Imagine the situation: you are trying to open a door in the dark, but your key is made of darkness. Once, PIN-UP.TECH's IT team found themselves in a similar situation: the password the team urgently needed turned out to be sewn into a service that was also faulty.
This is a story about how we destroyed our systems by trying to extract the password from a broken product in the middle of the night. The reason? The human factor and "historically formed" decision-making. If you need a small handbook on what NOT to do in IT, take our story as the first chapter. — says Mila, Head of PMO PIN-UP.TECH
And what happened was this: the team lost the password to one of the PIN-UP.TECH services, which was very necessary at a certain point in time.
It all started with the unfortunate phrase "it happened historically", which all IT people perceive as the sound of an ice crust hitting the fragile glass of calm. I don't remember how or why, but we stored our passwords in one of PIN-UP.TECH's products, ― says Mila.
At night, the specialists urgently needed the password to fix a problem. However, the same product, the "password vault," also failed. The team was faced with a unique situation: they needed the password to fix the problem, but the password was unavailable because the product where it was stored also had a bug.
To solve the problem, the team had to first resuscitate the password vault and then tackle the underlying issue. "Don't panic, we've improved our security system and switched to a specialized password storage app," Mila summarizes the story.
From then on, whenever someone in the office says the phrase "historically," everyone in the room freezes and looks around for the nearest exit. "After all, who knows what other 'historically formed' horror might suddenly fall on us?", the Head of PMO at PIN-UP.TECH asks a rhetorical question with a smile.
― If you need a small handbook on what NOT to do in IT, take our story as the first chapter. However, such factsheets are a small part of what happens in the PIN-UP.TECH team.
We will tell you how PIN-UP.TECH is organized and why gambling is an active part of Ukraine's IT history.
PIN-UP.TECH was created in 2016 by its brand owner Marina Ilina. Having a marketing education, she first managed to find a job in a company that organizesbusiness events in the gambling industry.
I realized that this is exactly what I needed. Therefore, I continued my career growth as a manager in IT companies related to gambling software development and marketing. With experience, the general concept of the business and possible growth points became clearer and clearer. After that, PIN-UP appeared.
It all started with a small team. Five juniors were involved in the project, working on the code for the first PIN-UP platform.
In a few years, the small project began to grow stronger and the team grew dynamically.
After a rapid launch, the team was joined by guys who skillfully rewrote and supplemented the gaming and affiliate platforms, developed the first version of the cash desk, and CRM in a short time. The product reached a competitive level and began to gain popularity.
Today, PIN-UP.TECH is one of the directions of the international ecosystem PIN-UP Global, which operates in six countries - Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Peru, and Armenia. In fact, PIN-UP.TECH is the foundation of today's international ecosystem of PIN-UP Global. Currently, the main products of PIN-UP.TECH are platforms for Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Important
PIN-UP.TECH, as well as the PIN-UP brand in principle, is not represented in the Russian Federation and has no offices there. Before the full-scale invasion, one of the parts of the ecosystem was a company in the Russian Federation with a betting license and an online product - pin-up.ru. The product was closed and left the market, and the assets were transferred to a new owner. Since April 2022, the Russian company Pin-Up.ru LLC has had no connection with the ecosystem and the owner of the PIN-UP brand. PIN-UP Global condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and actively helps Ukraine economically. Marina Ilina founded the PIN-UP Foundation, whose charitable programs are aimed at helping Ukrainians affected by the war.
Hundreds of talented developers are managed by Dmytro Poltorak, VP of Engineering at PIN-UP.TECH. He joined the team in December 2022 after years of working in companies: Synergetica (Games24x7), MMD Smart, Smart Trader Labs, and Lucky Labs (Playson).
"PIN-UP.TECH caught me in a period of active transformation, both organizational and technical. I already had experience in gambling at Playson as a CTO, so it was not an unknown area for me. At the same time, work in gambling is always dynamic, it offers interesting challenges, both technical and non-technical, and there is an opportunity to apply different practices and approaches - these were the main arguments in favor of this choice," says Dmytro, who is responsible for all technical and engineering teams, including development, infrastructure, CISO, HelpDesk, etc.
“We have more than 400 people (and this number is constantly growing), all of whom can be deservedly and proudly called IT people. These teams have created all of our major software products and enabled them to go live, as well as maintain and develop their operations in an efficient and secure manner. I believe that this is something to be proud of, as it is the foundation of PIN-UP.TECH's business” — Poltorak says.
He admits that it is not easy to expand the team nowadays. "Difficulties in hiring new people, of course, arise from a noticeable excess of demand over supply in the IT market. Also, not all IT specialists are ready and/or willing to work in the gambling industry," says Dmytro.
And PIN-UP.TECH has a career growth opportunity - we practice and encourage vertical development and promotion within the team.
According to VP of Engineering, developers simply do not always understand that PIN-UP.TECH uses modern technologies and practices advanced approaches. "We have a lot to offer and attract candidates," he says. PIN-UP.TECH uses Golang, Angular, Python to create an iGaming platform, Affiliate system, Marketing tools, CRM, Native Apps, and Fintech solutions.
"We use a modern technological stack, approaches, and tools - we have the opportunity to learn and develop (education, training, and participation in conferences are one of the priority areas supported by PIN-UP), as well as gain relevant practical experience," Dmytro describes the benefits of working at PIN-UP.TECH. "We also have the opportunity to be proactive and take initiative and suggest trying something new, demonstrate and prove its effectiveness, and start using it, even at the corporate level. At the same time, PIN-UP.TECH already has interesting projects and challenges where developers can switch between different tasks and not just do routine work.
His words are confirmed by other IT professionals. That's why they chose PIN-UP.TECH.
When choosing to work at PIN-UP.TECH, I relied on several key factors.
First, PIN-UP.TECH has successfully transformed from a startup into a recognized market leader. This indicates stability and growth potential.
Secondly, PIN-UP is known for its innovative approach and active development, which allows it to work on exciting and interesting projects.
In addition, PIN-UP.TECH has a reputation for being a supportive and open environment for professionals, with a strong focus on education, professional development, and collaboration. All these factors have made PIN-UP.TECH an attractive place to work.
When I was looking for a job, several of my friends had already worked at PIN-UP.TECH and told me a lot about it. I chose PIN-UP for cooperation because I was interested in the tools and processes implemented here.
PIN-UP.TECH has products created using the latest tools and always strives for innovation. At PIN-UP.TECH, they support the initiative of their specialists and promote personal and professional development.
In addition, PIN-UP.TECH has a stable financial position, which is important to me. I want to work in a reliable environment where there is potential for long-term career employment and growth. Personally, the biggest value of PIN-UP.TECH for me is a team of cool people with whom I can do complex projects, perform interesting tasks, and create a great atmosphere and working environment.
During the interview, I realized that I had come to the right place and wanted to be hired. PIN-UP.TECH is a great place to improve your skills. A place where the team matters. They are always looking for opportunities to implement modern technological solutions and keep up with the times (ArgoCD, EKS, BackStage.io, NatsMQ). Flexible policies allow you to offer your ideas according to your experience and knowledge, and everyone's voice is heard.
I wanted to work in the product team. There is an ambitious team with good experience and an adequate level of remuneration.
One of the key points is the use of the latest technologies and approaches to work.PIN-UP.TECH is always at the forefront of innovation and actively implements advanced tools and methodologies, which allows specialists to work with the most advanced technologies. In addition, PIN-UP.TECH encourages initiative and interaction between different teams, which contributes to the development of innovations and the emergence of new ideas.
Oksana Izmailova, CHRD PIN-UP Global, says that PIN-UP.TECH compensates specialists for training (courses, advanced training, internal and external training events), and also conducts corporate English classes.
Other benefits include yoga classes, health insurance, three Family days per year, four unscheduled days off per year, paid sick leave, and 24 days of annual vacation.
In addition to the social package, Oksana says that since the beginning of the full-scale war, PIN-UP.TECH employees have received financial support, housing assistance, and during times of total blackouts, PIN-UP provided employees with charging stations. Each specialist, says HRD, can seek help from a corporate psychologist if necessary. Those mobilized to the war, Oksana says, receive their salaries in full, while the rear specialists help their mobilized colleagues in the PIN-UP Global ecosystem in every way possible with donations.
“PIN-UP.TECH is not a casino, but a team of IT specialists that create a product for this market. We are a team of like-minded people, where a win-win strategy of interaction is a way to achieve goals and develop” — CHRD PIN-UP Global Oksana Izmailova says.
That's why specialists are selected based on PIN-UP values.
We are constantly moving forward and setting trends. We offer the best solutions for clients and employees thanks to our drive, commitment, and courage to implement ideas and propose changes.
We offer a quality product thanks to the expertise of our team. Our professionalism is based on continuous development together with the PIN-UP Global ecosystem, a deep understanding of the field we work in, and competence in our functional area.
Synergy is an important component of our interaction, which is built on trust. We learn from each other and honor our agreements. We achieve a common result thanks to everyone's contribution, mutual support and ability to negotiate.
We are focused on results - personal, corporate, and client. All members of the ecosystem achieve their goals through high speed of work, perseverance, and dedication. We work to improve the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the result.
We are open in our communication with clients and employees. We provide constructive feedback. Straightforwardness and honesty in communication are important to us. We create transparent and simple policies and processes.
PIN-UP.TECH relies on professionals because the tasks faced by PIN-UP.TECH specialists are not easy. For example, here's what a golang developer faces when they joinPIN-UP.TECH:
“We are constantly moving forward and setting trends. We offer the best solutions for both clients and specialists thanks to our drive, involvement, and courage to implement our ideas and propose changes”, — Dmytro Poltorak says.
with 3+ years of experience with GO, using Docker and Kubernetes, and who is interested in working with RDBMS, NoSQL, SQL, Redis, Kafka, and NATS.
Will work collaboratively with the development team and architects to improve and facilitate the transition of our system from monolith to microservices.
a strong leader and strategist who will research, test, and implement new software development methods.
with Kubernetes experience and strong expertise in database architectures and principles.
with 5+ years of experience developing themes and plugins on WordPress and building functionality on Gutenberg.
with 4+ years of experience and 2+ years of experience with Golang. Has strong expertise in SaaS, SOA, NTier, Layered Architecture, MVC, ClientServer, Message Bus, and working knowledge of using Docker and Kubernetes.
