Latest blog articles 

Google or Tinder? Both are platforms that offer their promotions via Swisscom OTT Marketplace, a website developed and designed by the Apps Team. But what exactly is OTT?
 
OTT stands for Over-The-Top. The term Over-The-Top content (OTT) refers to the transmission of video and audio content via Internet access without an Internet service provider being involved in the control or distribution of the content. This can include free and paid offerings.
The OTT Marketplace was built to provide a standard process and template for working with OTT players to jointly promote their content and offers to Swisscom subscribers.
 
How do these partnership promotions work?
Swisscom partners with the most popular services in the most popular app categories. We jointly promote an incentivised offer (e.g. first x months free or discounted), Swisscom shares in the revenue and promotes the Swisscom Pay service at the same time.
 
Four people from the Apps team worked on this project, namely: Yunus Emre Türkes, Noël Wilener, Stefan Zurkinden, Matteias Collet
 
Our 2 designers Tabea & Rachel also worked on the OTT project, they were responsible for the design of the website, together with the help of the apprentices in the Apps team.
 
Working on OTT taught me a lot about React, it was my first productive project in the Apps team''.
-Yunus
 
,,On OTT I set up the backend from my pre-IPA. It was my first time working with React and I helped set up the basic framework.''
-Stefan
 
"We chose to work with the AppsTeam because they brought us a full-service solution - covering the visual design, the technical development, the server operations and maintenance, and of course the knowledge of how to make everything work well within the Swisscom environment. The work was done with the highest quality and always on-time. I would gladly work with the AppsTeam again for future projects!"
- Jonathan Claman, product owner for the OTT Marketplace

Majza Avdyli

What does Swisscom have to do with Tinder?

My name is Noa and I'm 17 years old. I work at Swisscom as a first-year commercial apprentice. For my first project, I was automatically assigned to our partner company United Security Providers. In the second semester, I worked for the Apps Team. In this blog, I will tell you about my experiences on the Apps Team project.

My experiences in the Apps Team project were very positive. Despite working from home, I was able to develop very well and learn a lot. At the beginning of my project, I immediately noticed that the team spirit was very high despite the home office. Thanks to the daily meetings and the many virtual coffee breaks, I stayed in touch with my team every day. I really appreciated the fact that new challenges and tasks awaited me every day, which meant that my working day was always varied.

I was able to get to know many exciting tasks in the Apps team, e.g. I was able to help with recruiting by advertising a KV position and a computer scientist backend position in the marketplace and was present at the interviews. I was also able to organise events with other apprentices in the Event Team. In the Apps Team, I had contact with customers, e.g. I took part in customer meetings or had the task of winning new customers. Quoting was also part of my job.

Now I have reached the end of this project. I am glad that I can take the new knowledge into my new project. Many thanks to everyone, especially to John Riordan.

Noa Luyet

Exciting time in the Apps Team despite Corona

Due to the Corona pandemic, the new and old learners in the Apps Team have not been able to get to know each other properly. That's why the virtual coffee breaks were introduced last month.

In these coffee breaks, the new and old learners get to know each other better by holding a 15-minute meeting in pairs that they organise themselves. The aim of these meetings is that by the end of the project each learner has had a conversation with everyone. To break up this meeting, the learners were given questions to ask each other. In this way they have the opportunity to get to know each other from a different perspective. 

Besides the questions, the learners are allowed to put a picture of the meeting in a folder in teams. The best and funniest picture wins a prize. To avoid organisational problems and to make sure that the answers to the questions are not forgotten, the learners have to write down the dates and answers in the coffee break Excel list.

Personally, I find the idea of the coffee break very good, because this way I can meet the learners in the apps team even though I work from home.

Cyber Coffee in the Apps Team

It's fun to sit inside the laptop all day, but it's also more strenuous than it seems at first sight.

We also experienced this in the Apps team. In order to keep the team cohesive and work ethic at a good level, we organize events that give our employees and learners the opportunity to ventilate their heads.

In response we organized a so-called walk-call! Walking outside and exchange about teams. Quite a great activity that brings some fresh air into the Home Office everyday life. We exchanged exciting topics, which are also related to outside work. So we get to know each other side, a page that unfortunately in the Home Office usually is too short.

It is also a good chance for the new learners who started with us as a team to get to know the team better. I can only recommend this Free time call. Also, health seen the apps team walk was a complete success. The distance traveled by all Participants resulted in about ten kilometres!

I would say that we have definitely achieved our goal.

The Apps team still wishes you all good work!

Janis Schneider

From the Home Office to Nature

In February 2020, I was allowed to start my project under normal circumstances in the apps team. After the rollout, I was allowed to get fully stuck in the work. The work was always very varied and exciting. I was allowed to be part of the coveted event team, keep control of the bookkeeping, and also participate in the recruitment process. Due to the many variety I got the possibility to look into a lot of areas, which was really great for me. I have always felt the spirit of the team, which I appreciated very much. At the time of the lockdown, it was felt that the office was missing from everyone. Mainly because of the social aspect. The events team can has then decided that despite the lockdown, it is not allowed to miss interactions with teammates and has decided that we will organise an online design challenge. This was a great success, as many have taken advantage of this opportunity. When it was time to go to the end of my project, I decided that I would like to have a project in this team.

 

After some clarifications it was clear that I was allowed to complete a related project with other tasks. Said, done. I have been assigned new tasks, such as presentations at Customers meetings, project provider with his own learner, as well as the management of the event team. I was allowed to wear the responsibility about a learner and now not just a part of the event team, but the director. I appreciated it and I was glad I got so much responsibility transfer. In addition, we were able to design the online future of our own and finally perform what was a great learning.  Since the situation regarding Covid-19 has not improved enormously, we were very limited in terms of working in the office as well as team events. We repeatedly attacked the online version, which was not as bad as thought. So we had a chance to see each other and chat with each other on a private occasion. In the apps team I was able to learn a lot and now I can take a lot with my future project. Thanks to everyone, especially John Riordan and Matteias Collet.

Sophia Küng

My time in the Apps Team as a businesswoman

The year 2020 has reshuffled the cards. The Apps Team, an event-joyful team, faced a new challenge. Everyone has been in the home office for far too long. At the beginning of the semester, everyone got to know each other once, but since then they have hardly seen each other. Communication was limited to short phone calls, which were mainly IT problem-specific and hardly involved any personal exchange. Unfortunately, the Corona-related situation did not improve towards Christmas and it became increasingly clear that this year's event would be held online. No sooner said than done:
The event team of the Apps Team put together a concept for an online game night. Four rooms were created on Discord. A talk room, Among Us, Scrible.io and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After a short introduction and thank you speech by Sophia, the event started and the members spread out to the different rooms. Everyone played what they felt like. The "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" game did not quite work out as planned and was quickly converted into a quiz round. Everyone was spontaneous and relaxed. There was a lot of laughter and it was a happy evening. 
Although everyone sat in front of their own computer, the event was a success for team building and gave the group a Christmas feeling. 

The year 2020 has reshuffled the cards. The Apps Team, an event-joyful team, faced a new challenge. Everyone has been in the home office for far too long

Vito Steiner

Apps Team on Discord: The best online Christmas party

Now the Apps Team is back in the home office for the second time without office days. Which is why the same survey was conducted that was used for the 1st lockdown.
What does Apps Team think about Home Office? Do we still have the same opinion or are there significant changes?
The survey showed that there are no noticeable differences. The majority like working in a home office. For example, many see it as an advantage not to have to travel to work. However, many also miss the exchange with colleagues.
What tips do the colleagues from Apps Team give to stay positive during this time?
	
- "Always get out into the fresh air."
- "Don't forget to drink water."
- "Structure the day to have a rhythm despite the lack of fixed times (bus, train, lunch, etc.)."
- "Enjoying the time you have now. Discovering new hobbies / activities if someone has too much time. To also exchange ideas online if you need to."


And one last simple tip from an Apps Team colleague: "Think positive and be happy!"

Lisa Böhm

Tips for the 2nd Lockdown from Apps Team

In short, we from the Core-Team make life easier and more automated for our developers and also offer various tools and services to improve apps and increase security. We always want to stay update with all new technologies and services in software development. This is sometimes a big challenge, because the world of software development is developing very fast and the range of services offered by DevOps is getting bigger and more diverse. 
We also take care of the definition of various standards in the Apps Team, which in the end create more transparency and simplify the entry for new learners and experts.

Here is a brief overview of our latest project, the new Continuos Integration and Continuous Deployment pipelines for Jenkins.
We use Jenkins as CI/CD System for all web applications including all associated services. CI/CD bridges the gap between development and operation by enforcing automation in the building, testing and deployment of applications. <br>
In the previous scenario, each project defined this pipeline manually according to certain standards. With the new system of [shared libraries](https://www.jenkins.io/doc/book/pipeline/shared-libraries), projects can configure their pipeline modularly without each project or app defining the same steps from A to Z again.  
The new pipelines greatly simplify the configuration and integration of functionalities (e.g. Checkmarx, Dependency Check, Sonarqube, Clair, etc.) and ensure that all projects define the pipelines in one and the same logical sequence and standard.

These topics are on our roadmap for the future:  
* Uniform GIT standards (branches, naming conventions, tools etc.)  
* Extended logging and monitoring systems  
* Standards for the allocation of permissions  
* Own services such as a project planning and setup platform  
* ...and many more  

The following people, both professionals and very talented apprentices are part of the Apps Team Core:

Jonas Hauser, Author  
Professional in Full-Stack Web Development

Christof Weickhardt  
Computer scientist apprentice application development in the 4th year of apprenticeship

Jonas Kunz  
Mediamatician apprentice in the 3rd year of apprenticeship

Philippe Waeber  
Computer scientist apprentice application development in the 1st year of apprenticeship

Jonas Hauser

The team inside the Apps Team - Welcome to the Core-Team

Corona has turned our lives upside down in the last few months. So it also affected the Apps Team and we switched to home office and online meetings.
We are proud that the learners and professionals have not lost their motivation and team spirit for Apps Team through this time.

The motivation does not come from somewhere, but from you, the customers. On behalf of all learners and professionals, we thank you that we can learn a lot or share knowledge through your project.

From summer onwards, Apps Team members will be allowed back into the office, but not for the whole week. The home office will still be with us. Meeting other team members in person makes for faster and better communication. We also want to reintroduce this with our clients. At the client's request, we can continue to meet online or in person.
After all, the client, like us, wants the result to be a success and, depending on the situation, a face-to-face meeting can ensure this better than several online meetings.

The mask is of course taken along if desired ;)

Corona has turned our lives upside down in the last few months. So it also affected the Apps team and we switched to home office and online meetings.

Apps team is always there for the customers on site

You need a website to create and display price indications for location profiles quickly and easily? The MBC price indicator from the Apps Team makes this possible.



The goal of the client (Jens Rose from MBC) was to simplify and better present the process of creating price indications. Since the website did not require a large backend, we decided to host the website on Collab. Vue.js was used for the functionality and SCSS for the styling. The basic structure of the website was set up and completed in a few days. The biggest challenge for me was to create a Word template, because I am not a designer. But the customer was also satisfied with the template. There were also problems exporting the data to the Word file. This took some time, but due to the fast development there were no time problems. Later during testing the customer noticed a few bugs, which were quickly fixed. Thus the price indicator could be switched productive in the end.


The cooperation with MBC was very successful and led to the successful completion and release of the website. In addition, I was able to benefit from the development of the price indicator in which I learned a lot.
Section: The Apps team does web applications, designs, frontend and backend development, that's clear. But when I got the order for a video, I was very happy...

You need a website to create and display price indications for location profiles quickly and easily? The price indicator MBC from the Apps Team makes this possible.

Tobias Blaser

MBC Price Indicator

Have you ever wanted to prove your technical skills competitively?
Then you've come to the right place.
 
A Tech Challenge will take place in the Apps Team on 14 January 2019.


The Apps Team is a young, motivated and creative team consisting of learners and professionals with the goal to inspire our customers.
The goal of the Challenge is to solve a technical problem with JavaScript. 
The main criteria are to complete the challenge as quickly as possible and to keep the code as clean as possible. The various solutions are then checked and tested by the professionals.
The remaining evaluation criteria are communicated shortly before the challenge.
On this occasion, learners and employees can get to know each other, make contacts and prove their talents.
The Challenge lasts about 2 hours and takes place in the afternoon. 
If you want to take part, you are very welcome to participate in the Challenge in Ittigen. 
After the Challenge, everyone, whether participants or not, is invited to an aperitif. This will take place like the Challenge in Ittigen.
Are you interested? Then register for the Challenge and/or the Apéro by 4 January (apps.team@swisscom.com) or contact us for further information.



Detailed information on the Challenge will be provided to participants at a later date.

Have you ever wanted to prove your technical skills competitively? Then you've come to the right place.   On 14 January 2019, the Apps Team will be holding a Tech Challenge.

Kim Eggler

Apps Team Tech-Challenge

May 20, 2019 was a special day in the Apps Team, the Design Challenge is coming up. Instead of in Ittigen we met at the Genfergasse. Individually, in groups of two or three, we then dealt with the given task. The goal was to design the next album covers for an artist or a music group. But the artist wants to renew his old identity, which is why we should give him a completely new visual identity.

In order to arrive at the final product, it takes research and brainstorming, as with any design work. So we've been more concerned with the artist and the style of music and analyzed them. Then we created a so-called moodboard. We collect a lot of pictures, in our case cover examples, which we like and would like to be inspired by. In addition, you can already consider the coloring and matching fonts on the moodboard. At the end the moodboard looks a bit like a collage.

 Based on our preliminary work we started to create the album cover. It was relatively difficult to realize our ideas with Photoshop, as many of us have worked only little or never with Photoshop. However, we could learn a lot from the more experienced Photoshop users.

 At the same time the groups had to think about how to recognize the artist from the cover. If we were to create more covers of him, such elements would have to be recognizable on them. On this point we only had to make a few sketches, otherwise it would be too much work for one day.

Exactly one week later was the big decision - which group will win the promised prize? It was an exciting selection, but in the end we chose Timos Cover, who chose the band M83. Congratulations!

The Design Challenge was a valuable experience, now we're excited to see what the Apps team has planned next.

Céline Gautschi

Design Challenge

On June 14, 2019 the eSport Event took place. The eSport Event is a competition between gamers. Usually several people play against each other and try everything to be the best. We, the Apps Team, organized the Event so that you could choose between 2 options. Either you take part in the "competition" and have the chance to win very cool prizes or you sign up for "chilling" and enjoy a relaxing evening with your friends. In "chilling" you could also play games, just not as intense and more just for fun with your friends. 

The evening and thus also the competition started at 17:00 o'clock. People signed up for "chilling" could also come from 17:00 o'clock. At the competition games like FIFA 19, BO4, CS:GO, Stickfight, Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart were played. At 18:30 there was a pizza break. We provided 10 family pizzas, some snacks and lots of drinks. They all went down very well. After that we continued to play games. At 21:30 there was the big finale. Everyone was very curious who made it to the final. As it started all eyes were on the final game. Everybody wanted to see who wins. 

The evening was a success! Everyone had fun and it was a great atmosphere. After the event we sent surveys to all participants and received a very positive feedback, which made us very happy! What we could happily read from the feedback is that everyone would love to participate again and we will most likely continue to organize it.

The eSport event took place on 14.06.2019. The eSport event is a competition between gamers.

Lisser Andrea

eSport Event

In the apps team we do a daily stand up meeting every morning. In this daily we can have the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other. The current situation is a new challenge for everyone because of the COVID-19, we all have to work in the Home Office. Many team members initially felt a little isolated and desocialized, so we looked for solutions. We try to keep the workday as normal as possible despite major changes. This is why the daily continues to take place every morning. At first we did it without Camera activation, but then noticed that it is much better if the Camera is activated. Through the images of the team members it is much more personal and similar to a normal conversation. It is also much more motivating if you can talk face to face with someone instead of standing against a black screen. In addition, we can now better support our Customers by video call. It works great with us, but try it too!

The Apps Team delights customers even from home!

A few weeks ago I had a designer workshop with my team. Our team consisted of 6 people. Because of the quarantine we had to do it online, which was something completely different for all of us. We were almost the whole day in a call on teams. It worked very well, but it was still quite tiring. We did almost everything online from the idea to the wireframe. Wireframe is a rough layout of a website. We needed several tools, like Parabol and Invision Freehand, which all worked without any problems. In this workshop we did the design sprint. The Design Sprint is a 5-phase model for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping and testing with customers. But since we didn't have enough time for the whole 5-phase model, we shortened the design sprint. 

On the first day of the workshop we thought about what the goals for the website were. For that we used the tool Parabol. With this tool I can ask questions and different people can answer, arrange and group them. I find the tool very user-friendly. So after this step we had an idea when and what the website should achieve. 
With the ideas we collected, each person independently made a wireframe on paper. After almost a whole day in a call, I found it very pleasant to work offline and on paper. After that the first day was already over. 

On the second day we looked at all our wireframes, discussed and compared them. We finally decided on a wireframe which we wanted to develop further. With this wireframe we went into Invision. Invision is a tool in which we can easily make many different wireframes. In Invision Freehand we focused on the homepage and a detail page. To get ahead faster we divided into 2 groups, which made either the homepage or the detail page. I worked on the homepage. Working in pairs with this tool was very easy and fast. 

I found these 2 days very exciting and learned a lot. At the end of these 2 days we worked together successfully and created a nice design. I also noticed that you can also do an online workshop very well. However, I personally prefer to have a real meeting. If I had to organize an online workshop, I would see that it is well balanced with calls and offline.

Salome Rütsche

How does the Apps team do a 2 day online design workshop

Lea Jakob, who is with us in the Apps Team, tells here how she feels and perceives the Apps Team as learners. Here you can access the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fJNdfjkpGxlOQW1LFpCGo?si=kCAfEYA6SnqL03RXrACCpg

Lottery: 
In the podcast the solution is mentioned, listen and win!
Question: What is the Apps Team doing on Friday at 16:00?
Please do not write the solution in the comments, but directly to this contact: John.Riordan1@Swisscom.com or Team.Apps@Swisscom.com
If you tell us the right solution, you can expect a great surprise prize from the Apps Team.



What is the Apps Team doing on Friday at 16:00 (4:00)?

How do you get the components of an application together on an icon as big as a thumb? This was exactly the question I asked myself after I received the order to design such an "app icon". To do this, I had to comply with certain Swisscom SDX guidelines.
 
The client is active in the B2B segment, which somewhat loosens the scope for icon design from the SDX. It is the B2B event app, which provides the participants of the event with all the information at first hand.
  
As a big "light as a design element" fan, I almost had to make an attempt to incorporate this into the icon somehow. So I used the following formula for my design process: any Swisscom icon with "light filling" + neutral background + Swisscom grid = design. This also proved popular with the client.
 
After a few drafts, we came closer and closer to the final result in close cooperation. With helpful input from the client, the finalisation of the project became a unison collaboration of two ambitious players.

Finally, I would like to thank Vanessa Döringer for this exciting assignment and the great cooperation!

Could you also need the help of our professionals with a design?
Then get in touch with the Apps Team!

Sascha Mayer

How is an app icon actually created?

Have you ever wondered, what exactely appsteam apprentices are doing? Well, then here's your chance! In the following video Nici will show you what he is working on as a frontend developer and how the training system works.

[![Watch the video](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_QLHBK9Vl38/hqdefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QLHBK9Vl38)

Jessica Roth

Become a developer in 2 months. Nici will show you how.

​To enable fast network provisioning the Apps Team works closely with Tommy to develope the Telco Cloud Portal application. This application enables a fast and automated provisioning of new Telco services in the Swisscom network. In the video Tommy Karrer explains how the Apps Team helped develop the software and his experience working with the Apps team. We would like to thank Tommy for asking the Apps Team to help with this really interesting project.

[![Watch the video](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nP7YNx5egyc/hqdefault.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP7YNx5egyc)

How the Apps Team made Network Provisioning easy

The professionals of the Apps Team accompany customers from the beginning to the end of their project. The activities of the Apps Team are very different. Depending on your interests, design, development or even administration tasks can be taken over. As soon as we have received a new order for a website and the desired content, ideas and wishes of the customer are clear, the whole process starts with our designers. When they are finished with the whole design, they forward the project to our front developers, who are responsible for the implementation of the design. However, there are things that happen behind the scenes and that is what our backend developers are there for. Together we can develop a compelling application that is tailored to the needs of our customers. 
 
Without our learners this would not be possible. We would like to thank you for the good work our learners do every year. Special thanks to Colin Wittkopf (IMD in the 1st year of apprenticeship) for the successful video.

This year we were able to convince many customers of our quality and together we were able to complete several projects successfully. Silja Roth, HR Business Delivery Circle, Talent Management is also satisfied with the Apps Team and gives us five out of five stars. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their support and look forward to new, exciting projects.
Are you also interested in working with us? Then get in touch with us at https://appsteam.swisscom.com or team.apps@swisscom.com.

[![Watch the video](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qWpfSaP4fYI/hqdefault.jpg)](https://youtu.be/qWpfSaP4fYI)

Alessandra Baumli

Apps Team: Customer Delight Made Easy!

**Mulled wine, Christmas biscuits and raclette: what could be better?

On Friday 13 December, the annual Apps Team Christmas dinner took place. It started with an aperitif in the canteen in Ittigen with warm mulled wine on the terrace. The raclette that followed lightened the mood even more. The canteen, which was festively decorated, was perfect for the team dinner. 50 former and also current team members from the Apps team were present. After the meal, we lingered over e-sports or talked about God and the world. Music was also provided, to which we danced later in the evening. After a while, there was a dessert made by the team, which was great.

 

The Apps Team would like to thank all clients, staff and learning facilitators for their trust and good work in 2019. Last but not least, a big thank you to John Riordan, the boss of the Apps Team, who made the whole evening possible.

 

The event was organised by the event team, consisting of apprentices from the Apps team.

Mulled wine, Christmas biscuits and raclette: what could be better?

Noël Willener

The Apps Team celebrates Christmas

This year the Apps team has developed numerous applications for internal and external customers. As it's almost Christmas, we're exploring in this blog in a playful way how our apps, which we've been building up over the past few months, could help Santa Claus. Well, what do applications have to do with Christmas or with "Santa Claus"?  


Santa Claus has many different tasks that would not be possible without an organization and applications. How can he even know what children all over the world want for Christmas? With the Customer Touch Point Feedback App, all children, or more likely their parents, can give Santa Claus a hint for the next present and after Christmas, they can also rate the presents they received. 


The most important thing for Santa Claus is his helpers, the little elves. With the Talent Management App, he can pick out the best of his numerous elves in a few minutes and thus put together a perfect team. Already in summer, everyone will meet and discuss how they can plan this year's Christmas even better than before. They always use the Simplicity App, which gives them new ideas. 


Christmas is approaching and only the reindeer and the sleigh are missing. But where will he find them in this short time? That's no problem for Santa Claus, because he can easily manage them with the Fleet Management Software. For the suppliers, he can significantly improve prices and quality by using the Supplier Platform. 


Christmas is saved! Santa Claus and his helpers are ready to give presents to the world. They are looking forward to a Christmas without any stress. 

Thanks to all customers who have helped us to give everyone a Merry Christmas. We hope that the Apps team will be able to fulfill the wishes of our customers in 2020 as we did this year!

This year, the Apps team has once again developed numerous apps for internal and external clients. As Christmas is coming soon, in this blog we explore in a playful way how the apps we have raised over the last few months could help Father Christmas.

The Apps Team helps Santa Claus with his preparations

In data-driven marketing, data that customers leave online is collected, interpreted and ultimately used strategically for marketing. And this was precisely the central theme of this year's Swisscom Dialog Arena. More than 700 people from a wide range of companies came together at the KKL Lucerne on 6 November 2019 to discuss data-driven business.

In this context, Service Connect, an agile, platform-independent connectivity framework developed internally by Swisscom, was also presented to the guests. In a break-out arena, Swisscom customers were shown live how customer access (WAN), cloud platforms, classic data centres and third-party services can be securely connected at the touch of a button. With the help of the customer self-service portal and the API (Application Programming Interface), Swisscom showed the customers how the Microsoft cloud platform (Azure) was networked with the Swisscom Enterprise Service Cloud (ESC) in just a few minutes, so that the customers could use the app with their mobile phone via the WLAN integrated in the solution.  The frontend of the app was installed in Azure Amsterdam, used a backend on ESC in Zurich at Swisscom and the WAN with the customer WLAN was set up in Lucerne at SDA.

That's where the Apps Team came in. In order for the visitors of the SDA to see something on their mobile phones that visualised the fast networking of different platforms, apprentices from the Apps Team developed a memory app consisting of a frontend and a backend (DB). Together they were able to develop an application in just one week that allowed the audience to play a memory game during the live demo. Time was tight, but the effort paid off. The app was a complete success and worked flawlessly.

Peter Moser, who took over the management of the Service Connect Arena, is very positive about the Memory App and the collaboration with the Apps Team. "It was very refreshing to work with an upbeat, young team who were happy to take on my project despite the time pressure." The Memory App will continue to be needed for such occasions. The Apps team is happy about the positive feedback and is excited to see what project awaits them next.

In data-driven marketing, data that customers leave online is collected, interpreted and ultimately used strategically for marketing. And this was precisely the central theme of this year's Swisscom Dialog Arena.

How the Apps Team and Service Connect inspired at the KKL

Christmas is coming soon and the Apps Team would like to inspire its customers once again and say thank you with a small gift. To make sure no one catches a cold in winter, we decided to design an Apps Team sock. Since we always have special events, we wanted to do a sock challenge this time. More than ten apprentices worked on a sock design for one day and could let their creativity run free. The challenge was very well received and a great design was chosen by one of our IMD learners Cyril Marti. With this competition, we not only had an exciting day and improved our design skills, but also strengthened our team spirit.

To make our gift a little surprise, we cannot announce the design yet. We wish all employees and customers a wonderful Christmas season and are already looking forward to the next challenge!

Christmas is coming soon and the Apps Team would like to inspire its customers once again and say thank you with a small gift. To make sure no one catches a cold in winter, we decided to design an Apps Team sock.

HO HO HO the Apps Team Socks are here!

Daura is a platform that enables Swiss SMEs and start-up companies to keep their share register digitally on the blockchain. This means that unlisted companies in particular can register their shares on the blockchain, issue them and transfer them worldwide securely and cost-effectively*. 

 
To get access to the platform investors and issuers must go through an onboarding process. During the onboarding process all the information for maintaining the share register is requested and stored on the system. 

 
To ensure that this registration process always runs smoothly requires comprehensive testing. To automate the testing professionals and apprentices from the Apps Team have developed a NodeJS testing application. These tests run on the English desktop version of the testing website and test each step of the registration process.  

 
To interact with the Daura website, Selenium Webdriver is used. Selenium Webdriver is a framework that allows the automated interactions with web applications. Using Selenium Webdriver all interactions with a web application can be programmed including actions such as 2 stage authentication. Webdriver can also be used to automate tasks where multiple repetitive tasks must be undertaken across multiple websites where no API is available. 

 
Markus Geissler, Project Manager at daura is very positive about the results achieved: "Now we can automate a complex part of the regression tests and thus carry out comprehensive end-to-end tests within a very short time freeing up valuable resources. The automated testing solution developed by the Apps Team enables daura to test a new release and go live within a few minutes.  

Daura is a platform that enables Swiss SMEs and start-ups to keep their share register digitally on the blockchain. This means that unlisted companies in particular can register and issue their company shares on the blockchain and transfer them worldwide, securely and cost-effectively*.

Automated Testing for the Daura Application

Yesterday, on Future Day, 25 children came to our Apps Team. They were given various insights into the professions of mediamatics, IT and business administration. They also had a lot of fun with the robot Pepper.
 
When the children arrived in Ittigen at 9 am, they were already welcomed by the friendly robot.
We had great support from the INI-DNA team, they did a little warm-up game with the children and explained what Swisscom does. Afterwards, the 3 professions were presented and the children were allowed to ask questions and talk to the apprentices.  To loosen things up, everyone danced the Macarena with Pepper. That was a lot of fun!
Finally lunch was served and everyone enjoyed Schnipo. During lunch, the children wanted to learn more about the impressive building, so a guided tour of the building's ventilation system was organised. This was very impressive for the children. After the tour, they could decide whether they wanted to learn more about the profession of mediamatician or computer scientist, or whether they wanted to collect data in the building with the INI-DNA team and then analyse it.
The group of mediamaticians created short films with the help of iMovie, which they filmed and edited themselves. The computer scientists were able to programme the Codebug, a beetle with LED lights, on the computer. To our great delight, they didn't want to stop and when we wanted to finish at 15.30, they protested. Nevertheless, they were persuaded with a kahoot and were full of enthusiasm and played along eagerly. When the winners were presented with their gifts, they all received a small memento of the day.

It was a very nice and interesting day that we will all not forget so quickly because not only Pepper is the future, but also all the children who were at Swisscom yesterday.

Yesterday, on Future Day, 25 children came to our Apps Team. They were given various insights into the professions of mediamatics, IT and business administration. They also had a lot of fun with the robot Pepper.

Anja Binggeli 

The future of Swisscom comes to Ittigen

The conditions couldn't be better. With nice weather, good mood and slightly growling stomachs the employees of the Apps Team went to the Eichholz on the Aare on Friday afternoon to hold their next team event. What we employees had to expect wasn’t quite clear at this moment. 


The topic was the Olympics. In the disciplines football, yoga and thinking tasks had the different groups to prove themselves. The ambition was good and the atmosphere was great. Despite all our efforts, some movements in football looked like yoga poses and laughter was inevitable in yoga (as you can see from the photos). Surprisingly, the yoga poses had become very good.


After two hours of Olympics and splashing in the Aare, the sun had already set. We all sat together, ate our well-deserved food and let the evening end relaxed.


We all think the Team Event was a great success. The evening improved the team spirit and enabled the new learners to get to know (better) all employees. We especially liked the fact that many of us have found time to attend and everyone took part in the games. Teams 3 and 4 can now celebrate their victory and we are all looking forward to the next Team Event, which will take place in December. 


The conditions couldn't be better. With nice weather, good mood and slightly growling stomachs the employees of the Apps Team went to the Eichholz on the Aare on Friday afternoon to hold their next team event

Team event in the Apps Team

Finally it's time! This week ten new learners have gathered in Ittigen to start their first project in the Apps Team. I've heard a lot of good things about this team, but who is it really like to be a new member of the Apps Team? 


I'm one of the ten newcomers and this week I got to the bottom of the case. The spectacular design of the Swisscom building and the modern offices made my first impression extremely positive. We all got to know each other at a daily meeting, as the Apps team does every morning, and then took a few photos. After various facilities, tours and cool conversations we went to our workstations and got the first information for our project and the corresponding tasks. In this team, the students have the opportunity to develop first-class web applications together and to implement their own ideas.  


The Apps team consists mainly of learners, which gives us new trainees not only the opportunity to learn from each other, but also to apply the knowledge they have learned. Whether you are working in computer science, mediamatics or commerce, there is a lot to develop, organize and design. Through the different tasks you get, we learn among other things to become more independent and to take on more responsibility. 


Well, what I can get out of this week is that we are looking forward to varied and exciting months and that the Apps Team prepares us perfectly for our future working life. 


Finally, the time has come! This week, ten new learners gathered in Ittigen to start their first project in the Apps Team.

Start of apprenticeship in the Apps Team

I am Jann Abegg and I am 14 years old. I was lucky to spend a trial week as a computer scientist at the Apps Team. 

On the first day I was very nervous because I didn't know exactly where to find the Swisscom building. But then Justin, a student at Swisscom, picked me up at the door. We discussed how we wanted to design my website. First I got to know HTML on Codecademy, this is what is needed to code a website. It wasn't that difficult. 

On Tuesday I was with Merlin, he is in his first year of apprenticeship. With him I got to know the principles of CSS. With CSS you style the website. In my opinion, styling is very difficult, but the people in the Apps team seem to solve it very quickly and professionally. Then I drew my website on a sheet of paper. On Wednesday I started working on my website, it was easy to code. In the afternoon I started styling. There I had problems again and again, but with Google and the help of Justin and Merlin I was able to solve the problems. 

I am very happy with my website and the trial week helped me a lot with my career choice. 

Many thanks to all members of the Apps Team! Especially to Merlin and Justin. I had a very good time at Swisscom. 
- Jann Abegg

I am Jann Abegg and I am 14 years old. I was lucky to spend a trial week as a computer scientist at the Apps Team. 

Jann Abegg

''I learned HTML / CSS in one week''

For Custodigit, a startup of Swisscom in the crypto area, we made our new startup package, which includes logo, business card, Powerpoint templates and website. The complete online and offline appearance. My assignment from [John](https://collaboration.swisscom.com/SwisscomPerson.aspx?accountname=CORPROOT%5cTAARIJO1) was to shoot an interview with Andreas Pages from Custodigit.

Before we could go to the Pirates Hub in Zurich and film, I had to do a lot of planning. The first thing I had to do was get film equipment, so I turned to the film team. Then I wrote script and storyboard and reworked them in the team. In the end I needed someone to do the interview because I will be behind the camera. I asked Timo Mayer, who also works in the Apps team and designed the website, logo and business card for Custodigit.

On December 5th the time had come. All preparations had been made and in the morning Timo and I sat in the train to Zurich. In Custodigit's office we were warmly welcomed and they showed us a suitable room to shoot the interview. Timo and I went through all the questions again and took a few test shots. Finally it was time and Andreas arrived. We recorded the interview three times to have enough footage.
The next week, I selected the background music, edited the raw files with Adobe Premiere Pro and improved the audio files.

For the intro I should present the products of the Apps Team with animations. I made them in the program After Effects. Since I didn't know this program very well, it was a good exercise and thanks to Google and YouTube I learned a lot. For the Outro I was supposed to create a so-called Call to Action animation, where the viewer could see how to get in touch with us. I also created this 2D animation with After Effects. Then I had to embed the animations in the video, cut them to the music and insert titles.

Finally, I had to do subtitles, which took his time. After that I got some feedback from Micha, my QPA and John and made the improvements.

The job was a nice change and I enjoyed it. Especially in Premiere Pro and After Effects I learned a lot because I didn't know these programs very well. But also the planning work and the trip to Zurich were exciting and good experiences.

For Custodigit, a startup of Swisscom in the crypto area, we made our new startup package, which includes logo, business card, Powerpoint templates and website. The complete online and offline appearance.

Josua Widmer

Filmmaker in the Apps Team?

**I know it might sound weird, because it's actually clear that anyone can operate a website. But how is it for someone who has, for example, a physical disability or low vision?**
**There was a workshop on Accessibility. At the end of the workshop everybody knew what Accessibility is and hopefully YOU knew after this blog post too.**
 
The workshop started with a general introduction to Accessibility.
What is Accessibility? Why do you need Accessibility? What do I have to pay attention to and which areas are there?
The first question is: What does Accessibility mean? Accessibility in computer science means that websites, programs, operating systems and apps are designed to be accessible to ALL users, including people with disabilities. This includes web design, which should be designed so that people with visual impairments can also perceive and operate a website.
 
There are also international guidelines on accessibility.
WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidlines) basically describes four principles that must be adhered to.
 
**Principle 1: Perceptible** - Information and components of the user interface must be presented to users in such a way that they can perceive them.
**Principle 2: Operable** - Components of the user interface and navigation must be operable.
**Principle 3: Comprehensible**- Information and operation of the user interface must be comprehensible.
**Principle 4: Robust**- Content must be robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies.
 
There are several tools that can help a blind person, for example, to make a website easier to use.
One of these tools is the screenreader. As the name suggests, the screenreader reads everything you click on with the mouse. Thus the user has the possibility to know exactly what is displayed where, despite his impaired vision. By default, a screenreader is pre-installed on all operating systems such as Windows, Linux, IOS etc..
 
For the screenreader to work, it must be programmed barrier-free on the website. The whole thing starts with scripting HTML and CSS.
For example, it is important that images are always stored with an old text.
 
Here is an example:
*```<img src="importantLogo.jpeg" alt="Company logo">```*
 
The old text has some advantages. For example, if you open a web page and for some reason an image cannot be loaded, the alt text is displayed at the location where the image is to be. The alt text tells the user what to display on the image, even if the image has not been loaded.
For users who need a screenreader, the alt-text is very important, because the screenreader reads the alt-text.
 
HTML5 offers many new semantic elements to help structure a website better. Section, Aside, Details and Figure are just a few of the new semantic elements.
 
In addition to the HTML structure, it is important to work out the right design with CSS.
It is important to create good color contrasts for people with visual impairments.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) recommend a minimum contrast of 4.5 to 1 for normal text. The ratio is calculated by comparing the relative luminance values of two colors. This ranges from 1: 1 for the same color or no contrast to 21: 1 for white vs. black, the strongest contrast. There are many online contrast checking tools that will calculate this ratio for you.
 
Accessibility is a very big topic and you could write a lot more about it.
Nevertheless, I hope that you have now learned something new and gained a little insight into the subject of Accessibility.

I know it may sound strange because it's obvious that anyone can use a website. But what about someone who has a physical limitation or a visual impairment, for example?

Michel Elias

Making websites, apps, and operating systems accessible to everyone

When the request came for a complete appearance of the startup Custodigit, I naturally wanted to know quickly what kind of product this company produces.

Words like "Cryptovault" and "Digital Asset Custody Platform" came up and after some research I understood what they meant. I looked at similar, already existing products and slowly knew the direction I had to take with the design. And yet the whole thing seemed very abstract. Because there were neither hardware nor software excerpts that I could have looked at and trading crypto currencies wasn't really part of my daily repertoire until then.

![](https://appsteam-website-api-stable.scapp.swisscom.com/files/6f8c27c65b3745b78822e553c793dbe8_795ab8f445.jpg)
![](https://appsteam-website-api-stable.scapp.swisscom.com/files/b188ef3fbe8f41ada84ccc421f43600e_a26e2ac78d.jpg)


After a brainstorming in the group for the logo and analyzing the values of Custodigit, the first implementations arose. The customer decided on a version which, after a re-styling and some minor adjustments, finally rose to the final version. 

[The landing page](https://www.custodigit.com/en/), the business card and the Power Point template should now all be based on this logo and form a unit. I was glad that Custodigit was very satisfied with the first versions. So we could keep the very close deadline. The website was already in development, the business card was ready for printing, the logo was ready and now a Power Point template had to be created. That was probably the biggest challenge during the whole job. I found the creation process complicated and Power Point liked to do things I didn't want to do. But even there the customer was very satisfied and the job was slowly coming to an end. Just in time to get a successful start at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

My conclusion:

Crypto currency issues are easier to understand than creating a PPP template.

When the request came for a complete presentation of the start-up Custodigit, I naturally wanted to know quickly what kind of product this company produces.

Timo Mayer

Crypto what?

August 15, 2018 was a special day for me. I started the first project of my apprenticeship. I did not know exactly what to expect. I didn't know much about the Apps team and its work yet. All I learned was that the work in the Apps Team was supposed to be pretty cool. But how was the start?

When I arrived at the office in Ittigen at 9:00 a.m., I was welcomed by Micha, my QPA. He introduced me to the work of the team. I now knew about the most relevant work, like web design or customer service. Customer satisfaction is at a very high level. So the contact to the customers is also very important.

Micha introduced me and three other 1st year apprentices to the first task. I was allowed to complete the Codecademy courses, in which I learned the basics of web design. This means that I came into contact with HTML and CSS for the first time. The courses taught you how to use HTML and CSS. HTML is used to insert the individual elements into the page and CSS to style the elements. This means that CSS is responsible for the design of the website. I also got an overview of the huge amount of commands. During this time I also got to know my tutor Rachel. She could always help me and supported me a lot.


After that I started my first self written website. It was an app that I had to rebuild. At the Codecademy courses I was always told what to do and now I could write this app alone with my previous learning. The page contains a lot of things, like a header, a filter bar or the main content. The header contains everything at the top of the page. With the filter bar you can filter out information you don't want. The main content contains the actual content of the page, such as longer texts or pictures. It wasn't easy, but so I learned very fast.


I am much more independent now than I used to be in school. But this also gives me more responsibility, which I like very much. Even as a learner you get cool and exciting work assigned to you in the Apps Team. That has to be the case because the Apps Team is largely made up of learners.


I also quickly got to know the team. Once the team went for a drink together. Another time we went together to the trampoline hall Ostermundigen and afterwards we ended the evening with a meal. Such activities demanded a lot from the Team Spirit.


My start as a 1st year apprentice was clearly successful and I am looking forward to the further time in the Apps Team.

On 15 August, Cedric Ribi started a four-year adventure with many projects and impressions. He started his first project in the Apps Team. He tells us what he experienced with us in this blog.

Cedric Ribi

Starting my traineeship in the Apps Team

The clients' idea (Cruise Annesi, Hans Peter, Adrian Schwaller) was clear: the supplier platform should be able to display all attributes of Swisscom suppliers in a transparent, modern and dynamic way.


With the aim of implementing their solution as cost-effectively as possible, and to work with a team that would develop its tasks with a high degree of professionalism and transparency, they approached us, the Apps Team. With the help of Sprint Meetings which took place every 2 weeks we formed the first visual features of the website and decided which functions were important for the MVP version. It quickly became clear that we could build on our infrastructure and so we decided to use Collab as our backend and to use Vue.js to connect front- and backend. To get the supplier data we needed an interface from SAP. Access to this could not be provided by the responsible team for a long time, which delayed the development by several weeks. The consequences of this were delays in programming the backend, which in turn meant that the MVP could not be delivered on time at the end of March. Miraculously we got the interface 2 days after the actual deadline, through 2 intensive working weeks the whole logic behind the supplier platform was finally created.


Now we are there with a finished MVP and satisfied customer. We are looking forward to further cooperation with our clients and to writing a success story with them.

The vision of the clients (Cruise Annesi, Hans Peter, Adrian Schwaller) was clear: the supplier platform should be able to display all attributes of Swisscom suppliers in a transparent, modern and dynamic way.

Noah Porfido

Supplier Platform

As the first small job in the Apps team, I was able to beat my way through three important Codeacademy courses covering HTML, CSS and SASS in the first few days. This is necessary to build up a small knowledge base so that the first projects can run smoothly. 
After a few days I finished the Codecademy. As main introduction I got the order to build a mockup of a website with HTML / SCSS. In addition I got a plan with different milestones, which I could look at step by step together with my tutor. These milestones guarantee a clear and structured work plan. As the first milestone I coded the header of the mockup.
For the coding we need the program Visual Studio Code. A professional program for code editing of almost any kind. I use various plug-ins that make working with the editor much easier.


My favorite plug-ins are:
**Auto Rename Day:**

If a tag is renamed, this plug-in also automatically renames the closing tag.


**SCSS IntelliSense:**

Automatically gives suggestions for the optional completion of the codes e.g. for values (**Values**) in CSS ( a *{ display: flex | inline | block |none | etc.}* ).


**Prettier**

If a code is formatter, with Crtl + S the document is saved and all tags are indented or arranged correctly.

Finished with this longer, more demanding introduction, I am now ready to accept real orders. I owe this to the realistic introduction by the Apps team.
In the meantime I have been working for the Apps Team for a while and have been able to complete many interesting jobs. From graphic work, like illustrating a comic, to coding and designing the AppsTeam website, to this blog article.


**And you?**
Are you motivated, curious and want to expand your skills or put them to the test? 
Apply now for the Apps Team on the Marketplace

As the first small assignment in the Apps team, I got to slog through three important Codeacademy courses covering HTML, CSS and SASS in the first few days.

Nik Affolter

New to the Apps Team?

Can you imagine participating in a tech challenge? 
This is a contest among learners where you have to solve a technical problem against the others and against time.



Through the Tech Challenge, an AppsTeam internal event, we look for solutions to tricky logical problems. It also shed some light on everyday programming. We start the problem solving with an analysis of the problem. Afterwards, a first solution approach is created, taking the specifications into account. This is then iterated in order to make the solution faster, cleaner and more efficient through the use of the latest technologies.
The goal of the last challenge was to resolve the structure of an OE tree by a recursive approach.

Initial situation: 'ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL'.
Expected result: ['ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL', 'ABC-DEF-GHI', 'ABC-DEF', 'ABC']
All participants had the same prerequisites. The programming language was JavaScript, which everyone already knew. Also the deadline was fixed, everyone had 2.5 hours time. 
There were the following evaluation criteria:
• Code Functionality
• code style
• Code Performance
• Number of lines of the program
• Measured time to delivery
The solution to the problem was implemented by almost all participants with a different approach. In programming, there are many ways to get there, so we expected different approaches.
With this competition, we were able to prove and refresh our knowledge.
A total of 12 people took part in the first Tech-Challenge. The participants consisted without exception of computer scientists, since the Mediamatiker did not dare the task unfortunately.
By using substring, a function of JavaScript, I was able to solve the task with recursion and win the competition in about 1.5 hours. I am happy to have won the first Challenge and am ready to face a second one with full commitment.

Can you imagine participating in a tech challenge?  This is a contest among learners where you have to solve a technical problem against the others and against time.

Tech-Challenge

On June 1st we, the Apps Team, had the first e-sports event. But not with sports like football, but with video games. 40 participants, played against each other in 9 different games with four people each and of course there could only be one winner.


**The following games were played: **
- FIFA 18
- worms
- Stick Fight
- kinect
- Attention, the curve
- Mario Kart
- Super Smash Bros
- halo
- Call of Duty 4

(Disclaimer: For the games from 18 years all minors had a permit from their parents with them.)


The whole thing took place in our Apps Team office and every room or corner was set up for a different game. Planning all this as well as Jeremy and Simon did wasn't a matter of course.
At 18.00 the tournament started and everyone was motivated to win. When the game was finished, you had almost no time to recover from your victory or defeat and had to go straight to the next game. After the game, the winners, runners-up and losers were written down on a piece of paper.
So that everyone could calm down again a little, there was a break for everyone at 20.00 o'clock and we all ate together. After half an hour it went on and we played the remaining games until 23.00 o'clock.
After the tournament it was announced who the three top places were. To win there was in each case a coupon for Spotify, Lasertag Arena and VR Arena.


The winners were:
1st Menger Oliver with 41 points
2nd Stuzmann Andy with 37 points
3rd Schwyter Simon with 35 points

The event was a huge success and hopefully there will be a next time.

On 1 June, we, the Apps Team, had the first e-sports event. But not with sports like football, but with videogames.

Maja Altermann

When teammates become competitors

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One Swisscom Academy (OSA) has the mission to develop Swisscom and its employees into a continuously learning organisation. It is regarded as a trustworthy and competent area for internal and external development offers and further training.

 
One Swisscom Academy (OSA) is tasked with developing Swisscom and its employees into a continuous learning organisation. It is regarded as a trustworthy and competent area for internal and external development opportunities and training.


One Swisscom Academy (OSA) is tasked with developing Swisscom and its employees into a continuous learning organisation. It is regarded as a trustworthy and competent area for internal and external development opportunities and training.

One Swisscom Academy (OSA) has the mission to develop Swisscom and its employees into a continuous learning organisation.

One Swisscom Academy

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