More than 70 specialists and trainees work in the Backoffice IT at the Lingen (Ems) site. Three of them are Felix, Thorsten and Tobias. Although they work in different sub-teams, together they form the core team for our Container Platform. In this interview, they reveal what a container is in IT, why there is no standstill at ROSEN and which knowledge they share at conferences.
Hello Felix, Thorsten and Tobias. All three of you work in IT at ROSEN. What are your tasks there?
Felix: I mainly take care of the database servers that are needed here internally for our software, for example the Business Software or RODAT. And just like the other two, I'm responsible for our Container Platform and everything to do with installation, maintenance and operation.
Thorsten: I work in IT for the Third Party Administration team, where I take care of the virtualization, i.e. the server and client virtualization environment as well as the storages, our file transfer Aspera and the PRO.FILE environment. This is how I got involved in the CMP project, the Container Management Platform Project. If you would set a focus there, I also take care of the virtualization and storage systems in this project.
Tobias: I'm still quite new at ROSEN and have specialized in the Container Platform from the very beginning. I take care of the project 100 percent and all the services we provide around it. I do the installation, develop new features and operate the services on the cluster, authentication, dashboards – everything you need.
So you three are all responsible for the Container Platform. What does that mean?
Thorsten: Exactly, we are basically the core team for the Container Platform and ensure that the platform runs. Containers are software packages that contain all the elements required to run an application in any environment. The Container Platform is the associated infrastructure on which we enable developers to run their software. Containers are small packages in which the application is run. This container is started up on our infrastructure and then provides a service. Put simply, if Word, for example, were packaged as an application in a container, you could open Word on your laptop and work with it without having installed the program first.
Although you are working together on the CMP project, you are not in the same organizational teams within IT. How do you organize the collaboration?
Tobias: We have a daily meeting with the entire CMP team that takes place every morning at 9.30 am. There are eleven of us in total. Then we also have a board on which we track our tasks, note any bugs we find, new features we develop, etc.. We basically go through it every morning, discuss who is doing what during the day and where there is a need for coordination or where someone needs help.
Thorsten: Exactly, we created the Daily to be able to coordinate better across teams. Many of the services that we provide as IT are also included in the Container Platform and there are interfaces to other services that we also support.
You regularly travel to conferences and give talks there. How did that get started and what are the talks about?
Thorsten: That's right, we regularly go to conferences. That's a good way to network. We have already come into contact with many other companies there and exchanged ideas about challenges, for example. When we talk to other IT experts there, it always becomes clear how well positioned we are at ROSEN with our hardware and software solutions. That was also the reason for one of the first presentations: We are a Pure Storage customer and we use a product they have developed in our Container Platform. As our environment is very large, they approached us to see if we would be willing to write a customer success story for them and act as a speaker to tell the story of how the integration went from a customer perspective. So I went there this year.
Tobias: Felix and I were recently at the OpenShift user meeting. This is where the German community meets to discuss OpenShift – the software we use as a Container Platform. I've been active in the community for many years and was asked at KubeCon in April if I could present what we do and what challenges we have overcome. That's how we ended up giving a presentation in Munich. In April, I was also at a Heise conference and gave a talk on GitOps.
Felix: It's always nice to broaden your horizons and see how other companies approach some things. And that we at ROSEN are really well positioned.
What qualities are particularly important in your job?
Thorsten: The primary characteristic that comes to mind is the constant desire to develop further. So much happens in IT, even in just one or two years. If we look at our CMP project as an example, which we have only been doing for three years, we can see what software we already used in it. So it's important to enjoy trying new things and not to stand still.
Tobias: The ability to analyze is also very important, especially in our profession. Analyzing errors and trying to find the root cause. That's practically daily business.
Felix: I would also add teamwork. You can do a lot on your own, but especially when you have a problem or analyze a mistake – it can help if you look at it again with several people. Ideally from different areas with different perspectives. That is always helpful.
What makes the job so exciting for you?
Felix: For me, definitely working with new technologies, like now with the CMP project. Everything is constantly evolving, there are always new things. So it never gets boring and it's always exciting to continue developing our systems.
Tobias: A big factor for me, which is why I joined ROSEN, is the drive to develop and improve. And because this urge exists at an organizational level, you also have many opportunities as a person to develop yourself and the systems we have. No one here would think of standing still. I have experienced this differently in my professional past.
How did you get into your profession?
Thorsten: I started working with computers in the fourth grade, back then with a 386. Since then, I've had a great interest in IT and have continued to develop it. First, I completed an apprenticeship as a Business Administration Assistant, and then as an IT Clerk. Then I remained there and turned my hobby into my job, so to speak. I've been working in IT at ROSEN for 13 years now, but I also spend a lot of time with IT in my private life and occasionally implement smaller projects.
Felix: My situation is similar to Thorsten's. I started my apprenticeship at ROSEN in IT in 2014, initially in the Helpdesk & Support team. In the third year of my apprenticeship, I then changed to the Service Administration team. Of course, this also changed my area of responsibility. It's quite exciting and I've learned a lot about IT infrastructure since then. I was always very interested in maintaining the systems in the background and learning how it all works.
Tobias: I'm more or less a newcomer to ROSEN and joined the team in July 2023. Before that, however, I worked here for a year as an external consultant. I started learning programming when I was twelve. I've always been interested in computers and have done a lot with computers. After secondary school, I completed an apprenticeship as an Electronics Technician and later studied Software Development. Since then, I've worked as a consultant and that's how I came to ROSEN.
What makes ROSEN special for you?
Thorsten: From an IT perspective, I can definitely say that the team's opinion carries a lot of weight, is heard and valued and is also included in decisions, especially when it comes to software and hardware. In my 13 years here, I have never experienced anything being decided over our heads and imposed on us. I know this differently from my time before ROSEN and I really appreciate the fact that the opinions and expertise of the employees are very important here. It is also really easy to develop professionally. We are always trying out new things and if there is a need for training, for example, this is always made possible.
Tobias: In the IT organization, a lot of emphasis is placed on further developing the systems. Everyone strives to improve and pulls together. As a result, cooperation between the various teams in IT is very close and overarching. We regularly exchange ideas, share our knowledge and help each other. It's really very harmonious here.
Felix: I love the fact that we are always at the forefront of technology, both in terms of hardware and software. That is definitely not something to be taken for granted. Here in the region in particular, we are really very well positioned with our IT, both in terms of the systems and the team. That's definitely another point that comes to mind: the colleagues are in a great mood and it's a lot of fun, both at work and in private life.
What are your goals for the future?
Thorsten: Personally, I can say that I think the way we work together in the current CMP project is amazing and the idea behind it is also very great. We have now also adopted the GitOps approach and will be launching a small initiative to expand this a little further in IT in order to make it even more efficient.
Tobias: Keyword 'automation'. We have a lot of processes that we automate, which of course saves a huge amount of time and makes our users happier because they don't have to wait as long. That's one of the big goals for me.
Felix: I can agree with both of them. The working approach in the CMP project was really exciting, i.e. the automation and 'Infrastructure as Code'. It was fun to implement this and I hope that it will soon be used more in other areas too. As Thorsten has already said, we are launching a small initiative for this. It really adds value. Traditionally, systems were previously configured using interfaces or deployed via scripts. In this 'Infrastructure as Code', however, we have the complete configuration in a Git with version control. When we make changes, they are all properly tracked. This makes support much more convenient.
Tobias: The aim is also to roll out our platforms to other locations worldwide. Felix and I were in Houston a few weeks ago and set up a corresponding platform. And next year it will continue. In any case, we never get bored – things are always moving forward.
Thank you for the interesting insights!
Note: Tobias will give a talk at the cim conference on Friday
The cim conference will take place on Thursday and Friday (September 19 and 20) at the IT Center in Lingen. Focus topic 2024: AI in the business environment – possibilities, use, benefits.
Tobias will also be there as a speaker and will give a presentation entitled 'Lessons learned: Container Platform & AI @ROSEN' on Friday at 10.30 am.
All information about cim and registration can be found here: https://cim-lingen.de/