I'm joining RAYA Software starting next month (October), part of RAYA IT, a business line of 3 main business lines that form RAYA Crop., a well known name in the IT industry over the Middleeast.
My role is very interesting. The entire company is interesting to me, not just for the size and brand, but for the nature of how things are going in there nowadays, which makes RAYA the perfect place to join at this specific time.
About the role
I'm joining RAYA with the same title I hold current, a senior software engineer, yet, I'm going to be a member of a team of only 3 guys, M. Yosry, whom I haven't met but is said to be a real guru by all guys I met in RAYA, M. Zahaby, an ex-RAYA returning in it recently and a personal friend of mine whom I had technical chats with and even worked with in a single freelance and knew what kind of a geek he really is, and myself!
The team is very special inside RAYA Software. We as team are responsible for helping other teams standardize coding practices all over the company (well, this is all within Microsoft technology development teams, I know nothing about Java technology department), and help other team leaders and members implement agile processes (specifically Scrum) in the way that fits work nature in RAYA. We stand with other teams in design sessions and researches/investigations required for specific projects, and we help create and enhance a rich toolset, reusable components and modules over applications. We work with all other teams and report directly to the "Microsoft Partnership Manager", El-Mohanned, who is like the CTO for Microsoft technology development, and a very interesting guy as a boss. Both very respectable, and still having his geek nature deep inside not affected by his current high management rank!
About the company
RAYA is a well known name in the software industry. Like many big companies, it had its special advantages, and eve problems. These days, the guys at the company starting from junior developers, the the GM, Aly Zweal (not sure of the spelling), whom I really enjoyed meeting him as a part of my recruitment process. The guy has a great smart mentality that measures the technical aspects to the business aspects for just the right balance, and whose meeting was as well as El-Mohanned's description of the interesting job duties some of the main reasons I accepted the job offer.
Right now RAYA is going through some really revolutionary changes. The smallest of those are switching to Scrum and migrating many projects to using latest technologies and having a big yet very precise recruitment campaign. The company's line of business is rebuilding itself for more progressing forward, which makes it the perfect time to join and share in this building, especially when the role allows more impact on this process.
Regarding Agile, it's cool how El-Mohanned's first communication with me included a link to one of the two videos he uploaded to YouTube, "Raya Software Goes Agile":
This is the technical part, which is for someone like me a must-have base for having talks about anything else. But still, there's more about RAYA Corp. in general. Belonging to a big corporate is another paradigm that I lived some of its blessings in my previous company GNS (Gulf Network Solutions). Now, I'm into the full experience of living within a corporate environments. It just helps you think differently about your entire life, and opens new areas to think about. A worth-it experience indeed that many people once taste find it very hard to change.
Vacancies
Oh, yeah, by the way again, RAYA is hiring! I mean it. THERE ARE OPENINGS. There're openings for junior and senior developers, team leaders, and testers. You can check the careers page, and send your CV to the email mentioned under each vacancy, or to El-Mohanned, or simply to me! Hey, make sure to specify the position you are applying to in the email subject please. This is the rule, isn't it? :D
What about SilverKey?
That's what SilverKey is to me:
Geeky days and even nights, company kitchen talks, volunteering entire public BIG free DemoDay events, pre release tools and platforms, varying nationalities, cultures and mindsets, wedding and birthday and even farewell parties, virtually wearing multiple hats at work(roles), analysis and design negotiations. launch celebrations treats, Scrum process customizations, teamwork, Dody and Alia's guitar, having breakfast in Ramadan tent, ...
There's much about SilverKey that I cannot explain by just saying. It used to be almost my house for more than two years now. I think I know about some of the people there more than I know about my own family and maybe same for them. There're people who sure have made a difference during this period, Dody and Kent come on top of those. There're guys who make for best friends like M. Nour. There're some special personalities that are hard to meet occasionally like Amir Magdy, H. Zein and M. Tayseer. There're people who are not just interesting as techies but have their own other interests like Ahmed El Malt and Tamer Zaki and Karim Ennarah. There're fun foreigners like Sharron, Tosin, and, very quiet yet still really fun foreigners like Brian, Chris, Luke, David, and Olivia. There are very passionate and promising guys like Kariem Soudy and Amr Ali, There're true fun guys like Mostafa Murad (AKA, TATA beik), M. El Sayyed (AKA, SAYYYED), Emad (AKA, iMAD), and M. Alaa (AKA, Developers friend). There're kind guys like Ibrahim Marzuk and Taher. There's an old buddy and community partner, Mohamed Hossam (AKA, BASHMOHANDES), business guys like Adam and Farid. And there's for sure M. Kassem and Ahmed Ali and so many names that it's easy to miss a lot of those over different generations (by the way, no categorization intended!). Although not so many of those names are still there today that most guys will not recognize the rest of all other names, this is much to carry for the company itself.
If it was only that I met Mona, my lifetime love, current fiancee and soon my wife (God Willing), and, the girl I believe is the best to exist in our world today, I met in occasions all related to SilverKey, that would be enough.
So, technically I'm not leaving SilverKey completely for the upcoming while. Afterwards, who knows,, most likely the new generation will take over on its own afterwards (God willing).
DISCLAIMER
The thoughts and states expressed in this post and entire blog are solely mine. Neither of my past/current/future employers nor any of their employees/owners hold any kind of responsibility for or commitment to any of them, even if mentioned in behalf of this employer.