How does Lean-Coders work?
We use many products/tools and workflows in our daily business. Today we will showcase some of them in the hope it may help others as well.
All processes/tools we use were chosen based on our current member amount, financial situation and also our technical skills and willingness to customize.
1. Database
We love JavaScript, so we also love JSON, making it easy for us to choose MongoDB as our database. Initially, we launched our own instance in a Docker container. After a while, managing everything ourselves became a bit stressful, but thankfully MongoDB Cloud Atlas had everything set up for us. MongoDB offers incredible speed and simple data modeling. Atlas provides easy security setup and great backup features. The high quality of statistics and its alert system are additional benefits that justify the cost.
2. Logging
Kibana/ELK Stack is already the enterprise standard. We looked for a hosted solution, and Sematext was the best fit for us. The pricing and alert system were easy to set up, especially with the Kubernetes config files.
3. Office 365
Teams is the heart of our communication. Leaving Slack wasn't easy, but ultimately it was the right choice. Everything is interconnected in the Microsoft ecosystem. From emails, appointments, inline editing of files to a solid chat solution, all the components work well together. Office 365 provides great benefits for our daily operations. Microsoft has a history of complicated setups, so we had our doubts. I'm still not a fan of SharePoint, which is why we replaced it with Confluence. Our main tools: Exchange, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint. The other tools are currently under review, but we have fantastic alternatives ready.
Every tool we use is connected to our Teams via webhooks and sends messages to dedicated channels.
4. Microsoft Azure/Kubernetes AKS
Initially, we ran Kubernetes on some Ubuntu-hosted VMs but quickly switched to Microsoft’s Kubernetes AKS. This provides us with good scalability and numerous benefits in terms of flexibility.
5. Confluence
Due to our dislike for SharePoint, we started using Confluence. We only use it as a wiki, so I think the pricing is too high for us. Still, it's an amazing tool, but we are currently using just 1% of its capabilities. The biggest advantages are the easy setup and good usability. If SharePoint or Microsoft created a simple wiki system with file upload capabilities in Office 365, we would likely switch to that.
6. Passwork
As a security-first company, we needed a central password manager. Passwork is one of the smaller companies out there, but it does the job and the pricing is excellent. Protected by a master key, it has everything we need. The mobile app lacks many features, but thankfully the desktop version works well on my phone. Additionally, I also use KeePass for my family’s shared passwords.
7. Hubspot
As we grow, it becomes harder to track all those leads, contacts, and business opportunities. Hubspot is our first step toward finding the perfect CRM for us. It’s free and user-friendly. The email and mobile apps are fantastic. It lacks several features we need, but it offers an API that provides many opportunities for integration into our processes.
8. Github
Still the best online repository system. Easy to use, easy to set up. It’s nearly perfect.
9. CircleCI
After moving away from Azure Pipelines/Visual Studio Online, we switched to CircleCI. I appreciate the speed, and the settings offer many features. The pricing is also very reasonable.
10. Trello
One of the most underrated tools out there. Trello is the best Kanban board available. All our projects are managed through it. Additionally, all our customer interactions are handled via Trello. Thanks to this, we currently don’t need any extra support ticket programs.
11. Clockify
Toggle was too expensive, and Clockify was the perfect clone with great pricing that keeps improving every day. Give it a try!
12. Fastbill
It’s our go-to solution for everything related to writing and managing invoices.
In the next few blog posts, we will share some details about how we use our beloved tools ;)
