Calvi Heroes: Michaël Stoop

About Michaël

“Hi, my name is Michaël and I’m the Manager of the Development team at Calvi. My interest in programming and development started when I was very young. I’ve always loved exploring all the opportunities that computing has to offer. When I received my first computer, I started trying out all the possible combinations of commands on the keyboard. I then came across the first programming language (BASIC) and went straight to the library and read more about this. In my exploring phase I was always compared to my grandfather, who was a true inventor at heart. He had a small store and ran a candy factory and was a wise man who foresaw future developments. Unfortunately, I never got to know him, but I have always looked up to this man and cherished the stories my family told about him.”

“Exploring programming and development is a lot easier when you can do it with someone else, luckily my best friend has the same interests as me. Our play dates as young kids were different in comparison to other kids our age; we played with computers and wanted to know the exact function of every key. We are still friends today, and still bond over programming and development. It feels like our hobby is the glue that holds our friendship together!”

“As clearly mentioned, development is definitely one of my hobbies, but I’m also interested in photography. Photography has so many facets and you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time. And when you spend so many hours behind a camera, your outlook on elements in a room and photographs that have been taken changes. Did you know that I was the first creator of our Calvi headshots several years ago?”

How did you end up at Calvi?

“When it was time to choose what I wanted to study, I decided I wanted to learn something new, thus I decided to get my degree in electrical engineering. When I was in my second year, I found out that electrical engineering was not the right fit for me. It was time for a change, and I decided to focus on gaining more experience by working and studying computer science at the same time. Sometimes I wonder why I did not choose this path from the beginning. At that time, I never believed I could learn new things about programming because I was already at an advanced level. I’m very happy I made this choice and pursued something I’m really good at, because it challenged me to become even better.”

“My first job was at a transport and logistics company. I started as a support employee and after a few months rolled into programming. This job in logistics asked for a lot of pragmatic solutions. But after a while I realized that this wasn’t the future, I had pictured for myself. One of my colleagues introduced me to Calvi and when I had my job interview everything fell into place. But after my job interview it didn’t feel right to leave my job at the transport company and leave them emptyhanded. So, I stayed for 4 extra months, to give them the chance to find the right replacement. To cut a long story short, 13,5 years later, I’m very happy at Calvi and the innovation this organization exudes.”

“Calvi isn’t the organization it was when I started working here. We have been through major changes, which have made my work extra exciting. Calvi is an openminded company and continuously strives to be innovative. In our company, every individual really contributes to our success, which has always really appealed to me. In addition to this, we also rely on our data to further professionalize our organization on a daily basis. My team and myself are co-responsible for this, which we’re very proud of.”

What has been your best experience at Calvi to date?

“When I first started out as a Developer at Calvi, I liked to improve things that weren’t working as well as they could. As a developer you can see the whole code and the first step is finding out what’s wrong. When something is working very slowly or inefficiently, it’s a satisfying job to help someone fix it. I really liked doing that. Over the years I believe I have been able to add value to Calvi, and I’ve become an expert in all technical aspects of our solution. My expertise was tested when I was asked to come to a meeting with a potential customer to explain the technical background of our solution. Several weeks later I received the feedback that my contribution to that meeting really helped them decide to choose Calvi.”

“Something I’m currently experiencing is being proud of the work of others. When I was younger, I was looking for things to do well, and when someone compliments you on the things you do it feels great. I now feel proud of others and their accomplishments. It’s a transition that feels very good.”

What are your favorite things to do at work?

“As you might imagine, I’m very passionate about development, but I haven’t got much time for that now as it officially isn’t my job anymore. I love it when I can solve a problem, when something goes wrong it’s satisfying to fix it. What I also like is advising people, such as our customers. Due to our experiences and knowledge, we’re really able to show our customers the different opportunities they have. Our customers see us as trusted advisors.”

Why do you think CSPs should choose Calvi as their partner?

“We focus on their needs but have an even stronger ability to recognize the needs of their customers. I truly believe we can help CSPs with improving their business. Our organization consists of so much expertise because we have been doing this for a while. Our core-business is Bill Communication, whereas in the past we offered a TEM-solution. We had a great journey and I believe this helps us provide insights for our customers. It’s not just what makes us unique, but also what makes us strong.”

What is the potential in your department for the future?

“To make our software more efficient, our customers could benefit from new technologies. We are constantly looking for new technologies to make the solution more scalable and manageable, but also look for ways to deploy the software much faster.

Another factor which is important for the future is the ever-increasing focus on data safety and privacy. Security is becoming increasingly important as the role we fulfil for our customers grows. We have to stay on top of things, because you can’t cut corners with security and privacy.”

Where will Calvi be in 5 years?

“Calvi will have reached the top of the mountain, be present all over the world and might be looking to broaden our horizon to other areas. We will have become a world leader in E-invoicing and will have helped pave the way for new invoicing services. We have quite a dominant position in the Telecom market and I certainly believe potential customers come to us because they see we are the best choice. A company will see we are the organization that can help them achieve more. And as for our competitors, in five years they will be looking up to us!”

Calvi in three words:

“Vision, growth, continuity”

“I believe we are visionaries and we fight for what we believe in. We see this in the company’s growth and stability. We invest in our company and keep developing ourselves. Personal growth is something which I value a lot.”

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