Mission why we do
what we do

We, Telos Digital, are galvanized by curiosity, and driven to create and collaborate, to make something greater, and to contribute to the achievements of Humanity.

The world is going digital, green, and faster. So, we explain, advise, and do, in software, science, and technology.

Every company is now a technology company: every person and every process uses software. Our mission is to take you on that journey faster, safer, and more cost-effectively, using our talent and experience, as evinced by our track record.

The Essential Ingredients

Problem solving: in multiple contexts and fields of endeavour, working together as a partnership.
We love solving challenging and difficult problems, and find satisfaction in an elegant solution.
Expertise: we provide technical analysis, research, and solutions in physics, technology, computing, and engineering.
We have particular expertise in the subtle science and exact art of of software engineering.
Collaboration: a small team of people work on each project, to provide cross-domain expertise, with a shared vision for the desired outcome.
The team have over two centuries of combined professional experience, and multiple PhDs. All are outstanding experts in their own fields, but we also fully understand and collaborate on the whole project; we consider this vital for success.
Insight: detailed observation, followed by technical analysis, and informed by experience.
We formulate alternative hypotheses, experimentally test them, and find the best solution.
Communication: we can discuss the problems, the processes and the solutions, clearly, and at all levels, including from the boardroom to the shop floor.
We have a proven track-record of communicating and explaining complex technical and computer processes to people whose own expertise is in other areas.
Agility: as well as diagnosing problems, we can actually solve them for you. We can act rapidly, from observation through to solution, and implementation where necessary.
We have a wide range of academic and professional connections, so we can augment our own expertise. If we can't do it, we know someone who can.
Open-source: we use industrial-strength open-source technologies to deliver solutions quickly, at a fraction of the cost of proprietary alternatives, and with a better outcome.
Open-source also gives you better adaptability, privacy, control, interoperability, and long-term stability.
Creativity: imagination and intuition inspire different approaches. We continue tenaciously, till the problem is solved.
Intuition is really the calibrated-insight arising from the sum-of-experience over many different contexts, domains, and applications.

Business Ethics

A lot of companies talk about business ethics, but do very little. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than that, and expect to be accountable:

Long term partnerships: work together on problems, and do what is right for the long-term sustainable success of our clients, our business, and ourselves. We will always act with integrity, fairness, and transparency.
Honest advice: we will always give good, unbiased advice, supported by evidence and references, to the best of our ability; even if that means sacrificing a business opportunity. We will use our experience to make a recommendation, but will also tell you about any caveats.
No snake oil: we will not act like certain proprietary vendors, who want to sell their expensive solution rather than the best one; nor will we hype a solution in search of a problem (such as blockchain and NFTs). We avoid the tactic of security-theatre.
Look after people, both ours and yours: digital transformation helps people to be more productive: increased capability rather than "cost-cutting". We do changes with people, not to people.
Professional pride: we will always do our best work, not just the minimum specification or 'everything in a change-request'. We'll finish the job, and bill you fairly. If there's an urgent problem, we won't leave you in the lurch, and we'll fix the issue before we haggle over the costs.
Competence: we will always deploy highly skilled and dedicated experts. We are not non-practicing practitioners; nor do we have expensive-consultants, backed by low-talent delivery teams.
Technology has consequences: we will turn down work if it would lead to harm. We won't work on surveillance, misuse of A.I., or for any regime with bad human-rights.
Free (Libre) Software: we all benefit from a shared ecosystem, standing on the shoulders of giants. This is the philosophy of Ubuntu and GNU - it's why we use, write and publish open-source (F/LOSS) software. Furthermore, the use of GPL means that you always have control: we can't "lock you in": we retain our customers because we're good, not because you have no choice.
Privacy and confidentiality are fundamental: we will protect your data, use encryption, and design for confidentiality. We support the principles of the GDPR.
Environment: we are responsible for writing efficient code, to minimise energy-consumption and e-waste. Open-source code is also reusable, therefore sustainable (and we file bug-reports).
Stakeholders: we are responsible to the wider community, and believe in corporate social responsibility. We contribute to The Telos Foundation, and are members of the Open Invention Network. We are all responsible for education, and training the next generation of scientists, engineers and leaders.

Our Culture

We'd like to share the key principles that make up our culture, and give rise to outstanding engagement:

Recruit only the best people, and those who are passionate to stay at the top of their field. Use a difficult technical test to select candidates before interview. Good candidates enjoy the challenge, and appreciate knowing the calibre of their potential co-workers. However, look for "intellectual horsepower" rather than a very specific skill-set, and do take a chance on talented juniors who lack experience. Pay in the top quartile.
Put people first, It's morally right to look after the interests of the team members, as individuals, and to truly care about them as people, even when their needs aren't "convenient". Family always comes first. And if you do, they will trust you, and be there for you in return when you need them.
Build a culture of tolerance and diversity, especially welcoming and supporting non-neurotypical/non-chronotypical people, who would not fit a typical 9-5 office. Alan Turing's approach of hiring classicists for Bletchley Park is an inspiration.
True flexible working (whenever, wherever), including evenings/weekends for the non-chronotypical. Be as flexible as possible, and don't ask people to sign the working-time-directive opt-out. Avoid burn-out. Trust people with autonomy.
When in the zone, focus without interruptions (often for hours at a time). When present, be present, and engage, to support the 5Cs: creativity, collaboration, camaraderie, coaching... continuously.
Build a great office as a base, where people are welcome 24/7, and make it a "home" where people feel they belong. It needs great tools, facilities, and should showcase creativity. It should be a place people want to show their friends and families.
Have fun. Emphasise creativity; and make it a place where the Geek culture is welcomed. Have great team events and parties. Celebrate successes. Our cadence aligns conferences, demonstrations, and events: we choose to celebrate Douglas Adams in spring, (and Midsummer, Hallowe'en, and Christmas).
Leadership and vision. Demonstrate how people are part of something larger. As the team grows, it's important to run events to "stir the pot" and showcase to everyone what everyone else is doing.
Make something people are proud of, and they will be fanatical about quality. Downtime and outages will be rare, and whenever things do go wrong, or during a go-live, everyone will pitch in to help, even across teams.
Open Source for everything: it results in better engineering. Resist the temptation to buy something closed-source (with very rare exceptions): it will inevitably bite you in the end; it always does. The tech-stack of Linux, Postgres, Python, JavaScript has served very well.
Decisions should be engineering-led. Project Managers should be doers and facilitators.
Use the "5 whys" (or the Aviation safety principle) for QA. Every bug report should be fixed (and root-caused); while every user-error is really a broken feature. Integration between support, QA, and developers improves quality.
Use Agile methodology. Either Scrum or pure-Kanban (depending on project size). The Waterfall methodology does not work.
Provide free (good) coffee and cake (and cheese and wine). Not just because programmers run on caffeine (or Irn-Bru or Earl-Grey), but because it makes people feel appreciated, and because we get far more value from the impromptu discussions and serendipitous ideas that occur over coffee.

Behind the Logo

Our logo unites Telos Partners and the glider. Telos means purpose, and we are connected by the common challenge of problem-solving, and the pursuit of sustainable success.

This means the creation of wealth, in the broadest sense: not just financially, but as any form of intellectual, creative, cultural or social "capital".

Ikigai, 生き甲斐, or "the reason for being", is the overlap of:
what we love doing
what we are good at
what the world needs
what we can get paid for.

The glider is based on Conway's game of life, in which it is the smallest and simplest, self-replicating and moving pattern. It was adopted as the universal hacker emblem, symbolising technical excellence and creativity.

The colours are the blue from Telos Partners, and PCB-green. Below, you can see the four iterations of the glider, next to our logo. After step 4, the glider returns to the same shape as step 1, though it has moved along and down the infinite grid; this symbolises constant reinvention and adaptation, while remaining true to our roots.