When he started at EASI, he made everyone jealous for an entire year with his red, 3-door coupé leasing car. That car is gone, but the EASI spirit and the passion for his job remain! Meet the ambassador of our System Engineers: Chris Carremans.
How did you end up at EASI?
I did my graduation project for the firm Appligen. I developed a website for them for placing orders, scheduling staff, and so forth. They were so enthusiastic about it, that they offered me a contract immediately, and I went to work there when I graduated. Five years later, Appligen was acquired by EASI and I am still working here. EASI and Appligen were complementary, of course, so it was a logical choice to become part of this fantastic story, but technically speaking, this is still my first job.
Why do you stay at EASI?
I had never seen the professionalism and degree of organization before. We work with a SmartShare ecosystem and once you work with it, you can no longer imagine how you could do without it. But it is all about the total package. In the end, the decisive factors for me were the advice and support and the good atmosphere. Management and colleagues alike have the same positive attitude, and it is wonderful to work in such an environment.
EASI is moreover a well-known company. The fact that we have managed to win all sorts of prizes, makes people keep asking: what do we – what do I -- do precisely? I always speak with a great deal of pride about EASI and my job. Because of the technical terms, I cannot always explain easily what I do exactly, but if I say that I can shut down an entire company at the push of a button, people get an immediate idea of the responsibilities that my job entails.
Give it a try, nonetheless: what is your week like?
My job is extremely diverse. We often carry out remote interventions from the office. This means that we work for our clients from a distance. Such work ranges from installation and implementation to configuration, or carrying out improvements on the IT infrastructure of our clients such as updates, detecting errors, controlling things proactively, providing advice, etc.
In addition we go on location to carry out tasks when new things have to be set up or to carry out proactive checks, for instance.
We also provide technical support regularly at the request of our sales colleagues. This often entails pooling forces and resources and working out solutions together with them for the client.
Inside the company, we provide support for colleagues in various fields such as virtualization, storage, back-up, security, IBM Power, networking, etc.
What is the nicest project you recently worked on?
‘Geographic Information Management’. This project entailed renewing infrastructure, i.e. hosts, storage, network, back-up and disaster recovery. I had the opportunity to develop this project from A to Z. It was a success and that is what makes it fun.
I got extra satisfaction from the fact that I was able to design, defend, and ultimately coordinate entirely and implement the solution for the client. Sound and smooth cooperation with the client is essential in this process, and I am pleased to no end that they show so much trust and confidence.
You have been working for EASI for five years. Has your career already taken any turns?
When you work at EASI, you are always working on your career. How you can grow and develop further is always discussed thanks to the assessment interviews. These structured assessments provide transparency on what is expected of you. So you know perfectly what your goals are. You can then test the expectations of your current or future job on the basis of new responsibilities or assignments.
After a career spanning ten years, I can say that I have been able to gauge all sorts of assignments and responsibilities properly. So I managed to get promoted to Senior System Engineer. EASI really appreciates its employees. A word or note of thanks is often forthcoming. Winning the EASI spirit award in 2016 was the icing on the cake for me – all the more so as I did not see it coming and knew nothing about it beforehand.
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start as a System Engineer at EASI?
You must like your job, because then you can give it your all. Those who can continue to motivate themselves to do their best, get real satisfaction. And finally, I would ad: seize all the opportunities offered to you. Continue to challenge yourself. You can then expect congratulatory remarks from clients, colleagues and managers. Who could ask for anything more?
