When programming is your passion, do you need a college degree in IT? According to our colleague Alexey, it’s important to love something and if you love it, you can learn it easily. The key to success lies in the willingness and desire to learn something new. Although he has a degree in economics, Alexey has been successfully building a career as a programmer for 20 years. He took his first steps in programming by learning and working with the Navision solution, which was primarily developed in Denmark. Maybe he didn’t know it at the time, but this was surely a good sign that one day he would be working for a leading Danish IT company such as NaviPartner. As Microsoft technology developed rapidly, Alexey improved his programming skills over time and today he is a successful developer in the world of the modern Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution.
Meet Alexey Poyasnikov, Microsoft Business Central developer at NaviPartner! We asked Alexey what the life of a programmer in Mauritius looks like, what skills a programmer needs to be successful and who Alexey is in his spare time. Here’s what he had to say:
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? Can you describe your career path?
I’ve got a bachelor’s degree in international business affairs, and a master’s in accounting and auditing. Pretty far away from software development, you might think. However, programming has always been my passion, ever since my early school ages. I was able to find a way to combine both my education and passion by becoming a developer in the world of ERP systems. I’ve been working with Microsoft’s Business Central for more than 20 years (when I started, the system was called “Navision” and belonged to a Danish company of the same name).
2. Describe a typical week in your role? What’s it like to be a Developer at NaviPartner?
It’s nothing special. Every day you go to your workplace (whether it’s the office, or your computer at home, if you’re working remotely), solve a couple of small cases (a small fix or enhancement, or answer a question), then take up a case, which involves working on a bigger functionality improvement, a new functionality, or a customer specific project. Occasionally meet with other team members, or customers to discuss requirements, further steps or finished functionalities. Work on documentation, or automated tests. Basically, the usual stuff developers deal with every day. ?
3. What’s the most challenging part of your role?
Keeping up with the enormous speed of changes in the IT world we’ve got nowadays. It’s both a challenge and a privilege to be part of this process.
4. What’s the most rewarding part of your role?
Seeing the software, consisting of many interdependent parts, and created by so many people at NaviPartner seamlessly working as a well-oiled machine, and making our customers happier.
5. What skills are necessary to succeed in your role?
My experience is that the best NAV/BC programmers have thorough knowledge of not only the subjects related to their direct field of expertise, like development environment and the language, design patterns and best practices, but also of the business processes. NaviPartner NAV/BC developers should be capable of finding the best way of meeting customer requirements, bearing in mind the existing system capabilities and the design of the best practices, as well as the accepted ways or organizing business and accounting processes globally and regionally.
6. What’s your favorite thing about working at NaviPartner? How would you describe the company culture of NaviPartner in three words?
Working with other incredibly talented people here at NaviPartner. Each and everyone have something we can all learn from. At the end of the day, this helps all of us to become better at what we do, to master our skills.
7. Who is Alexey outside of work?
I’m a father of 3. Thus, finding a good work-life balance is essential for me. I try to spend as much time with my family as possible. On the other hand, I like active pastimes. I love cycling (in fact, I use my bicycle to get to and from the office every day), playing football, hiking. Conveniently, NaviPartner has an office in Mauritius. The weather on the island encourages you to go outside and be more active.