Meet Kosmosnautes #12: Camille, technical architect

• Hello Camille, what's your background?

After a master's degree in Computer Methods Applied to Business Management (MIAGE), I went on to do a master's degree in Software Engineering at Nantes University. My final internship led me to work for a major international IT company, where I stayed for 12 years. As a designer-developer and then architect, I contributed to the realization of a variety of projects and provided support to customers in France and abroad.

• What made you want to join Kosmos?

In 2009, I worked on a support project for Kosmos, and that's when I discovered the company. Over the years, several colleagues joined Kosmos and asked me to join them.
As I was already familiar with the company and the world of education, the offer appealed to me. I wanted to find a field that appealed to me more and to give more meaning to my job.

• What does your day-to-day work as a technical architect actually involve?

Since 2016, I've been an architect at Kosmos. The architect is responsible for the non-functional requirements of the products developed at Kosmos. In other words, he or she guarantees that the applications work properly and that they hold up from a structural point of view, particularly in terms of performance, security, operability, maintainability, scalability and upgradability. The technical challenges are many and varied: single sign-on, inter-application communication mechanisms, APIs, urbanization of services and components of our architectures...

I'm involved throughout the entire project lifecycle. Right from the technical scoping phases, when we choose the new components for the architecture. I then support the development teams and lead developers in the design and construction of the application. And once the solution is in production, I work with the operations and hosting teams to make sure that everything is working as it should.

At Kosmos, the architect is an expert. In other words, in complex or emergency situations, we're called upon to carry out diagnostics, to participate in developments, to "get our hands dirty" as we say, and we really enjoy it! It's part of our day-to-day work, and we try to stay as close as possible to the operational side, to the development and R&D teams.

• What do you like about your job?

It's very varied, there's a wide range of subjects, and I enjoy helping teams, accompanying them, Educational counselling them. It's a creative job, and not a day goes by without there being a new problem to solve. You have to stay on your toes and keep abreast of technological developments, and I like all that. What's more, there's a lot of interaction at all levels of the company, whether with management, support teams, the Operations department... It's very rewarding. And it's a job that gives you a sense of responsibility, because people count on you.

• What qualities do you think you need for this job?

It's important to have acquired a certain amount of experience and a working method. You also need to be passionate, curious and enjoy understanding how things work. There are certain complex subjects that you need to be able to explain to the teams. To be credible in the eyes of developers, it's important to have a good grasp and understanding of the subjects you're working on.

• An achievement/project that made you proud?

There have been several. For example, during the 1st lockdown in 2020, management asked us to deploy a Videoconference solution in the Skolengo ENT. We worked in commando mode to integrate a solution enabling us, for example, to organize virtual classes or create meetings for parent-teacher conferences and Class councils. It's been a superb 3-month project, with a great result, as the solution is used and appreciated by many users. I hope we can soon be proud of the Pieces of work we're currently carrying out as part of our development plan, which is neither lacking in interest nor ambition.

• What do you like about Kosmos?

I still think I know everyone's first name! With the possible exception of a few newcomers whom I haven't had the chance to meet yet. Decision-making channels are short, the management door is open, and it's very easy to talk to people. The atmosphere, which is part of the Kosmos DNA, and the ambition, which is focused on the future.

• If you hadn't done this job, what would you have done?

I might have gone into a more manual field, like woodworking or outdoor work.

• 2 truths and 1 lie about you?
  • I did a mini world tour.
  • Like Churchill, I never play sport.
  • I was in Manhattan during the September 11 attacks.
    
• Got a wish/idea on your Bucket list?

I'd love to rediscover more of Iceland and New Zealand. And go to Patagonia and Canada.