What does an Integration Architect do? Michal will tell you

Michal joined msg life Slovakia more than half a year ago, during the period of strict pandemic measures. Despite his slight fears, the onboarding went beyond expectations and thanks to his helpful fellow developers and testers, Michal got used to his new job very quickly. Are you interested in working as a non-life insurance integration architect? Read this interview to find out more.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

I have been working here for seven months.

What kind of job do you work in?

I joined msg life Slovakia as an integration architect for non-life insurance.

How did you get into this job?

The most common way. When I was young, I was interested in computers, games and everything around it, so it was easy for me to choose a university. Later on, my career evolved from a 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 job offer as I had previously worked as a release manager architect. Often I had dealt with integration with other systems directly at the customer’s site. And also employee benefits were interesting. Although I am not employed on a permanent basis, but a freelancer, msg life Slovakia treats me in the same way and I appreciate that very much. And I would definitely add the overall care to make the person feel comfortable and like one big family at work.

How is working for us different from your previous work experience?

Certainly the use of foreign languages, as both customers and many colleagues are from German-speaking countries. Also the use of technology and setting standards. In everything, there is an effort to be consistent.

How was your onboarding during the second wave of the pandemic?

I was, to tell you the truth, a bit worried about onboarding. Firstly, I joined during the restrictions, not knowing exactly what to expect, and secondly, I knew I was going to work for Nexinsure, our sister company. The training itself would normally be more challenging, as everyone – colleagues and customers alike – are located in Germany. In the end, however, I worried unnecessarily.

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 and what to study. I also received training on how to use the ERP system to schedule tasks, request leave or record project time.

Then I studied the materials in the home office and after the first two weeks I started working on the project, because every help was needed. So the initial training 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 possibility to ask questions in person, directly to colleagues in the office. After all, when everyone is present in the office, asking and answering is much faster than online via communication tools. Anyway, everything went fine and despite all the restrictions 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 correctly. Compliance with the standard is followed, production issues are resolved and integration is addressed, especially internally between components, but also externally with other systems such as Nexinsure with Life or with client systems. At the same time, this job is also about helping developers with a project if they are not sure about something, whether it is related to the development environment, test environments, build, or component deployment.

Besides working for Nexinsure, are you working on other projects?

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 am the only integration architect, but there are other testers and developers working on the project for Nexinsure. The company will also open new job 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 solve a lot of production problems where I communicate a lot with developers on the project as well as architects or developers on the standards side. Other times, I deal with a broken environment or other requirement. What is interesting about this job is the variety, i.e. that the working days are not monotonous and the tasks change.

What is your job about?

The main role is to assist the project technically, make the right decisions and help solve technical problems. In this work, it is important to have a sense of perspective as well as an overview of what is important, what is a priority.

Who do you communicate with to solve problems?

Within the project I communicate with all participants, from the project manager to the developers. And also with 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, I communicate with the architects on the product side.

What project are you working on right now?

I am working on a Uniqa Life project (life insurance) and also on a PnC project (non-life insurance), where two companies from the msg family – Life and Nexinsure – are working together.

What apps do you use at work?

I can’t do without Eclipse, since 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. I also regularly use tools for working with SVN and GIT – Tortoise or GIT GUI. Minor configuration modifications I do either directly with commands in the Linux environment via the console with Putty or mRemoteNG, or when I need to, I download the files using WinSCP and edit them in Notepad++. All these tools can be mastered very quickly.

What skills are important for your job?

A broad technological outlook, very good analytical problem-solving thinking, team communication skills as well as the ability to work in a stressful situation are definitely required. It is good to know how to navigate in Java, Bean or Spring. Also what 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?

Certainly the fact that the work is not monotonous, and the fact that these are such large-scale projects that I still have a lot to learn, even after six months. I also like the team, both at Life and Nexinsure.

What are your colleagues like?

Excellent, so far I haven’t encountered any reluctance or negativity from them. They are not only great to work with, but also great to joke with.

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

A new colleague should not lack consistency, adaptability, analytical thinking, be able to accept criticism and like to laugh.

Three characteristics that come to your mind when you say msg life Slovakia?

Great team, family atmosphere, fair approach.

Are you interested in Michal’s work? Join our team as an Integration Architect or IT Talent with German Language.