Last week’s 2016 Pentana Solutions Hackathon is over, although not a day has gone by without someone in the office mentioning what was the best hackathon to date. There are many participants who are still riding the buzz and electricity of what was an absolutely incredible event. At the conclusion of the event, Executive Sean Brown said, “the Pentana Solutions innovations promise to our customers is well alive”.

What is this Hackathon event we speak of?

The theme of this Hackathon was ‘Unleash the Beast - Set the idea free’! This event was an opportunity for those within the company to be creative and develop an idea to further enhance an existing product, improve an internal process or create an entirely new product or service. Why? With over 500 employees, there are so many great ideas that are thought of on a daily basis. Providing the platform to take these ideas beyond the brainstorming stage is an opportunity that lines up perfectly with Pentana Solutions mantra of innovation that transforms industry.

The ingredients for a good hackathon is a little different to what people may initially think for an event. As per usual, we included a little incentive for competition through prize money, ensured the donuts for morning tea were ordered, made sure we receive a large delivery of square boxes from the local pizza shop for those pulling a late night and let the cross-department teams hack as much as they could in the time provided.

The outcome you ask!?

In total, we had 77 ‘hackers’ in the office trying to further enhance products and services already in the marketplace or internal processes staff live and breathe on a daily basis. The participants formed teams of 3-5 people, mixing internal departments as at the end of the two days was a tradeshow in the Melbourne head office over a two hour period.

Teams who engaged with the sales or marketing department may have had a slight advantage however at the end of the day, there could only be one winner!

Whilst the idea’s and ‘hacks’ generated from staffing releasing their inner beast will remain a Pentana Solutions secret, for now, there’s already talk of next year’s event. If you think this is something you’d like to be involved with, perhaps as a visitor or have an idea you’d like to see worked on, email us at marketing@pentanasolutions.com.