The dynamic environment of innovation in IT
Amanda Breedijk, business analyst
‘Working at Rabobank gives your career a real boost. I started, as an application specialist, and was eager to be involved in connecting systems. After a few years, the step to becoming a business analyst felt like a logical next move. As a business analyst, analysing the IT systems, design solutions and execute, together with a large team, new upgrades to the system.’
Driven by innovation
‘We do a lot of innovative things here. At the moment, we are implementing a new product layer upgrade for the transaction processing software within Rabobank. It is a really challenging project. It will make the systems more stable and be a step ahead in reliability. We are also redesigning flows to lower the licence costs of servers, which produces significant savings for the bank.’
Technical and functional
‘In my job, you need to be technical as well as functional. It’s important to have a broad understanding of all the systems we are connecting with. I have contact with a lot of other departments within the bank. As a business analyst, you are really in the centre of everything.’
Working agile in a big, diverse team
‘We work really agile in an international environment with a big, diverse international team. You work very close with your colleagues. For example, we have daily stand up and team meetings. That’s nice and you learn a lot in a very short time on a technical as well as personal level. And, of course, in between it’s really fun. We have pool tables, an escape room, PlayStation and a Wii.’
Feel the pressure
‘In our fast changing environment, everything we do has an impact on our customers and the bank. Our systems are really complicated, so it’s crucial and a huge challenge to implement new software with a minimal of customer impact. The business, developers, testers and the ops-engineers need to stay in close contact. Together, we have to find the best solutions and do our utmost to minimise the customer impact. That’s a huge responsibility! If new software goes live, you can really feel the pressure if problems occur.’
Big company, lots of possibilities
‘Rabobank is a large company, so you have a lot of possibilities to grow, as a professional and on a personal level. You can develop yourself in lots of directions. When you start here, you are assigned to a ‘buddy’: a colleague who helps you and guides you in the organisation. Other colleagues are always willing to help. The moments when they were not available and I had to solve everything were my most important learning moments. I also attended many courses. As a result, I have grown on both a professional and personal level. The culture is really open and direct. If you have an idea or want to improve something, on a technical or personal level, you are encouraged to act and make it happen.’