“Matthew developed a prototype for monitoring an oil platform in the North Sea. This was a progressive web application with a graphical user interface for both mobile, tablet and PC. The customer was so impressed that they wanted a finished product,” says Roger Johannessen, Head of Application Innovation in TietoEVRY.

Matthew was born and raised in England, but moved to Porsgrunn in Norway, joining TietoEVRY three and a half years ago. He has a background as a freelance game developer for several British and American gaming companies.

“It was a bit of a contrast to go from virtual world to real life. It's nice to work with something that is real and makes a difference,” Matthew says with a smile.

As a game developer, he did not know that real life was far more exciting and challenging.

“The gaming industry is linear and has done much of the same for 15 years. That's not the case in business. Here you have to familiarize yourself with the customer's challenges and new technology all the time, says Matthew, highlighting the fast-changing environment as the main reason why he chose to work for TietoEVRY.

Tomas Syversen, Architect and UX designer agrees with Roger and are very happy to have Matthew in the team.

“His role has expanded significantly in a short time. Matthew has been given more and more responsibility. He started with mobile development, but has now also become an important contributor to integration," says Roger.

And the three technologists also agree that the combination of young talent and seasoned developers.

“We do not necessarily want only people with long experience. We also want young people who are hungry and willing to learn!"  Thomas says enthusiastically.

Matthew, for his part, appreciates the invaluable knowledge experienced staff hold.

“There are people in the team who have worked with programming longer than I have lived. They have been here since the birth of programming," laughs Matthew.

“It is remarkable! And senior members of the team notice things that we young developers can quickly overlook in our search for the new and exciting," he adds.

It is all about seeing the big picture and finding the right solutions. And that's exactly why teamwork is important.

“Some may have expertise in databases, others in mobile development, user interface and web standards. The combination of different competencies is absolutely crucial to be the best in technology."

“But," Roger points out, "technology only has value if the team is able to understand the customer's challenges and find smart ways to solve these, so that we add real business value.”

A roller coaster

It is no secret that the technology industry is challenging at times. What was new yesterday may be out of date tomorrow.

“As a technologist, you can explore new technology all the time. That's what's so cool!" Matthew says.