“Everything we do helps to make the ALDI world a safer place.”
Ievgenii was born and raised in the Ukraine. He came to Germany after the Russian invasion and has now been with ALDI SOUTH for two years, working as a Security Architect. In this interview, he reveals why he made ALDI SOUTH IT his employer of choice, and what – besides an alarm and a cup of strong coffee – motivates him to get out of bed every morning.
Before you take us into your workday, could you introduce yourself briefly and tell us how long you’ve been at ALDI SOUTH?
Ievgenii: My name is Ievgenii. I was born and raised in Kyiv. After the war in Ukraine, I moved with my family to Leverkusen, where I still live. I have a master’s degree in management, computer science and automation, and have been working for ALDI SOUTH for almost two years. For the last six months, I have been working as a Security Architect and before that I was an Infrastructure and Security Architect in another team.
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Why did you choose ALDI SOUTH as your employer when you came to Germany?
Ievgenii: I was fortunate enough to receive several job offers at the same time. My decision to choose ALDI SOUTH was because I received an offer with competitive conditions from a very interesting, renowned company with a huge infrastructure that is involved in “real” business. I was also very impressed by the conversations I had with HR and my future colleagues. An important factor for me was that the company invests in the training of its employees.
What would you say defines your role as IT Security Architect?
Ievgenii: As a Security Architect, my mission is to provide a security vision. This may include architecture, solutions, policies and more. I believe this will prevent unwanted incidents in our company.
What drives you – what gets you out of bed in the morning?
Ievgenii: An alarm and a cup of strong coffee :-) Joking aside, my motivation is to do everything I can to help make the ALDI SOUTH world a more secure place.
Can you tell us about a specific project you’re working on right now?
Ievgenii: I am currently involved in a couple of different projects and initiatives. The closest to completion is the development of a methodology for understanding whether our systems are compliant in terms of installed updates. In an ideal world, we would immediately be informed about a new update, test it, install it, reboot and send information about it. In the real world, however, you need to decide when and how often to check for updates, over which period of time to install them, how and where to test them, and so on. You also need to establish a process for dealing with risks and exceptions, devise structures for compliance dashboards, and much more. To some people it might sound pretty boring, but not to me. :-) Plus, it is a very important issue.
The world of technology is constantly evolving and changing. How do you keep up to date, and what tools does ALDI SOUTH offer to help you with this?
Ievgenii: The fact that the world of technology is constantly evolving is both inspiring and sometimes really challenging. If you choose to work in IT, you need to keep up with the latest trends. Personally, I find it very helpful to regularly read Gartner research and other material on the internet, and to attend conferences. We also have regular meetings, such as Townhalls, our Security Community of Practice (SecCoP) and others.
What would you say makes ALDI SOUTH unique as an employer?
Ievgenii: I myself have experienced the company’s efforts to take care of and trust its employees. A lot of effort is invested in training people and getting feedback. It‘s inspiring.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome so far?
Ievgenii: The main challenge for me is the size of the infrastructure. With such a large company and IT infrastructure, you have to be more careful and consider the large number of potential dependencies.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far?
Ievgenii: Personally, I think it is very important to build your own professional network within the company. This is the only way to be effective in your job.
What should anyone looking to start a career as an IT Security Consultant at ALDI SOUTH bring to the table? Are there any candidates for whom ALDI SOUTH might not be the best fit?
Ievgenii: It is very difficult to list everything that is needed, especially in terms of hard skills. Security spans almost every aspect of the business, from software development to physical security in terms of accessing buildings and rooms within them. From my point of view, you should be prepared for the fact that most tasks require interaction with many other teams and departments. Therefore, communication skills and analytical thinking are essential. I also consider patience and persistence to be necessary aspects.
What does “Reprogram retail” mean to you?
Ievgenii: For me personally, “Reprogram retail” symbolises our ongoing process of adapting to reality. We never stop improving and we always want to be better for our customers.
Thanks for talking to us, Ievgenii!
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