Babbel Technology Radar

Mission

To enhance innovation, efficiency, and the quality of software development within Babbel by implementing the Technology Radar as a dynamic tool for assessing and adopting emerging technologies, frameworks, and methodologies.

Outcomes

• Increased agility and adaptability in responding to changing market demands and technological advancements.
• Reduced time-to-market for new features and products through more efficient and effective development practices.(guided by Tech Radar recommended choices)
• Enhanced collaboration and communication of the engineering organization, leading to greater efficiency and innovation.
• Recognition as a forward-thinking and innovative organization within the edutech industry, attracting top talent and fostering partnerships and collaborations with other industry leaders.

The quadrants are

• Languages & Frameworks: In this category, we include development languages like Scala or Golang, as well as low-level development frameworks such as Play or Symfony. These are valuable for implementing various types of custom software.

• Tools: This section is dedicated to a wide range of software tools, from small utilities to more extensive software projects.

• Methods & Patterns: Patterns hold enduring significance, with many of them standing the test of time compared to some tools or frameworks. This category is where we provide information on methods and patterns related to development, continuous integration, testing, organization, architecture, and more.

• Platforms & Operations: In this quadrant, we group technologies related to the operation of software, infrastructure, and platform-related tools and services.

Each of the items is classified in one of these rings:

• Adopt: Technologies we have high confidence in to serve our purpose, also in large scale. Technologies with a usage culture in our production environment, low risk and recommended to be widely used.

• Trial: Technologies that we have seen work with success in project work to solve a real problem.. The aim here is to scrutinize these items more closely with the intention of elevating them to the 'Adopt' level.

• Assess: Technologies that are promising and have clear potential value-add for us; technologies worth to invest some research and prototyping efforts in to see if it has impact.

• Hold: This category is somewhat unique. Unlike the others, it advises discontinuing or refraining from using certain technologies. This does not necessarily imply that they are inherently bad; it often may be acceptable to use them in existing projects. However, we move items here when we believe they are not recommended to be used for new projects and are not yet worth to further invest in.

How do we maintain it?

The Tech Radar relies on active participation and input from all engineering teams at Babbel. Twice a year, engineers and teams revisit the tech stack to update the radar. The review process is inclusive, ensuring that all teams have the opportunity to contribute.

The Babbel Tech Radar is built on top of the AOE Tech Radar.