‘I help bring structure, to make sure everybody is doing what they are good at and makes them happy’

What was it that appealed to you in this post at RINIS?

“This vacancy came exactly at the right time. I had been with the same organisation for fifteen years, so I was looking to broaden and deepen my know-how and experience. I really wanted to get back to working as part of an organisation which is really about IT as its true focus. And to subsequently not only implement policy but also lend my conceptual input on the course of things. All of which I am now able to do as the IT manager at RINIS: I’m involved with major IT developments whilst simultaneously contributing to strategic policy and real change. In practical terms too, joining RINIS has been the right decision. I live in Amsterdam, which means I can ride into work in Amstelveen by bike.”

What did you make of your first hundred days on the job?

“Starting out at RINIS felt like a warm, comfortable bath. The people at RINIS are a close-knit team with a great deal of technical know-how. Everybody’s open to new people and fresh ideas. By the same token, you do notice that the organisation is growing. With just over 70 staff, there is a need for more structure and clarity. Which is where I come in. I used my first few weeks to get to know everybody at my department in person. Listening to people one on one: who are you, what is it you do and how can I help? Not everybody was used to being asked this kind of questions, I noticed. But this is how I operate: I’m an enabling leader. I want to make sure everybody is doing what they are good at and makes them happy.”

What does your job as an IT manager entail?

“I’m now heading up three teams: the Managed Services team manages software applications, the Infra team works on all things to do with infrastructure and connectivity and the Staff team is made up of technical architects and information security officers. Together, they deliver the secure, reliable and guaranteed message exchanges RINIS is well-reputed for. There’s no need for me to tell these people how to do their job. My role is to create the right framework and provide them with the resources needed so they can do a good job. And I keep an eye on whether people are in the right job. It’s part of what being an employer is all about: offering people the right working environment for them to thrive in. Where this is not the case, I like to help come up with ways to lend appropriate substance to people’s duties to make sure they are in the right post.”

What are the challenges RINIS faces?

“Our challenges can be broken down into technological and staffing challenges. The latter comes first: in order to get all the work done, we need good people. And they’re thin on the ground. This is due to the tight labour market, but also because of the fact that RINIS and the work we do is remains relatively unknown. Which is a blessing considering the nature of what we do: we kind of prefer to operate in the shadows. But it does it make it harder to find people.” (Laughing) “Which is why I’d like to go on record in this interview to extol RINIS’s virtues as a rewarding employer. We work on complex and socially relevant IT projects. At the same time, the organisation has a welcoming, open-minded shop floor culture where everybody is given room to grow and develop. What you do has an impact. Plus you work alongside colleagues who take pride in the things they achieve as a team. If you’re driven by the desire to make a difference, RINIS is a great place to work.”

So what are the technology challenges at RINIS you deal with in your day-to-day duties?

“It’s in our nature to think, ‘We don't need the market, we’ll do it ourselves.’ A stance that served us well for a long time. However, nowadays there are quite a few solutions on the market that are able to take over the easier part of the work we do at a much lower cost. This includes things like basic management or support outside of office hours. Things we are looking into now, as sourcing this kind of stuff elsewhere leaves us with more time to devote to our complex substantive duties ourselves. Which takes me to another technology development. That is to say, the fact that we are witnessing a rising need for real-time message exchanges. Whereas previously we would be driving back and forth in a highly secure delivery van between our customers acting as the proverbial postman, we are now increasingly exchanging messages in real time. One way to do so is via the RINIS Cloud Hub for instance, a service we recently launched. Federated Service Connectivity or FSC is also conducive in this development. This standard is part of Digikoppeling and allows us to assist organisations with implementing this standard.”

If we were to meet up again 100 days from now, what kind of things do you think you will have achieved?

“I would hope we’d have more things sorted out on the front end by then. This includes things like security by design, privacy by design, and management by design. For new projects, this means we start reflecting at an early stage on how we can run and administer software in a way that is stable and secure. I would also want my department to have clear frameworks and criteria in place to make sure we know what is required at all times to successfully include a project result as part of our range of services. If we manage to pull that of, we’re future-ready.”

Keen to read more testimonials? Be sure to check out the first interview in this series featuring Project Implementation manager Sabeth van Wijnbergen.