Marcus Hammer
Customer Cluster Healthcare
High-gloss projects
Marcus Hammer became part of the virtual7 team while he was still a student. At that time, he spent a large part of his time on long-term projects in the German public sector. Today, he has been with the company for over ten years and can report on various positions within the company.
If you could give yourself a title based on your work, what would it be?
Mr. Clean, on the one hand because of my hairstyle, but I also used to do a bit more weight training, so it fits quite well. I’m also involved in a lot of projects and long-term projects. Through my work, I try to make them shine.
You have been with virtual7 for over 10 years. What has changed for you personally?
I started as a developer. At that time, there were no different levels. To get in, I did some programming in a few projects. After five years at virtual7, I joined the career model as a senior. Now I’m a principal technical consultant. It’s not that different. I program less now, advise customers more and take care of architecture and the whole surrounding a bit more. What has changed is that I teach technology to others and attend a lot of training sessions rather than use it myself. Two years ago, I became a principal at our conference. Not many people at virtual7 have achieved this yet, which is because you have to have 10 years of professional experience.
Is the title of Principal Technical Consultant important to you?
The title itself is not important to me. What is more important is that I am seen in the projects and do my work well. Whether I am a Senior or Principal, the title does not change anything about my work and the quality. I always try to do my best and do a good job. Actually, you only see the title in my email footer or on my business card, and I hardly use those these days anyway.
What are your roles?
I have a whole range of roles. Especially the roles that are related to the customer are formative. There are the roles of Customer Developer and Customer Communicator, who are responsible for further developing projects and coordinating and organizing everything related to customers and projects. At the same time, I became a mentor for the Presenter role. That happened at the last conference, where I won the “Best Presenter Award”. I would like to get more involved in internal projects and workgroups. I enjoy working on different topics internally, but at the moment I’m very busy with the customer. I used to hold a lot of workshops, travel around and try to bring people closer to our technologies. That’s how I know I enjoy it. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time at the moment.
What are your best skills?
I understand people and their problems very well. That’s why I can respond to them. I don’t just accept it, I also try to understand the background. I have built up this understanding and sensitivity in projects over the years. You can’t always take everything so seriously. I lead a development team of 20 people. It’s important to me to spread a positive atmosphere. In stressful situations, I try to take the pressure off instead of adding to it. That doesn’t add any value and doesn’t contribute to productivity.
How has virtual7 changed over the last 11 years?
There were two stages of development at virtual7. When we reached a certain size, heads were initially introduced for each department. At the time, I perceived this as a positive development. Over time, the teams and tasks of the heads increased more and more. It quickly became clear that this could not be the right approach. In the meantime, this first solution has been thrown overboard and the responsive company organization has been introduced. This doesn’t mean much more than handing over responsibilities to employees who perform a specific role within the role concept. At the same time, it also means that you can, but don’t have to, take on more responsibility within the company. The opportunities for getting involved in shaping the company are very diverse. I would describe the responsive company organization as: progress and development in connection with self-interest.
Would you re-apply to virtual7 today?
I would apply to virtual7 again today. Today, I wouldn’t look for a big company with thousands of employees. I don’t think I would feel comfortable in a large corporation. I really enjoy what I do now, which I wouldn’t have thought before. During my studies, I focused on other areas. Sure, I studied computer science and you have a wide range of options, but I never really enjoyed software development. I actually specialized in operating system kernels. The people you work with every day have to be compatible with each other in order to work effectively. virtual7 definitely has a good sense of this.
What moment from the last few years do you particularly like to look back on?
I really like the Christmas parties. I have two children and they are always looking forward to the Christmas party, the presents and the other children they can play with. The atmosphere is always very pleasant and relaxed. Traditionally, our managing directors give a speech and an overview of the past year. I associate the Christmas parties with a nice review and conclusion after a busy and exciting year. Of course, the confernence is always a lot of fun too, but as a presenter, I also had to give presentations and prepare for them. The preparation for that, in addition to the work with the customer, has the potential to be stressful. The closer the conference gets, the more nervous I get. We know each other, but speaking in front of over 120 people is not something you do every day. It’s fun, but the Christmas parties are always my highlight of the year.
How do you like the appealing company organization?
I like the introduction of the responsive company organization. I take my work just as seriously as before. You have a lot of freedom and the work is based on trust, so additional rules are not necessary. The number of roles I have means that I have been spending more time in meetings lately. As an employee, you are increasingly being asked for your opinion and are expected to get involved in customer work, which is generally a very positive thing, but sometimes the additional meetings are just too much. I think that with experience, it will become clear which meetings are important and which can be confidently canceled. Maybe it’s also a matter of taste.
What are your hopes for digitization? If you could, what would you change?
It has been annoying to me for ages that doctors can’t exchange information. The federal government has been trying to launch an encrypted super system for two years, which still isn’t working. In 2022, it shouldn’t be the case that you have to request medical records by phone and then get them sent by email. You can’t even look at the head office to see what the medical history looks like, and then you have to somehow get and request all of it, which I find really annoying. It has to be secure, I understand that, but the exchange should be possible. Digitization between doctors is not good in Germany. I’m currently looking at blockchain, and that would be a great fit. Why not put the medical records on the blockchain, where not everyone has access, but everyone can still view them if you give them access. You store it centrally and securely. That would be a great use case. It would be a huge project, of course we couldn’t do it alone, but smaller packages are distributed when projects are awarded, so why not work on it? It would be very interesting and add value for everyone. And correspondence in general. I hate letters.
About the artist
Keppu
Keppupetty was born on Instagram in 2019, two years after I moved from Italy to Germany. Keppu is my alter ego, and through her, I tell stories, observe and travel. I create my characters in her image and always put as much heart into it as I can.
“I love it when people recognize themselves in the drawings they receive – also because of the emotions they radiate. That’s why I love paying attention to every detail and every emotion in my creations.
And the same thing happens in my job as an interior designer.”
Yes, I’m one of those “annoying” perfectionists on the team – how did you guess that? 🙂
