What business critical applications have to do with Lego blocks

Cloud Solutions

As a Cloud Consultant you are broadly deployable. Joost-Jan has a background as a Developer and is now a Software Architect with a strong focus on the Cloud. He helps customers with the transition to the (Azure) Cloud. What he notices is that customers come to him more and more with business related questions and not only directly from IT. The projects we handle at TeamValue are often not the easiest, but certainly the most challenging. We are familiar with the 'technology trick', but it is more and more about process change or change in human behaviour. Our name says it all, that is where we offer the most value!

'My goal is to enabler teams and the business to use cloud techonology. It has to start working for them.'

We help organizations move from on-premise to native cloud solutions. But that's not all we do. More often, it's about how we do something, rather than what we do. This is where the connection between IT and the human aspect comes right into play. Call us change agents, business transformers or nerds, we're proud of it.

Automate everything?

Many organisations have to deal with business processes that depend on systems that are continuously up and running. We call these business-critical applications that you must be able to rely on 24/7. Imagine you are selling a product or providing a service, in which you first have to register and/or sign before you can give something away. You are dependent on technology for this. When this doesn't work, your process and with that your service will soon go wrong. Micro Service Architecture is a solution we often use for this. The cloud is always and everywhere available. We ensure that human actions/corrections are limited as much as possible, we automate tests and we provide a 'zero touch deploy'.

Automate everything so you have time for real business transformation! In fact, we also make sure that not just anyone can change or delete with a 'lego block', we only do that from the source. This forces people to think carefully about a change and what the consequences might be. We live in a time where time-to-market is becoming increasingly important (and shorter!), but in addition to making the right building blocks you must also take into account the safety and maintainability of those same building blocks. This keeps my work exciting and no two days are the same.

People are used to building things, but often not used to getting their hands on 'the book'. The biggest kick is to deliver a project together with the team and have them build on it.

Cloud Consultant: building with lego blocks

Besides being a Cloud Consultant, Joost-Jan is also a real family man. He used to play with Lego blocks, and soon his son will too. In this, he sometimes makes the comparison with his work. Actually, the BizDevOps platform is very similar. They are all a kind of building blocks. You start with nothing, build together with your team on a technical solution and when you 'put the last building block on' you can go live. We can say that Joost-Jan has made his hobby his profession. Where customer applications can often be business critical, it is very important to Joost-Jan that he feels at home in a team and can make a real impact with a great project.

The power of the right 'stone

'In my whole life I've never really applied for a job. It's all about the right network, showing where you can create value. That applies to me, but also to TeamValue. We work a lot with Microsoft and clients often find us based on references.

It's great to be part of a growing organisation that dares to do things differently from the rest.

We are looking for people who fit in with our team, who are a real match. If you have mastered the technique and you don't feel at home in a team, it still won't work out. We value character above skill! That's how we think, we look beyond IT. We also do this for our customers. For example, I spent a day at the office in Zwolle to see if the atmosphere and the way I work suited me. After that, I decided to join the company with complete conviction.

The team

'When I joined I started at the same time as my colleague Denise. I work 4 days a week and 1 day I'm at home as a family man. 3 days I work for a client and 1 day I work from our office and the whole team is together. Sometimes I work on a project, other times I spend my time on our great tool TeamNow. Working together in this team doesn't cost me anything, it's very natural. We learn from each other. Where I bring structure, for example, I learn from the creative minds. A golden combination'.

My world consists mainly of technology. That's why I love that I now work at a company with Digital Business, but Human Results.'

My dot on the horizon? As a Cloud Solution Architect, leading a nice big project from concept to implementation. I already do that, but you always have various degrees and challenges in that. I certainly don't have to get bored in an ever-changing IT world. 🙂

We are looking for new colleagues who want to build business critical applications with us. How good are you with lego? Apply now for the vacancy Azure Solution Developer or Azure Solutions Architect.