Stefano Kals

along with onway – how long have you been on board?

I have been a happy member, sailing along with onway since August 2020.

What tasks does your role include?

As a systems engineer and software developer, my main area of responsibility clearly lies in automating the infrastructure of both internal and customer-oriented software and hardware solutions. This includes upgrading and orchestrating virtual machines and appliances for our customers. In addition, as a consultant to external companies, I also develop customised back-end, front-end and infrastructure-as-code solutions. What’s more, my tasks as a systems engineer also include operating and monitoring internal systems, as well as customer systems.

What do you particularly enjoy about your job?

Thanks to our company’s SME structure and size, we are full-stack through and through in every area we work in: whether that’s developing a back-end API interface, creating a CI/CD pipeline, developing a front-end solution and then deploying it, or building an infrastructure-as-code solution to offer customer-related or internal project automation. I particularly enjoy the range of topics covered and the possibility of developing further. Right now, I can’t think of a job where I would have more variety.

Which technologies and topics do you come across in your job?

The technologies used range from simple Bash and Python scripts to comprehensive Ansible playbooks and modules, object-oriented Python scripts, CI/CD using Jenkins or GitLab, back-end and front-end solutions based on web frameworks such as Django or Flask, as well as VMware vCenter and ESXi hypervisors, Bind DNS, SDA, SD-WAN, CI/CD pipelines, and the Rundeck runbook automation tool – with certainly more to come.

What professional expertise are you bringing to the table?

Thanks to my sound basic education and university studies at the HSR University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil, as well as my ability to teach myself, I am fully prepared for the future of my sector in the IT industry. Given my flexibility and willingness to learn new things, I can also adapt well to the rapidly changing IT landscape, its development and new technologies. These characteristics and many more besides represent a great advantage in my current position as a systems engineer, architect and developer.

What are your plans for the future, what do you definitely want to achieve with onway?

Due to rapid growth, it is becoming increasingly important and urgent to achieve an increasing degree of automation. This enables us to keep pace with growth, avoid unnecessary costs and also ensure greater security thanks to uniform systems, while achieving a lower error rate. This makes systems more congruent and easier to maintain, which automatically leads to having fewer snowflake systems. I would like to further promote this spirit.

Why onway? To me, working at onway means…

To me, working at onway means a certain amount of freedom. This is particularly due to the hybrid working model, the possibility of taking unpaid leave, as well as being able to find tasks, problems and their solutions independently. And let’s not forget the family-like team spirit and the flat hierarchy.

Any final words?

Don’t be a monkey, be a bird.

04/2022