Name: Marc Schramm
Position: IT Architect & Subject Matter Expert – Load & Performance testing
Worked at Orange Business since: October 2021
Based: Karlsruhe remotely, Germany

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first came in contact with Orange Business?
My name is Marc. I live in a small village in southern Germany and enjoy hobbies such as hunting and playing golf outside of work. My first contact with Orange was at the beginning of 2021 when Magdalena reached out to me via Xing, sparking my interest in joining Orange Business. As I am located in southern Germany, I now work remotely for our Karlsruhe location.

Can you tell us a bit about your position as an IT Architect & Subject Matter Expert, what are your responsibilities?
In my role as an IT Architect, my responsibility is to develop modern workplace solutions tailored to our customers' needs. Easily described, this involves everything from advisory services and building architecture to implementation and operational support. I work with a wide range of technologies, including Citrix, VMware and Microsoft. Over the years, I have worked with many different clients and projects, which has made me more of a generalist in terms of technologies. Working with different technologies also gives me the benefit of an even more diverse workload.

As a Subject Matter Expert, I am the first point of contact for all people in Karlsruhe with queries about load and performance testing of monitoring solutions. I also act as the central point of contact with some of our vendors and partners.

Can you tell us a bit about your current mission?
I started working on my current mission in 2022 with a migration from Citrix to Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop. During this project, the client recognized my overall knowledge and experience and wanted to keep me involved in other projects, such as AD migrations, implementing new backup solutions, and other Microsoft365 solutions. Recently, the company was acquired, and we are now working on analyses, assessments, and compliance topics for infrastructure applications to prepare for a smooth migration of services. It is a great mission to be working on.

What do you enjoy the most about your work and your position?
I enjoy the opportunity to work with a variety of clients, as it allows me to see different styles of architecture and solutions. There is always something new to learn from each client, which helps me improve my work and knowledge continuously. The main thing I appreciate about my job is creating the best and most usable solutions for each customer.

What education and background do you have to be able to do this job and what was the latest training or certification you took?
After finishing a secondary diploma, I completed a commercial education in IT administration which I worked with for a couple of years before becoming a consultant in system integration. As a consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with companies of various sizes, gaining exposure to different levels of infrastructure. Last year, I advanced from Senior Consultant to IT Architect and took new certifications and personal development training to improve my public speaking and customer communication skills.

What do you personally enjoy the most about working at Orange Business, the Digital Services business line?
I enjoy the benefits of being part of a large corporation while still feeling very local at our different locations. This results in very short communication lines, and I feel comfortable reaching out to anyone when I need support, which is extremely valuable.