation of business processes

1. Digital document archiving and management

Digital document archiving and management allows organizations to combine contents and business processes through a single platform and thus manage all (un)structured information and contents in a systematic and integrated way.

Document creation, indexation, ORC, search and retrieval, secure sharing, access control, encryption and integration capabilities are the key components of a document management system that underlie digital transaction management to create a paperless office.

2. Digital authentication

Secure authentication and identification are a prerequisite for any activity involving documents, such as the implementation and compliance with KYC requirements when onboarding new customers, logging into internal systems, accessing and sharing documents/files, authorizing and signing documents, etc.

Identification of new customers is currently preferred to be performed online, for example by using video identification. For all processes involving regular customers/employees/partners, identification may be part of two-factor authentication that includes verification by sending a one-time password to a mobile phone.

It is important to take into account the fact that all solutions that include digital identification and authentication must be in compliance with the applicable regulations and include all required identification and authentication steps.

3. Digital signature

Paper documents are easily editable: handwritten signatures can be falsified, the contents of a paper document can be modified, whereas parties to a contract may deny having signed it. None of this is possible when using digital signatures because the document enjoys triple protection:

• Identification of the signatory based on digital certificates or two-factor authentication and matching of electronic signature validation data with the person in question.
• The integrity of the document is protected because each step in the business process is recorded and users can detect any attempt of alteration.
• Each digital signature has a time-stamp so that a reliable signature generation time can be used as evidence of non-repudiation together with other security data contained in a digitally signed document.

4. Digitalization and automation of business processes

The first three elements would not function as a whole without the digitalization and automation of business processes specifically tailored to each company’s requirements and needs.

The automation of business processes helps companies manage their business processes involving human interaction and/or several business systems and helps managers define business rules applicable to the tasks within each business process to facilitate the monitoring and measurement of company resources. Document flows seamlessly improve scalability performance and accelerate the supply of the relevant service to the end user. In other words, automation means achieving results faster and providing an improved user experience, which are the main two factors of DTM market’s constant growth.

If workflows are automated, all tasks relating to DTM processes are treated and performed in a consistent, efficient and secure manner. This results in savings of time and costs, minimization of manual efforts, as well as standardization of documents and their protection against error.

Why choose a DTM (Digital Transaction Management) system?

A DTM solution helps accelerate, facilitate and secure business processes thanks to the embedded capabilities of all four crucial DTM components, thus allowing users to interact with documents from different locations and increasing efficiency and productivity on all professional levels.

By implementing DTM solutions, organizations of all sizes and across all industries accelerate their internal processes involving any type of document that needs to be authorized and signed, such as contracts, policies, approvals, etc., which helps them grow in various segments. They also enhance their competitiveness because they offer their customers and partners an improved user experience and make the personal data protection process more secure.

The DTM market has seen increasing levels of demand as these solutions have been found to help modern businesses become more efficient. The global DTM market was estimated to be worth EUR 1,733.67 million in 2020 and is expected to reach EUR 14,374.84 million by 2027, with CAGR of 35.28% during the relevant period.

Author: Marina Meštrović, Business Solutions Consultant, TIS

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The post Why businesses need Digital Transaction Management (DTM) appeared first on TIS Grupa.

In corporate-focused texts, it’s common to highlight an employee as the company’s “good spirit.” Thanks to employer branding and social media, we’ve seen and heard countless such stories. The problem is that these narratives often feel forced, shallow, and reduced to empty promotional constructs that lack genuine soul. But fear not—this will not be one of those stories, nor could it be, no matter how hard we tried.

Daniela Velčić has been with TIS practically since the beginning of her career, and it’s impossible to find a colleague who wouldn’t describe her as the heart and soul of the company in their first sentence. We’ve verified this, and empirical results are available upon request.

A would-be math and computer science professor—much to the dismay of children who never got the chance to fall in love with equations and code under her tutelage—Daniela traded the classroom early on for a career in the financial industry. Though she started as a programmer, Daniela has always been more drawn to people than numbers. However, she knew one thing for certain: if she wanted to succeed, she’d first need to master her technical skills.

A successful project manager, particularly one working in the IT sector on complex financial projects, must merge technical expertise with business analysis and then blend both under the guidance of an empathetic manager with strong social intelligence. Yet, the idea of ending up in sales—as a Key Account Manager & Senior Sales Consultant—was never even a remote possibility in her mind.

“Who actually plans to go into sales?” Daniela remarks with her trademark warm laugh while playfully striding down the hallway. “Nobody prepares you for the reality of making a set number of calls in a day or visiting a specific number of clients—not to mention meeting targets.” She comments with a reassuring smile beneath her round glasses, adding, “But don’t worry, sales in IT is never boring.”

Shaping the Future Through Projects

Over 25 years, Daniela has been involved, in one way or another, in projects of monumental scale—though she herself would never describe them that way. Not because she doesn’t see their value, but because humility is deeply ingrained in her nature. “At TIS, we’ve always operated at full capacity to deliver the best possible solution for the client. Sometimes that solution impacted a larger audience, sometimes a smaller one, but it was always of the highest standard,” she explains in her typically understated manner.

If you’ve ever heard of SEPA, NKS, EuroNKS, IBM Sterling, NKSInst, or more recently, considered how life changed with the introduction of the euro, then you’ve indirectly encountered Daniela’s work. Or, to rephrase, you probably haven’t heard her name because the projects she’s worked on have always been implemented so flawlessly that there’s never been a need for public scrutiny.

And let’s be clear—these aren’t minor systems, simple projects, or basic solutions. The tools we’ve mentioned form the backbone of Croatia’s entire financial system. Every transaction in the country is directly or indirectly tied to one of these systems. Truly monumental projects, without exaggeration.

Biggest vs. Favorite Project

“SEPA was a project that impacted all of Croatia. There was no room for error. On June 6, 2016, the system had to go live, and my greatest achievement was the praise we received from the entire SEPA community, emphasizing how seamlessly the transition was executed—quickly, efficiently, and flawlessly,” Daniela highlights.

While SEPA was the largest project she worked on, her favorite remains Dubrovnik Airline. After more than 25 years and countless demanding battles in the exciting IT industry, it still holds a special place in her heart. “Thanks to the people behind Dubrovnik Airline, I accidentally ended up in sales nearly 20 years ago,” she recalls with a laugh. “Following successful collaborations, those same people trusted TIS to help establish their new airline, Dubrovnik Airline,” she reminisces.

Daniela spent the next decade helping her team build Dubrovnik Airline, working long hours from various locations—Zagreb, Rijeka, Dubrovnik—while directly collaborating with the client. “For that project, we all lived and breathed it. Fixed working hours were a foreign concept, but we also never missed celebrating our successes. To be successful in your work, you need both,” Daniela notes.

Moments to Remember

TIS has always been a trendsetter in personalized client relationships. One initiative Daniela fondly recalls is sailing trips with business partners. “We’d rent several sailboats and host our key clients for four days—from Thursday to Sunday—sailing a different route each time.”

On her first trip in 2004, Daniela found herself sharing the tight quarters of a sailboat with two bank CEOs. “As the saying goes, friendships are tested on a sailboat—imagine being stuck with significant business leaders! But thankfully, the skipper set the rules immediately: on the boat, everyone’s on a first-name basis, and everyone works equally,” she recalls. “That experience taught me to approach my role as a KAM much more naturally, simply, and effectively. Plus, I got the chance to learn from the best.”

A Key Link in TIS’s Chain

Empirical proof from the story’s beginning backs it all up.

“For over two decades, Daniela has been the ‘good spirit’ of TIS’s projects in the financial sector. Her cheerfulness, honesty, professional approach, and unwavering dedication make even the toughest projects more pleasant. Her immense enthusiasm makes her an irreplaceable part of the TIS family,” says Business Manager Vjekoslav Martinčić.

Veteran colleague Sanja adds: “Throughout these years, Daniela has always found ways to connect business with personal, creating a small family atmosphere. She thrives on doing her best and hearing gratitude from colleagues. That’s what recharges her energy.”

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The post Living with TIS for 25 Years and Beyond: A Career in the IT Sector is Anything but Monotonous appeared first on TIS Grupa.