Bol.com - Techlab

If you look at the title of this episode, you might think that we are going to unveil our details about how we protect the bol.com platform against DDoS attacks. We should be clear about this, we just can’t in the current world we live in. But we wanted to talk about this because the solution used is worthwhile sharing. So we double-checked with our security department and verified what aspects we can share; they are interesting enough. What this episode covers Guests Barrie KersbergenFrank Kootte Notes Pythorg AI Platform (Please check)

Chantal is on a mission. To make people aware of the buying drip or in Dutch "Koopinfuus". Together with Chantal we dive into this phenomenon and discuss what it is. We find out what the three pillars are that contribute to this drip. We make the connection with Tech. Tech empowers platforms like bol.com to use for the good and bad. Never before it was so important to be aware of this phenomenon and ask ourselves the question how we contribute to this. And just like her first book, it backed by a lot of research. The book will be released on the 17th of May and can be pre-ordered. What this episode covers We dive into the buying drip (koopinfuus) by asking ourselves the questions: Guests Chantal Schinkels - Social tech & e-commerce | Auteur "Het Koopinfuus" & “De IT Girl" | Professioneel Spreker | Columnist | LinkedIn Top Voice Notes 7 principles of persuasion influence is your superpowerEarlier Episode/Blog posts: Women in TechWomen in tech encourage inclusion in tech

The Tech Radar is a tool to inspire and support Engineering teams at Bol.com to pick the best technologies for new projects; it provides a platform to share knowledge and experience in technologies, to reflect on technology decisions and continuously evolve our technology landscape. Based on the pioneering work of ThoughtWorks, our Tech Radar sets out the changes in technologies that are interesting in software development — changes that we think our engineering teams should pay attention to and use in their projects. What this episode covers We will answer questions like: Guests Rogier LommersAnthony MoendirRemco Overdijk Notes https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar

Neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences, such as autism, ADHD, Tourette syndrome and dyslexia, should be recognized and respected as a natural form of human diversity, similar to cultural and ethnic diversity. The neurodiversity movement advocates for the rights and equality of individuals with neurological differences and promotes the idea that these differences should be celebrated and not stigmatized. What this episode covers We structured this episode about neurodiversity into a couple of main topics: Guests Koen SuijkerlandKrissie Prusinskaite Notes (Image: https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qxrxmo3r/techlab-prd/66a43f26137fbbb9c23c31cde7e15acd3dafe715-1045x255.png)In this episode, we refer to the episode about the Inclusion of introverts In the Netherlands you can also check out Neurodivergence and Mental Health in IT on Meetup One of our listeners pointed out to a closed channel on Slack as well. Let us know if you want to know more.

The guest of our show presented the Data Build Tool, DBT, in one of our knowledge-sharing sessions. Especially the fun part is what I recognize when I look at this knowledge-sharing session. The guest of the show presented it in an enthusiastic way and used terms like: the macro functionality makes DBT awesome and Ephemeral is the Unique Selling Point. What this episode covers In General Within bol.com Guests Sander Boumeester – Software Engineer in the experimentation team. Notes On the website of getdbt there's a cool picture that explains the framework really well.

Five years ago, Chantal found out she got a lower salary than a male colleague with less experience. Till that moment she was ok with the male-dominated Tech world. But this triggered her. She started reading about this topic, interviewed many people and decided to write this book. She became very passionate about this important topic which you can already feel when reading the book. And while interviewing her, Peter Paul and Peter were triggered many times by this passion. What this episode covers The Book The book is an excellent combination of research, examples, tip&tricks and even a dedicated chapter for men. It’s structured in three main parts: I: Voordat je het ziet - before you see it; there is a lot of information about why the situation is like it. It is going back to the past and explains why it is such an important topic. II: De ladder op – climbing the stairs; A lot of different work situations explained covered with tips to deal with this in a way close to yourself. III: Breek het system – breaking the system; last but not least the way forward to make a huge step. A dedicated chapter for men, a manifesto for more women in Tech and ideas to deal with the broader picture in and outside the company. Guests Chantal Schinkelsde IT Girl Notes Be a lady they saidWomen and inclusion in Tech

Order Sourcing Simulation is needed to enable capacity steering over our warehouses, network of sellers and logistical partners. Data Science is used to predict customer behavior and simulate capacity impact. What this episode covers What is: Now the context is clear, we can dive into the issue What do we need to solve/achieve? And when the why is clear, we can dive into the Data Science part: Guests Bart TerpstraTimo van Hooijdonk Notes We refer to earlier episodes on the use of Data Science in our logistical area and for forecasting: Digital Twin of our Warehouse Predict the unpredictable

What is a product-led organization? If you google it you will find a definition in the 1.4 billion answers similar to this: Product-led means being guided by the potential of products and product teams, and breaking down the silos between “the business” and “the product”. The business IS the product. At bol.com, we are on our own journey to discover what product-led means. And we see similarities with the other journeys like becoming Agile, implementing DevOps, move to the cloud we went through. Only when we start to ask our Engineers what they need it really starts to fly What this episode covers Guests Werner Hofstra, Product Tech Lead in Assortment & Selling Notes EmpoweredContinuous DiscoveryExperimentationInnovation RhythmProduct ArchitectureProduct-led by Tech Lead and Architect

Many know the retrospective from the agile way of working. It's one of the most important sessions in working agile. If done correctly and followed up it will make you better step by step. This is also the reason many people use it as instrument to improve after for instance an emergency. But what if retro's become boring? Some might recognize this so time to dive into this and make retro's great again. What this episode covers The topics of the episode are: Guests Erik van der KieftJake de Oude Notes The Spotify Retro Kit

With 2 of our engineers, we look into how we keep enhancing the quality of our webshop using canary testing and analysis, contract testing and end-to-end testing in isolation. What this episode covers We have quite some communities within bol.com. One of those focuses on quality. For this episode, we invited 2 engineers from this community to share some of our latest developments on this topic. They share their knowledge and experience with canary testing and analysis, contract testing and end-to-end testing in isolation. We go over questions like: Guests Sonja NesicRonald Nikkels Notes Ronald shared a link to a meetup/youtube video: Pactflow and Cypress (End-to-end Tests in Isolation using API contracts with Cypress and Pactflow). Sonja shared an article in the quality community about Deployment Validation and Graceful Degradation at Pinterest.

In the introduction mail, it said: “Having a culture in which we all can thrive, is one of our most valuable assets. To celebrate and cherish our unique tech culture, we are organizing events throughout the month of June. ” From Meetups to Games, from Tech talks to sessions with the IT management and most important of all, interactions. That's in brief Tech Culture Month. We hope to inspire you to have one yourself or participate in these tech community-building events. What this episode covers We discuss Tech Culture Month. During this month our Tech Culture Manifesto got introduced. Guests Babiche de JongJonna HietkampTim van Hardeveld Notes

This experiment triggered so many questions with us: Creating a pop up warehouse with Google Glass implementation, how much time does it cost? Why are we doing this? Is this totally new in the market? What this episode covers We dive into the experiment with this business usage of the Google Glass in a popup warehouse. (Image: https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qxrxmo3r/techlab-prd/1ee7d3b5ecc11dc4ba0e0f381665fc820b5ee8b2-4032x3024.jpg) Guests Turan BulmusNiels de VriesMelih Gultekin Notes

Over three years ago we published our third podcast episode. The topic of the episode was the Go programming language. We noted, “When you listen to the stories our two enthusiastic guests share in this episode, you might even believe Go is the future.” So, let's check in and see how things have evolved. The number of feature teams in bol.com using Go has grown. What else has happened? Our guests share their experiences and provide solid advice for starting your journey with Go. What this episode covers Guests Patrick Akil – Consultant, Software Engineer, Trainer in Go, Podcast Host Albert Brand – Consultant at Xebia – Software Engineer, Go Trainer Goos van den Bekerom – Software Engineer Hannes de Jager – Software Engineer Kevin van den Broek – Software Engineer Notes Our 1st podcast episode on GolangThe power of GoAxlehttp4kkit

We discuss the way of working of the Tech Lead and Architect in the Marketing Domain. Functional- and Technical aspects need to be taken into account when defining the direction of the development teams. From our guests Alexandra and Lennart, we learn what cooperation means in these relatively new functions. What this episode covers Product-Led is adapted more and more as a way of organizing for innovation. In bol.com we are shifting towards this concept. One important topic in the adaptation is forming the leadership in a product organisation. Given the nature of the innovation teams we both need to focussing on functional- and technical aspects. Guests Alexandra EgheLennart Billekens Notes introduction of Tech LeadsProduct architecture innovation rhythm

A few months ago we noticed a message that stood out on our internal platform. Basically, it stated: "I'm back". Naturally, it happens every now and then that employees explore their horizons but still return to bol.com. What this episode covers However, the number of software engineers that turn to indie game developer and come back, is quite limited. That sparked our curiosity since for a vast group of engineers it is some kind of dream job to develop games. That must have something to do with the large number of gamers among software engineers. There are some interesting learnings and experiences in our conversation with Roy. Listen and check what is in it for you. Guests Roy Kok Notes Unity

Everybody can go to bol.com and check the Front-End of our webshop. But what if you are a seller, supplier, partner or internal employee? What is your view when interacting with our IT systems? In general, you will use one of our Portals. These portals made a long journey to get to the stage where they are today. What this episode covers Not only does the backend site, mainly covered by SWAP's (Small Web APplications) rely on different frameworks, also the Front-End work does. How to adapt to a new 'Look and Feel'? How to be consistent? How to make the lives of Software Engineers easier? Listen to this episode and find out yourself. FigmaStorybookZeroheightFrontifyStencil? Guests Jake de OudeRobin AldenhovenRobin CijvatRens Jansen Notes In an earlier episode back in 2019 we already talked about SWAPs and a blog on this topic is available here.

Welcome to episode number 100! A special show with a very interesting topic: Inclusion of Introverts and Introversion. We asked our CEO Margaret Versteden for a quote for this number 100. She surprised us with the fact that this topic is so important for her as she is dealing with this her whole life, as an introvert. So if you are an extrovert, we think this is a "must listen". What this episode covers It will help you to understand and to make the world and your environment safer for introverts. It is about the inclusion of everyone and the inclusion of introverts Why is it so much harder for an introvert to be included than for an extrovert? To understand this, we first dive into questions like: After this understanding we dive into the environment: And we are confronted with our own bias, more than once. Guests João MartinelliSarah GruneisenReena Choudhary Notes Liberating Structures: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/ Other shows on Diversity and Inclusion: Cultural Diversity

We are not only the hosts of the show but so far we also do the selection of the topics ourselves. Research what’s interesting. Find diverse subjects and guests, etc. What this episode covers And sometimes guests make it easier for us. They post on our internal platform a message…. “What is the superlative of bragging? I don't think I can go any further than telling you that I co-wrote a book. And of course, it's about experimentation Yesterday I received the first copy in my hands, and it is of course for sale at bol.com ” The book is called “Steering on results”, how to work together on the greatest ambitions. Work smarter not harder. (So far only available in Dutch but English translation is being worked on). And since this week we know that the book is on the long list of books to become Management book of the year in 2022. A Dutch award organized by one of our partners managementboek.nl. (how can I check if this is true?) This triggered us in two ways: First – what is the book about? Learning by three elements Introduction of CRAFT: Create, Refine, Align, Finalize & Transmit (CRAFT)Introduction of Objectives, Progress Metrics & Estimates (OPME’s), in bol.com we refer to this one as OKR's.3. thorough research methods Second – How is it to start writing a book? Guests We have an award-winning guest: Denise Visser; According to Linked in it says Product Manager Experimentation at bol.com and freelancer. You probably know Denise from a previous show about experimentation. Notes Sturen op resultaat website The Book Sturen op Resultaat Blog on experimentation Podcast Episode on experimentation with Denise and Maarten Longlist management boek van het jaar

This episode is 2021 Techlab Wrapped. Inspired by one of the platforms that host our podcast Spotify. It is the end of Season 3 and the end of 2021. Time to look back and to look ahead. What this episode covers 2021 Wrapped and maybe a glimpse into 2022. Log4j and the PMC member Guests Peter Brouwers Peter Paul van de Beek Shownotes Top 3 according to Blubrry Episode 91 - Retailer APIEpisode 93 - The Programmers BrainEpisode 81 - Data Maturity and Data LiteracyTop 3 according to Spotify Team TopologiesThe Data-Driven Approach to supporting products with KPI's and OKR'sCuriosity is the common denominator for our business analystsThe new Bol.com ECOmerce podcast about sustainability Notes

During the recording of this episode, we are in the week of Black Friday. An exciting week for people hunting for bargains. And also for a lot of our colleagues. What this episode covers Whether that is from a commercial point of view or an engineering one. All the eyeballs on our website, bring a lot of traffic. And consequential a lot of load on our systems. In this episode, we focus on one aspect of preparing for a large load: Load Testing. In this episode, we are going to talk about Load Testing with Locust. An open-source load testing tool. Triggered by our guest's presentation during the spaces summit, we wanted to know more about this and share it with you. Guests Leon van WijkCraftsmen Notes testing with Locustpresentation at the Spaces SummitPerformance testing the Chat App