Michal will tell you what the job of a non-life insurance integration architect entails
Michal joined msg life Slovakia more than half a year ago, during the strict pandemic measures. Despite slight fears of being trained into the project, his onboarding went beyond expectations and thanks to helpful colleagues from the developers and testers Michal quickly got used to his new job. Are you interested in working as a Non-Life Insurance Integration Architect? Read the interview to find out more.
How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?
“I’ve been working here for seven months.”
What position do you work in?
“I have joined msg life Slovakia as Integration Architect for non-life insurance.”
How did you get your job?
“In the usual way, when I was younger I was interested in computers, games and everything around, so the choice of college was obvious. Later on, my career was profiled from developer towards release management, integration and architecture.”
What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?
“I was intrigued by the the job offers I was already working as a release manager-architect. Often I have also solved integration with other systems on site, at the customer’s site. And also company benefits. Although I am not employed on a permanent basis, but as a freelancer, msg life Slovakia treats me in the same way, and I appreciate that very much. In hindsight, I would definitely add the overall care to make sure that one feels comfortable at work and like one big family.”
How is working for us different from your previous work experience?
“Certainly by using foreign languages, as both customers and many colleagues are from German-speaking countries. So too is the use of technology and the setting of standards. There is a desire to be consistent in everything.”
How was your onboarding during the second wave of the pandemic?
“I was a little worried about onboarding, to tell you the truth. For one thing, I joined during the arrangements, not knowing exactly what to expect, and also knowing that I was going to work for Nexinsure’s sister company. The training itself would normally be more difficult in that everyone, colleagues and customers alike, is based in Germany. But in the end I was worried for nothing.”
Was the online boarding only lectures or also study materials?
“First, I spent three days in person at the workplace. I was given the technical equipment and also basic information on where to find study materials, what to study, I was also given training on how to work with the ERP system for scheduling tasks, requesting leave or recording my project time.
Then I studied the materials from my home office and after the first two weeks I started working on the project, because all help was needed. So the learning curve was accelerated by practice, but I personally preferred this approach. In addition, I was helped by my colleagues who initially accompanied me and were always willing to give me advice and help.”
How do you think the online form of onboarding was different?
“The online form of onboarding was deprived of the opportunity to ask questions in person or directly to colleagues in the office. After all, when everyone is present in the office, asking and answering is also much faster than online via communication tools. Anyway, everything went well and despite all the precautions and online communication, my training went according to plan.”
What is your job description for Nexinsure?
“I work as a technical project manager/architect on a UNIQA project. My job is to oversee the project to make sure everything is technically designed right. Compliance with the standard is followed, production issues are resolved and integration is mainly addressed internally between components, but also externally with other systems such as Nexinsure with Life or client systems. At the same time, this position is also about helping developers with a project if they are unsure about something, whether it’s related to the development environment, test environments, build or component deployment.”
Are you working on other projects outside of your work for Nexinsure?
“Not at the moment, I’m working one hundred percent for Nexinsure.”
Which banks and insurance companies are Nexinsure’s main customers?
“These are mainly insurers from the DACH region (an acronym for the German-speaking part of Europe, where D stands for Germany, the letter A stands for Austria and CH stands for Confoederatio Helvetica, i.e. Switzerland). These include UNIQA, Die Postbeamtenkrankenkasse (PbeaKK), Debeka, Ministerium der Finanzen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (FM NRW), CLE, Ergo, FWUAT, Gothaer, Die Krankenversorgung der Bundesbahnbeamten (KVB), Die Versicherungskammer Bayern (VKB) and many others.”
Are you the only one from the Slovak branch involved in the work for Nexinsure?
“As far as I know, I’m the only integration architect, but there are other testers and developers working on the project for Nexinsure. The company will also open new positions for this project in the near future.”
What does your normal working day look like?
“My ‘normal working day’ is always different, it depends on many variables. Sometimes I have multiple meetings a day, other times I’m solving a lot of production problems where I’m communicating a lot with developers on the project as well as architects or developers on the side of standards. Other times, I’m dealing with a broken environment or other requirement. What’s interesting about this job is the variety, the fact that the working days are not monotonous and the tasks change.”
What is your job?
“The main job is to help the project technically and make the right decisions, also to help solve technical problems. In this work, it’s important to have a perspective, as well as a clear view of what is important and what is a priority.”
Who all are you communicating with to solve any problems?
“Within the project I communicate with all participants, from the project manager to the developers and also on the product (standard) side – it depends on which component the problem is related to. I communicate with everyone, from product owners to developers, to understand the bug and to be able to tell which solution would be best for the project. If it’s a deeper problem, that’s when I communicate with the architects on the product side.”
What project are you working on right now?
“I’m working on a UNIQA Life (life insurance) project and also on PnC (non-life insurance) project where two companies from msg family – Life and Nexinsure – are working together.”
What apps do you use at work?
“I can’t do without Eclipse as we program in JAVA. Knowledge of one of the SQL tools for working with databases such as Oracle SQL Developer or Squirrel is also required. Also use tools for working with SVN and GIT – Tortoise or GIT GUI. Minor configuration modifications I do either directly with commands in Linux environment via console with Putty or mRemoteNG, or when I need to download files using WinSCP and edit them in Notepad++. These are all tools that can be picked up very quickly.”
What skills are important for your job?
“You definitely need a broader technological outlook, very good analytical thinking in problem solving, communicative skills in a team, as well as the ability to work in a stressful situation. It is already good to be familiar with JAVA, Bean or Spring. What do the terms SOAP and REST mean, not to mention XML, Maven, Jenkins, Docker. My knowledge of the insurance industry from previous jobs has also helped me a lot.”
What do you like most about your job?
“Definitely the fact that the work is not monotonous, also the fact that these are such large-scale projects that I still have a lot to learn even after half a year. I also like the collective, whether at Life or Nexinsure.”
Who are your colleagues?
“Excellent, so far I have not encountered any reluctance or negativity. They’re great to work with, but also great to joke with.”
What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?
“A colleague should not lack consistency, adaptability, the ability to think analytically, be able to accept criticism and be able to laugh.”
Three adjectives that come to your mind when you say msg life Slovakia?
“Great staff, family team atmosphere, fair approach.”
Are you interested in Michal’s work? Join our team as an Integration Architect or IT talent with German language skills.
