Name | Thomas Wagner |
Position at COPS | Release Manager |
At the company since | 2015 |
Age | 34 |
Hobbies | Hiking, mountain biking, sailing |
What connects me to corima is … | … my first professional contact with the IT industry, in other words the start and my career so far at COPS. |
In 10 years… | … maybe not in 10 years, but in the next five, I think we will face exciting challenges that will have a lasting impact on our work. |
corimamagazine: Hi Thomas, in our May issue Robert Lukas said, „Release Management ensures that all necessary deployments are in place for development and testing and supports our customers with installation and maintenance directly on their environments.“ You are Release Manager at COPS and have a central and important position. What do our corima users have to imagine by this job title?
Thomas Wagner (twa): Deployments are of course a part of our job. We primarily take care of the technical side of a software installation. First of all, we set up infrastructures. We do this hand in hand with our colleagues from administration, testing and the development administration team. Our task is to make sure that these environments are available to all parties involved, like customers, key account managers and developers, and that the technical requirements are met to be able to install corima on the individual environments. Once the installation has been carried out at the customer’s site, we are responsible for planning and carrying out maintenance and releases. This is done in predefined cycles, compliance with which is also our focus. In summary, it is a lot of interaction with all departments and the customers.
corimamagazine: So this means that after installation at the customer’s site, updates such as changes, improvements and adjustments are always made to the delivered package?
twa: Yes, and that can be for a variety of reasons. Operationally, it can be changes in regulation and trading titles or new types of business, for example. Technically, it can be adjustments to external requirements, for example, due to changing framework conditions from operating systems, etc.
corimamagazine: You wrote in the questionnaire that you believe you will face exciting challenges in release management over the next five years that will have a lasting impact on the work in your team. Robert Lukas also said the following in the last issue: „Our code management will be reformed to enable fast and continuous releases in the future.“ What does that mean exactly?
twa: We want to develop our branching in a new direction. This means that we will adapt the internal processes, and thus there will certainly also be greater integration of individual colleagues and their departments into these processes. I expect a strong adaptation of the previous approach in release management. Along with this restructuring, I expect to see several simplifications in our area. We can then use this to further improve release quality.
corimamagazine: What skills do you need in your job to do it well?
twa: The willingness to acquire technical knowledge. Building up this technical understanding, developing the ability to work in a structured and yet agile manner, or better already bring it along. A good resistance to pressure is also an advantage. Especially in the face of time pressure. We are part of the chain, but with the workflows directly with the customer.
„ The real challenge is the regular confrontation with reality.“
corimamagazine: What are the most intense challenges when you do your job?
twa: Every installation, every customer is different. Achieving standardization is our aspiration and automation always a more relevant part, but there are always individual, customer-specific requirements. The real challenge is the regular confrontation with reality. Everything always looks easy on the plan until you start implementing it (laughs). Both every customer and every possible requirement is individual to begin with.
„ As a small team, we must stand up to a horde of stakeholders.“
corimamagazine: To what extent is internal communication and cooperation crucial to the success of your job?
twa: As a small team, we must stand up to a horde of stakeholders. At its core, this is the challenge in internal and external communications. We meet the requirements of very different areas. Sometimes it takes good nerves of steel there, too.
„ There is also no micro-communication in the home office. There are no „chats on the floor“ on the way to the refrigerator or the coffee machine.“
corimamagazine: How has your job changed since Corona?
twa: Hardly at all in terms of external communication. We have always been connected there only remotely. But internally, it has brought about some changes. The distance is shorter when everyone is in the office. The expectation of accessibility and flexibility is different in the home office. If you visit each other at work occasionally and one of you sees that the other is on the phone with customers, you simply come back later or call again. In the home office, the barriers are often blurred. You have a lot of communication channels to handle. There is also no micro-communication in the home office. There are no „chats on the floor“ on the way to the refrigerator or the coffee machine. But in our job, and in general, this is a very important factor that promotes collaboration on a qualitative level.
corimamagazin: Thomas, let’s talk about something completely different: This spring, you were voted employee of the past year by your colleagues in Austria. Why do you think you were chosen by the majority?
twa: I really have no idea! (laughs)
corimamagazine: Could it perhaps be because as Release Manager you interface with a wide variety of departments and colleagues and communicate with all of them regularly?
twa: After all, there were no criteria established before the election. How could there be? So maybe it has something to do with communication skills. Being present could also have been a decisive factor. And perhaps the internal and external interface function that we have. In any case, I was very pleased to receive this award.
corimamagazine: Thomas, thank you very much for this interesting interview and good luck with all upcoming challenges for your release team and with the next election for employee of the year.
twa: Thank you, very much.