Name: Florian Martini
Position: Senior System Architect
Worked at Orange Business since: 2008
Based: Berlin

Can you tell us about how you first came in contact with Orange Business?
15 years ago, my journey with Orange Business began when I was part of the pioneering team of the then newly established The unbelievable Machine Company. This makes me one of the most tenured employees here at the German part of Orange Business, Digital Services business line. Over the years, I have been part of two acquisitions, witnessing a significant transformation. The latest acquisition resulted in our rebranding to Orange Business in 2022.

Can you tell us a bit about how it all started to begin with?
It all started with seven people working together at another company. Collectively, we agreed on wanting to start something new from scratch and therefore decided to part ways with our former employer. The unbelievable Machine Company was founded as a result, and I started right from the beginning as part of the first team. From the initial group, two of us are still with Orange Business.

Can you tell us a bit about the Sovereign Cloud Expert Team that you are part of and what you do?
I am working as an architect within our team that is responsible for operating customer environments and delivering second level support. Our primary focus is on on-premises environments, hence the name of the team. We predominantly utilize industry standard technologies and local infrastructure hosted in our own Data Centers. We work on long-term contracts with the customers, and I have the lead on two projects, both of which, have sovereign cloud environments due to compliance and security reasons. I serve as the technical interface between System Engineers and customers as a Technical Account Manager, engaging in architecture work and consulting services including analysis, pricing quotes and overall project oversight and do not have my hands on the terminal that often.

What do you enjoy the most about your position as a Senior System Architect?
I enjoy working and collaborating with experts! The human aspect of the job is the biggest part of my daily business as I am constantly in contact with my colleagues and the clients. Working with a team of strong experts makes my work more interesting and enjoyable and I can definitely say that we have strong expert members within the team.

The private cloud is currently going through a big change from a virtualization perspective, can you tell us a bit more about that?
Currently, we are in the process of replacing our existing private cloud infrastructure with the Orange Business’s Sovereign Cloud blueprint. I am proud to be part of the project team working on this and being the technical lead for customer migration scenarios. Alongside my regular responsibilities this is a project where I speak with customers, analyze existing scenarios, propose migration strategies, discuss plans, and focus on minimizing downtime during the migration to the new cloud.

What education and background do you have to be able to do this job?
My journey started as a hobby, eventually leading to me studying a degree in IT System Administration. After graduation I gained practical experience through some classical internships in helpdesk and as a Linux Administrator after which I got a permanent job as an IT Administrator. Following a few years in that role, I joined the first team of The unbelievable Machine Company. After initially focusing on Data Center Operations, being the one who built up all Data Centers, did the planning etc., I transitioned to working in a dedicated customer team dedicating five years to a customer throughout its entire lifecycle with us from tender submission to decommissioning its infrastructure. After that I moved to the team that I am part of today.

What do you personally think is the best thing about working at Orange Business?
Currently, the highlight for me is the positive collaboration and good contact with colleagues in the other Orange Business entities like the Nordics and France. Working across borders provides insights into different approaches and cultural aspects of the work. I enjoy the international aspect and that it offers diverse perspective and solutions to address challenges as we have different ways of working.