Every application is a little puzzle to be solved. I love cryptograms.

Connie Smaardijk

Sogeti Netherlands, Senior Infrastructure Specialist

My story in IT began after I’d finished an HTML course and got involved in building websites. I liked it so much that I decided to have a go at it and become a real professional. I applied for a job with several companies before being taken onboard in 1999 by Iquip, one of the companies that later became Sogeti. After passing an admission test, I started training.

It was an infrastructure course and it really suited me. It put everything in perspective for me. IS people are very pragmatic and so the course was very well organized and structured. I learned how to be practical in both my thinking and my solutions, and I got all the necessary certifications.

Over the years I learned a lot more, taking part in courses, workshops and seminars, getting more certificates – as ‘Sogetists’ do. You have to stay in tune with what’s happening in the wider business environment; there are so many developments going on all the time. At Sogeti, we get every support available to keep our knowledge up-to-date and to enable us to progress professionally.

There is a culture within Sogeti that is both stimulating and inspiring. The organization is very open, with a flat management hierarchy. Here in Holland, we number 3,000 people, but it still feels small.

You can make contact with whoever you need, wherever they are. If I want to know something, I just call or mail. As colleagues, we discuss things, exchange ideas; there’s a strong sense of wanting to achieve and to perform. And, what’s also important is that there is a lot of pleasure and fun in what people do.

For some years I’ve been involved in developments around Packaging, which is about the preparation of new applications and updates for automatic distribution. I’ve developed three courses on InFraMe® Application Deployment.

That was immensely satisfying because I like not only gaining knowledge but also sharing it.

Packaging is creating a lot of interest among IT managers at the moment, because it deals with integration problems in office automation. All our client workshops are fully booked right now and are very well received. I notice that we consistently have a strong story to tell. With our deep experience in building software, testing, implementation and maintenance, we know how to tackle awkward software installations.

Systems integration begins with questions: “What are you going to integrate?” and “The components that you distribute and maintain – what qualities should they have?” If you put garbage in, you get garbage out – in your desktop environment. We can demonstrate the conflicts that can arise and, more importantly, the conflicts that have to be solved, as well as the ones that are of lesser importance. You have to know the context for an application.

My experience in daily practice is that, in most integration projects, I could and should have been involved at an earlier stage.

I am convinced that the value of a solution is in the logic you apply, and not in the tools themselves.

That’s why I have the ambition to become a consultant or an architect. That also would be the perfect response to some of those quippy remarks I sometimes get from male colleagues, when I’ve cracked a problem; “Huh! Can you do that?” I like that kind of surprise.

Most of my work, and what I enjoy most, is about coming up with technical solutions. Every application, every program is a little puzzle that has to be solved. The more difficult the puzzle, the more fun it is. That’s why I love doing cryptograms.