Rockstar Interview
KPN CO (formerly Reggefiber) provides millions of residents with lightning-fast Internet through the largest fiber optic network in the Netherlands. Large-scale expansions and maintenance by both in-house mechanics and outside parties take place daily. To facilitate this work, native in-house applications have been developed for Android and iOS.
IT Rockstar Kevin is responsible for a set of applications in which simplicity and reliability are very important, helping users in doing their jobs.
Among other things, the applications provide for displaying relevant technical data, being able to report problems/irregularities and to make access to technical premises more secure. The platform and various components are constantly being improved, expanded and searched for new applications.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PROJECT?
The project has a multitude of techniques and interfaces to a variety of systems (both software and hardware), each presenting different challenges. This while, of course, keeping the front end as simple as possible.
What techniques tooling did you use?
- Android apps: Java, Android Studio, Realm
- iOS Apps: Object-C and Swift, XCode, Realm
- Backends: Java, Spring, Tomcat, RESTful and Soap services, Oracle, Hibernate
- Web frontends: Javascript/Typescript, AngularJS
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF WITHIN THIS PROJECT?
When I took over the project I was the only developer, eventually we grew to a small team in a year. In the process, I was able to do my part in introducing scrum and communication to other departments.
During this period, we flawlessly expanded the project from c.a. a thousand technical objects in the system, to over 35,000 objects spread across a range of systems.
WHAT DID THE PROJECT DELIVER TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE/USER?
A set of applications in which simplicity and reliability are very important, helping users in doing their work.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE PROJECT?
The transition from a single developer to a team was a learning journey. Also, this is my first project where I maintained and expanded the Android application.
WHAT MADE TEAM ROCKSTARS IT-WORTHY?
The project required a high degree of independence, which in addition to the necessary responsibility offered a lot of room for own initiative. This ensures that a Rockstar can do his thing here.
What does our rockstar say on this project?
The project required a high degree of independence.
