My name is Jake de Villiers. I head up the Opensource, Java, Spring and AWS world
and we are typically the engineers in the team that are charged with
the overall architecture of solutions.
So the analogy from an iceberg perspective - you know roughly 10% of the iceberg is visible
above the waterline. We are the 90% below the waterline - the backend engineers and architects.
So typically, first and foremost, we love technology and we love problem-solving even more.
So that is what makes us tick. Our skillsets are quite a wide variety of tech in the opensource
space. We focus mainly on enterprise type systems. Not exclusively, but mostly and we
are typically seen as fullstack developers but with a big focus on the deep backend
specialisation. So that is really what we're about more backend than any kind of frontend stuff.
We are also tasked with cloud engineering and that is cloud-first, cloud-native kind of environments.
Even hybrid-cloud and then finally from a multi-cloud perspective
we're focusing heavily and partnered heavily with Microsoft and Azure respectively.
I have to say, top of the pile is our philosophy of continuous learning. So we value that greatly
in the company um and that includes mentorship as well as training that we provide the staff,
technical events that we host, and our support from our engineering leads to the other senior
developers. Um, that to us is a winning recipe. That's why we're all into the technology game in
the first place. Um, the second point for me is there's a lot of support that the guys have. That
analogy of safe to fail, quick to learn, we firmly believe in that. Um, so not only technical
support but also from a logistics obviously from a logistics, we're not going to do your
dry cleaning, but we'll help with anything else that you might need, but there's also a
lot of emotional support. Especially in the Covid times, it's proven its value. Um, and support by
your peers. So projects of diversity is another thing that we pride ourselves on. We have a vast
number of project teams with different techstack combinations and different clients, locally and
internationally. Um, and that makes for a great exposure and experience for our guys and our
teams. Um, also as Covid proved to the rest of the world, something that we've known for many years,
Um, we really value remote-first philosophy for our developers.
We know that the developer teams are actually in their most productive, most in their zone if you
leave them alone and do their thing. So we are evangelists with our own clients to promote that
heavily. So, um, where possible we will advise for remote first. Um, our guys also have a strong
sense of belonging, they feel part of the team, part of the tribe. That to us is nice. In many cases,
it's beyond just work colleagues so that's important to us as well. Um, then finally I think,
our guys love to share knowledge. That there's no prima donna - I came up with the goods first.
It's whoever's got a recipe, we love to share it so that to us is a personal trait and philosophy
that we stand firm by. Um, and then we love our go-karting as well but that's for another time.
What stands out personally for me at DVT, it has to be our core values. Now normally a corporate
has core values and it's just painted on their website etc, but I firmly believe ours is not just
lip service. And that's one of the reasons why, back in the day, I joined DVT. And I think if I
have to highlight a few that really resonates personally with me is first of all making an
impact. That's our probably our core value, the most core value, important one, and it's making a
difference. I think, um, people who really strive for something bigger, making a difference really
resonates. Servant leadership, how can I make your lives easier and that reciprocates right through
the company. That really is what teamwork is about. Doing the right thing. We have our personal
moral values and we won't go beyond that. That to me is also very important. And then, finally,
I think work-life-balance, which we all probably all agree that the last 18 months with the Covid
experience has really tested those boundaries of most organisations. So I have to admit we really
try and do our best at actually maintaining and valuing the person behind the role.
I'm not going to be as eloquent as Neil Armstrong was back in the day.
I think one of my first thoughts will probably be with a tongue and cheek to
probably say print-line HELLO WORLD or something quirky like that or I might call through to
mission control and say "Guys, let's not break this one too." So that's that. So,
I think if you guys want to also make a difference in the world and you want to know
more about DVT and our team and the way we work please reach out to us at dvt.co.za and thanks for watching.