Meet the Asteroidians: Iikka Winter, Senior Consultant, since 2006 in tech
Asteroid is building an inspiring workplace for experienced software engineers, and helping businesses and society level up their digital game. Every Asteroidian is a co-owner of the company and this blog series introduces them one by one.
Hi Iikka or should I say bonjour! You had your schooling in French, right?
Bonjour! I am Finnish but yes, I went to the French school in Helsinki. Languages and different cultures have always been dear to me. As a student, I worked as a translator doing subtitles for TV shows and movies. I’ve also worked as a voice actor for animated films and series.
Theater school was actually in the plans for a while. I’ve done amateur theater and various productions in school.
Throughout my career as an IT consultant, I’ve been a musician and toured with my ska and reggae-influenced band The Valkyrians around Europe. So performing has been part of my life in that way.
Has it been difficult combining the job of an IT consultant and a touring musician?
Not really. I’ve mostly toured on holidays or the weekends, usually leaving on Fridays, and occasionally on Thursdays. I’ve made a point about it not affecting my work and my employers and customers have actually been really excited and supportive of my other career. I’ve been doing it since 2009 but less nowadays with having three kids as you can imagine.
How did you get into technology in the first place?
I got interested in computers via my father and my uncle. My uncle was already doing some programming in the early 90s and he taught me some cool things. I would use QuickBASIC to write my first text-based adventure games and experience with creating graphics. In the end, I started studying tech and rekindled my interest in programming.
What specific areas of IT and software development are you most passionate about?
I’m really a generalist with a passion for UX and data-driven design with a focus on software development and cloud architecture. I’m also interested in the business side of things as well as leadership.
Funnily, even though my projects as a kid were games I have never worked in the gaming industry, but I would love to dip my toes in game development someday.
You were one of the first Asteroidians: what made you join Asteroid?
The founders of Asteroid, Eero and Mika, are my old colleagues from a consultancy called SC5 and I’ve always appreciated working with both of them. After working for startups for several years, there were a few factors that drew me back to consultancy work and specifically to Asteroid:
Asteroid’s co-ownership and customer-focused model is more appealing than anything else on the market. You get to work – and build Asteroid – with super smart and knowledgeable colleagues with similar values. Customers rely on Asteroid in many interesting and critical projects across various industries. Also, the security Asteroid’s model gives you is important to me. With startups, you never know when the funding will run out, but at Asteroid, being on the bench doesn’t affect your monthly income.
Photographer: Arne Marenda
Photographer: Amory Salzman
One of your projects with an Asteroid customer is renewing an online store that almost every Finn uses, right?
Maybe not every, but many for sure! And that’s what makes my job so fulfilling. Knowing that I’m building something many people use. I’m very focused on user experience and building an architecture that supports that. I hope it translates into the users having a smooth experience using the services.
What technologies are you working on with that project?
NextJS, React, GraphQL (Apollo), AWS (Cloudfront, Lambda, Fargate), Terraform, cloud, and Contentful, to name a few.
I find it rewarding that our clients want to keep the stacks modern and eliminate accumulated technical debt as efficiently as possible, allowing you to work with new technologies.
The customer project has a multi-vendor team. What does that mean?
Our team has 10 people: developers, testers and designers. Some are directly employed by the customer and the rest are from a few different consultancies. You might think that the team would change a lot but it’s actually the contrary. It’s been very stable and I for example have worked for the same customer for 3 years. Customers appreciate stability and Asteroid’s model is built to provide that.
How can a software developer get familiar with the customer's business? How do you usually do it when you enter a new customer project?
There’s no one way of doing it as it depends on the company hierarchy. One usually needs to puzzle things together from several sources. Networking is key: don’t be afraid to talk to people, go to the office and introduce yourself.
Great advice! What other advice would you offer to junior developers looking to build a successful career in IT consulting?
Put an effort into communication skills, as it is usually the key to solving any issue while being the hardest skill to master.
Try to get a feel of your surroundings and team dynamics. Focus on actions that make your customer’s and the team’s work easier.
Be honest and speak out even if it’s something your customer or team would not like to hear and are afraid of addressing – your job is to be the change.
Keep learning and experimenting with new things: tech, processes and other tooling. Summarise the outcomes if not for others at least for yourself. You will often feel overwhelmed and undereducated - don’t worry, we all do.
You are leaving for a holiday tomorrow, I hear.
Yes, so looking forward to a few days playing golf and tennis. I used to also referee football, so ball games are my cup of tea.
In that case, bon voyage!
Merci beaucoup.
In this blog series, we ask Asteroid colleagues' insights on the interviewee as a colleague.
Tarmo Aidantausta: What kind of person is Iikka?
Iikka is not only quick-witted but also ready to take on responsibility. Beneath the playful and sometimes stern exterior lies a gentle soul who considers everyone around him and truly listens. Iikka is a classic good guy, but also a sharp individual. Working with him is a pleasure.
The article was written in collaboration with a partner of Asteroid.