We are talking to Femke Weber, Integration Engineer at Enable U.
I am currently working on two different assignments. I manage the BizTalk environment at De Nederlandsche Bank, together with my colleague Jan Jaap. We monitor the environment for potential incidents, and when they occur, we resolve them. We also keep the environment manageable by implementing updates and handling password changes, for example. This ensures the environment runs smoothly so developers can continue their work. And I am working with our integration team on migrating the BizTalk environment at ASICS to Azure. For this, we use our Easy Integration Platform, a powerful, flexible, and transparent solution for integrations in Azure. It enables us to develop integrations in a cost-efficient manner because components such as logging, tracing, and message redelivery are already present within this platform and do not need to be rebuilt. Also, I participate in our knowledge sessions every Wednesday. During these sessions, we work on building integrations in different ways. We dive into exercises and learn a lot from each other. It is great to see and experience how my colleagues approach things.
I started working at Estreme, a specialist in BizTalk and Azure integrations, now part of Enable U, two and a half years ago. I joined through the MakeITWork program, where I learned to program in five months and retrained as a Software Engineer. It was quite intense to be back in full-time education, but also a lot of fun, as you are in class with highly motivated people who, like you, are transitioning from a different career into IT. After those five months, it was time to do a six-month internship at a company. There were quite a few options, but I chose Estreme because it was a friendly, smaller organization that already had experience with people from the MakeITWork program. Another reason was that during the interview process I spoke with Suzanne Knauff. It was good to see that there are also female developers working in an environment that is still mostly male-dominated. After the internship, both Estreme and I were very positive about the experience, so I joined the company as a full-time employee.
Something completely different. I used to work as a Quality Manager in a nursing home. I was responsible for continuously improving the quality of care. For example, by conducting research, coaching colleagues, and supervising interns. I studied Nursing at a University of Applied Sciences and also completed an internship at the University Utrecht Medical Centre. And I had already been working at the Warande nursing home since I was 15. I enjoyed it so much, that after graduating, I started working there full-time. I first worked as a nurse on the ward and later moved into the role of Quality Manager. I still spent part of my time working on the ward to stay closely connected to the daily practice of care.
Working in healthcare was a logical choice for me, as many of my family members also work in healthcare. I genuinely enjoyed a large part of the work, but the increasing budget cuts and growing number of protocols started to bother me. As did the fact that I was working more and more with temporary instead of permanent staff. It is very rewarding work, but these developments made me start to doubt my future in the sector. Since I had always been interested in IT and programming, I started exploring opportunities in that direction. That is how I came across Make IT Work. And then things moved quickly. Two to three months after I started looking around, a group started that I could join.
The programming. I really enjoy the puzzling. Trying things out, figuring out what works and what doesn’t, and eventually arriving at a solution. I love that challenge
One way is by earning Azure certifications. Last year I obtained the AZ-204, and this year the AZ-400. These certifications need to be renewed every year, so you actively keep your knowledge up to date. I also make a lot of use of Microsoft Learn. And I learn a great deal from our Wednesday knowledge sessions, which I mentioned earlier.
Enable U is much larger than Estreme, where I started. There are also more formalized processes in place. Still, from the moment we became part of Enable U, it immediately felt familiar. Colleagues take an interest in each other, start conversations, and do not just walk past you. There is genuine interest. It is also a very knowledge-rich organization, much broader than our own specialization in Azure Integration. In addition, fun activities outside of work are organized, for and by colleagues, such as a Christmas dinner or a game night. All in all, it is a great company to be part of.
My partner and I have a one-year-old son, so at the moment that takes up almost all of our free time. Fortunately, many of our friends also have young children, and we often do things together, like visiting the zoo. We live in Amersfoort. Before our son was born, we lived in the city center, but we have since moved to a larger home in Vathorst. That is just as well, because at the end of July we are expecting our second son. We also have a dog, a sweet white Labrador-like rescue from Romania. A friend of ours rescues animals from abroad, and we first took her in for a trial night. And she never left.
As Estreme, we were welcomed with open arms. Thank you for that. And I really enjoy continuing to learn from everyone. Keep it up!
