Cegeka offers me a comfort zone without actually being in a comfort zone.
Alexandra Macovei, Storage System Engineer
What’s your favorite part of the job?
Gabriel: For over 7 years, I've served as the Subject Matter Expert for IBM block storage products, updating work instructions and other documentation. I communicate regularly with vendors to stay informed on new features, potential bugs, or vulnerabilities that may require firmware upgrades.
I take great satisfaction in coaching and mentoring others. I’ve found that I have a knack for helping colleagues understand complex technical concepts and supporting their career journeys.
Ciprian: The part of my work that I enjoy the most is working each day with engineers who have great knowledge and experience and that the tasks’ rotation changes regularly.
Mihai: In recent years I’ve been focused on internal projects related to our NAS infrastructure. Besides that, my role has been a mixed bag: from designing technical improvements and assisting our infrastructure architects with specialized expertise, to delivering presentations/workshops. Currently, I’m excited to work on the design for our infrastructure automation efforts.
Alexandra: Since day one I enjoyed the tasks’ diversity. I don’t like monotony, so being able to mix support with automation is the best part of the job for me.
Tell us about your background
Mihai: Before working in IT, I used to… dream about working in IT – I’m one of those lucky ones! I studied to become a programmer, but IT infrastructure engineering got me hooked instead. In these 12+ years I’ve worked in various IT infrastructure areas, so my background is extensive, but I’ve dedicated the past 5 years to purely Enterprise Storage infrastructure.
Gabriel: Before joining Cegeka, I worked for 13 years in IBM. Before my IT career, I was also an engineer - repairing multifunctional copy machines 😊. The transition was smooth, as my Computer Science degree gave me a solid foundation.
Alexandra: I was a Computer Science student when I joined Cegeka as a Support engineer. Gabriel was my mentor and he helped me implement my first tasks on SVC. Now I can definitely say that I can work on everything with the confidence built over the years. I cannot see myself working in another industry.
Ciprian: I started working in the IT industry in 2014, as a junior storage admin with no experience. Previously, I was a financial consultant for +7 years and I also worked as a sales consultant in the furniture industry. I enjoyed working in sales, but I wanted something different, that didn’t involve frequent travel, so I switched to IT.
Our portfolio has a wide variety of infrastructure solutions, and you all work on all of them. Which technologies do you each focus on?
Alexandra: My main focus is on Block Storage solutions, but I have a passion for automation, so I add this ingredient to everything I do.
Ciprian: I’m responsible for maintaining the shared and dedicated SAN and Storage infrastructures configured in our two datacenters or in the customer’s DCs. I’m specialized in Enterprise Block Storage solutions from different vendors and SAN infrastructure.
Mihai: My main technical proficiency is with Enterprise NAS solutions. Since joining the team 5 years ago I’ve been improving and evolving the services based on this sort of platform.
Gabriel: I specialize in Block Storage solutions and SAN switches, and I’m enthusiastic about troubleshooting, especially on performance issues. I'm also actively involved in automating processes to improve efficiency across the board.
What do you find most interesting about the infrastructures you manage?
Ciprian: They’re complex and dynamic! We provide a wide range of services using solutions from the majority of storage vendors in the market, so we constantly upgrade and refresh the infrastructure, providing our customers with the latest features.
Mihai: Our portfolio encompasses several robust services built around the infrastructure that we manage. We focus on growing our services in quality – when that’s taken care of, quantity follows naturally.
Gabriel: It gives me a sense of pride and great satisfaction to contribute to such a dynamic infrastructure. Our close collaboration with vendors ensures their support for every unique challenge we encounter.
Alexandra: It’s complex, it’s dynamic, it’s new and never boring. When someone asks why I’m working in the same team for more than 6 years, I tell them that every day I learn something new.
What are you most proud of since you joined this team?
Gabriel: Mentoring two new colleagues – one with no storage experience and the other with no IT experience at all. I helped them become L2 engineers in a production environment within just 2-3 months! It was rewarding, and I'm proud of how quickly they adapted and succeeded.
Alexandra: No doubt, joining this team with no Storage experience and going from L2 Support Engineer to L3 System Engineer! I started by having a mentor follow me step by step for each task, and I’ve become an engineer who can explain our Storage solutions and quickly learn new ones.
Mihai: There are several achievements and milestones that get me excited when I look back. For example, when I joined the team, I had the chance to improve the monitoring setup of our NAS infrastructure. I came up with ideas for a fresh start, redesigning almost the entire process. After implementation, the operational overhead shrank substantially, and the monitoring process was more stable and easier to follow.
Ciprian: The biggest achievement for me was taking full advantage of the technical knowledge I was provided. My colleagues and managers had a great role in this achievement, as they created the perfect climate.
What's it like to work at Cegeka?
Gabriel: My initial impression was that Cegeka could be a place where I’d stay until retirement – and I still feel this way today. During my first days I was a bit reserved, but I quickly discovered how interesting the work environment was and how fantastic the team I had joined was.
Ciprian: Working in the Data Management Storage team is great because we are one team across three countries. We know how to work together well and surpass any obstacle, but also how to laugh and have a good time. This is something that I didn’t experience until joining Cegeka.
Mihai: My colleagues are not just amazing professionals, but they’re also down to earth, pragmatic, and fun. Couldn’t have wished for a better team – I call my pack “The Storage Rangers”. Oh, did I mention we have an after-hours board games club? On top of that, I appreciate the diverse technological landscape and the amazing development opportunities.
Alexandra: Cegeka offers me a comfort zone without actually being in a comfort zone. The environment can be stressful, the tasks can be critical, the workload can be sizable but working with the best team I could ask for makes everything much easier and pleasant. My feedback is always heard, and we never ignore one other’s opinions.
