Why did it take us this long to start our blog?
There are a few questions that should naturally come to your mind when visiting our website and now reading our blog. One of them is likely this:
How have you guys been in the digital product business since 2016 but you barely have a social media presence and your blog is practically nonexistent?
Well, my good friends, there’s a rather decent reason for this. Let’s start off by giving you some back story on Alena Solutions and our business.
For three years or so, our CEO (Asbed) and CTO (Alex) have been running Alena Solutions and doing business 100% based on referrals and personal associations. The company has been growing steadily, adding new engineers, and even creating new departments as of late to match our ambitions (ex.: Hello, I’m David, Business Development Manager. A pleasure to virtually meet you.)
At this point, we’ve proven a track record of success (review our testimonials) and are looking forward to growing our company further. So, here we are, finally contributing to our formerly nonexistent blog and as some of you may have noticed, increasing our formerly paltry participation on LinkedIn and Facebook.
So, where do we start? I hope that you’re with me on this one, but why not an introductory post to get to know our team in greater detail? If you’re looking for a tech-intensive immersion into new tools and methods for digital development, don’t worry – those are soon to come. For now, let’s start off in a casual, friendly manner, as we get to know the people behind Alena Solutions.
Alena Solutions operates three offices to geographically blanket the location of 90% of our clients – our Los Angeles headquarters with auxiliary branches in Western Europe and Armenia.
We’re going to start of with (likely) the least familiar location of ours to you, the reader, with meeting our team that comprises our Yerevan, Armenia location. Alena Solutions emphasizes a consistently human-centric approach to technological projects, so learn a bit more about the humans behind the computers and devices at our Yerevan branch!
Meeting the Armenia team
Let’s meet the team that covers our Eastern Europe, Middle East and Central Asian territory, and pumps out a sizable portion of our engineering and development work for our partners. Between the members of this branch, language fluency spans English, Russian, Arabic, and of course Armenian.
Nick – Senior Software Engineer
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Yerevan
Where did you go to college?
I graduated from the National Polytechnic University of Armenia. I like coding. A lot.
Where do you live now?
I reside in Yerevan.
Coffee or tea?
I only drink coffee. Coffee = coding success.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
My favorite book is by Raffi – The Fool
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Dogs over cats. Easy.
Who is your personal hero?
(Nick is too humble to say his personal hero is himself, so I wrote that to inform the rest of you. He believes that every person should be the hero of others. It got heady so I moved on from there. -David)
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
I think I’m simply fascinated by how you can never perfect yourself at any single point in your career – technology is evolving faster than you are, so while an engineer may be “senior” or a specialist, they are never truly a master, though that’s what we should strive towards.
I always try to bring the tech requests into real life and try to imagine how would I resolve it in the real world. Tech is used to solve problems we deal with, but I think of what the root problem is and how it affects the person, not simply how a code is going to interact with other code.
The human approach for our projects for me is to truly act as a team player. I’m always asking how I can help, even if it’s something I don’t work on myself, like WordPress or PHP because I’m a software engineer. That doesn’t matter to me , because we are all on a team and can contribute things that we won’t expect from each other at first.
David – Business Development Manager
Where did you grow up?
Across the river from Manhattan, in the suburban paradise known as North Jersey. I represent both the 201 and 973.
Where did you go to college?
I went to Rutgers & Georgetown. Before going to DC I didn’t know there was a city in the US south of NYC that was just as expensive. However, now I can boast that I’m a Georgetown alumnus. Hoya saxa!
Where do you live now?
I live in Yerevan, Armenia, with my lovely wife and family. I was born and raised in the US, lived there for over 30 years, so I decided the rest of my life should be spent in my ancestral homeland.
Coffee or tea?
Tea, especially local mountain herbal teas. There are several varieties of mint here, and I love them all to pieces.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
My favorite book is Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. It’s astonishing that he wrote it in the 19th century.
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Both! I have one of each.
Who is your personal hero?
Isaac Asimov is my personal hero. He was an acquaintance of my late grandfather, so I grew reading his books and have enormous respect for the late Dr Asimov. I’m envious of the mind he had.
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
Since I was a young kid I’ve always been fascinated with how technology and humans interact and respond to each other – I started making music with computers when I was perhaps 13 or so and have never stopped exploring how technology has evolved and how it can benefit the human experience, whether it’s from casual entertainment to organizational change management.
Regarding the human approach, empathy isn’t a buzzword I throw around – to successfully perform in business development you need to feel each desire, frustration, joy, and so on as if it’s your own. Only then will your motivations and concerns match that of your client’s, which is fundamental for a fruitful partnership. I plainly like helping people solve problems, and my job allows me to do that every day.
Henry – Software Engineer
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Yerevan, like most of the people that work in our Yerevan office. I still live here.
Where did you go to college?
Armenian National Agrarian University
Where do you live now?
I guess I already answered this question.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee is king.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
Easily, The Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas. Actually, I’d say all of Dumas’ books are my favorite, but you insisted I pick just one.
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Dogs, because they’re man’s best friend, including me.
Who is your personal hero?
Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
I am attracted to digital technologies by the fact that at first, someone is alone with some problem. You can solve this problem with either your own mind or with a good team. The ability to create options in this realm is exciting for me.
I am curios and like to a share my knowledge – I want my people in the team to be smarter than me, or familiar with tools and techniques that I’m not yet aware of, so I can keep learning and then share that knowledge with my colleagues.
Ani – Web Developer
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Nor Hachn, which is a tiny village north of our capitol, Yerevan.
Where did you go to college?
I graduated from Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences
Where do you live now?
Yerevan is where I live now, and forever.
Coffee or tea?
Tea! Especially green tea.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
13 Shards of Personality, by Yegor Gord (it’s in Russian and hard to find.)
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
I’m a lover of all animals, so of course both.
Who is your personal hero?
My son is my hero!
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
In digital technology, I like the constant development that will not allow you to stay idle, but will make you constantly study and challenge you to become familiar with the unknown.
As for human approach, I’m a mother! I treat projects as they’re my own babies, with care and sensitivity.
Hayk – Web Developer
Where did you grow up?
I too grew up in Yerevan
Where did you go to college?
I went to Yerevan State University, The National Academy of Science, and the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics in Yerevan. Yes, I’m a nerd.
Where do you live now?
I’m in Yerevan, always, for work and pleasure.
Coffee or tea?
I’ll take both. One isn’t better than the other, but each provides a unique experience only unto itself.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Kiyosaki. It’s a timeless learning lesson.
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
No thanks to both! Animals are not my thing.
Who is your personal hero?
Spider Man is my personal hero. His character is very selfless and caring.
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
I don’t know what to say about what fascinates me the most. I’m rather young and I grew up surrounded by technology. Working as a web developer seemed very logical for me professionally because I also like to be creative as well as working with and learning new technologies.
The human approach I bring would be humility in my work ethic. I don’t look for recognition for doing a great job and delivering my tasks ahead of deadlines. That doesn’t mean I can go home early, but that I have more time to see if and how I can improve on my deliverables. If there’s no possible way to improve on the task, it means I have more time to learn from my colleagues or to study other languages and technologies.
George – Software Engineer
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Aleppo, many moons ago.
Where did you go to college?
I am currently getting my post-grad Engineering Master’s at the National Polytechnic University of Armenia.
Where do you live now?
Yerevan. Unless Aleppo is restored to its former glory, this is the city for me.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Especially the style of oriental coffee, unfiltered and lightly boiled.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway.
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Both dogs and cats are welcome in my life
Who is your personal hero?
Deadpool, haha, if only!
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
What fascinates me the most about technology is Artificial Consciousness and how we can use it to understand the foundation of human mentality – what is thinking? How is our logic constructed? How do emotions affect our decisions? This is actually what my Master’s thesis is about.
For the human aspect, I analyze client requirements before we implement them. If I notice a contradiction or a better alternative, I report to the customer and discuss with them, so that I don’t waste time on something that eventually will be useless or not be ideal for their strategy.
When implementing and developing requirements, I always take into consideration efficiency, security, quality, and the user experience, and try to choose the best option that covers all requirements.
Harut – Software Engineer
Where did you grow up?
In sunny Yerevan, Armenia.
Where did you go to college?
I too am an alum of National Polytechnic University of Armenia.
Where do you live now?
Yerevan is my hometown and I would never want to leave. Traveling is fine but Yerevan is home.
Coffee or tea?
What’s tea? I’ve never heard of it before. Coffee is great, so I’ll say coffee
What’s your favorite book of all time?
Derenik Demirjyan – Vardananq
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Dogs. Cats are OK but I’m a dog guy.
Who is your personal hero?
Abraham Lincoln is my personal hero. From very humble beginnings to one of the greatest world leaders of his time.
What fascinates you about working with digital technology, and what human approach do you bring to our team’s projects?
Technology becomes more and more a part of humanity every moment – it fascinates me how we as people are constantly creating tools that aren’t human to improve how we exist as humans.
When it comes to myself and what I bring to our team and projects, I’ve been told my emotional intelligence is valued. I’m a bit shy to say this myself, but I believe it’s extremely important to always be aware of how my team members are feeling on a personal level, and the same for our partners. When you’re on the same page on an emotional level with the people you’re working with, the technical tasks and responsibilities flow with ease.
There you have it!
Next time, we’ll introduce you to our US team
