A day in the life of; Development Manager Gary Cassinelli

07:45

I live in Sheffield, but with our Evolution developers based in Lincoln, our Evolution M team in Gatwick  and customers throughout the UK and Ireland, I really can be going anywhere on a daily basis which is what I enjoy. However as with most people, my day starts off with a check of my emails to pick up on any emergencies or urgent questions which have arisen overnight to make sure everything is set for the day ahead.

08:55

I think it’s fair to say that developers are renowned for drinking lots of coffee and therefore I will not hide the fact that we have our own Espresso machine in Lincoln which offers a welcome kick start to the day!

10:30

Every day at this time, on the dot, we hold a telephone conference call which we refer to as a ‘Development Scrum’. In this 15 minute call, all of our developers and technical minds quickly come together to cover off actions for the day, and share knowledge to help overcome any obstacles we foresee in our way. This is a great way of getting the team together and making sure that we stand the best possible chance of sticking tightly to the development plans we have made for that day.

11:15

When I’m at my desk my common activities will be based around answering queries from other areas of the business such as our Support and Professional Services teams, Kerrie and our Product Manager Chris. Alongside answering any questions around the development possibilities of our software, I am also constantly tweaking the development schedule to make sure it is aligned to internal and customer expectations.

12:10

Without wanting to use too much jargon, we schedule new development work into what we call ‘fortnightly sprints’. Working in this ‘agile’ way allows us to fit in work which is required immediately alongside our short, medium and long term plans for our products. I work closely with Matt Dineen to ensure development work is passed over to his QA team in a timely manner ready for testing before we release to customers.

13:05

As is often the case, I head out of the office in the afternoon to visit a customer or partner. I too am very familiar with working my day around the nearest service station to pick up a spot of lunch.

14:25

There are a number of different types of meetings I am required to attend. I may be going along to understand a new customer requirement, for example if they have grown and now want to manage a new process within their system. I could be going along to establish more information on an issue the client is having with a particular area of the system. I find that it can be easier for me to visit site rather than trying to diagnose a problem over the phone.

15:00

Alternatively I may be required onsite at a customer to oversee a new piece of development specific to their business we are rolling out. Having someone like myself onsite can be extremely beneficial to make sure everything runs smoothly when we are rolling out new development work for the first time.

16:35

This year I have also been invited along to our new LIVE@ customer events. These provide great opportunities for me to speak to customers to understand their challenges and think about how we can develop our systems to ensure we constantly meet the changing needs of the construction industry. I really enjoy these events and hope to see you at one in the future.

18:15

We’re all developers in my house, so when I get home the ‘work’ doesn’t stop there. I recently built a 3D printer which is quite exciting and we are big sports fan. My wife and I regularly travel round following Formula 1 and the British Touring Cars so there’s never a dull moment.