Vladimir Shikhanov: Corporate Solutions Centre is my personal growth springboard and maturity school!

I joined the CSC in 2019 as a specialist. The company was a startup of sorts with very ambitious goals. An intensive work pacing was in sight: everything had to be built from scratch. It worked for me. I made the decision at an unstable and transformational time in my life, and that was a pivotal moment. I got out of a personal crisis, realized I could do more than I thought I could. I improved on various competencies over 4 years, sorted myself out: from self-esteem to professional mindset. I grew from a specialist, though be it an experienced one, to a manager responsible for decision-making. Now I am not just an expert, but the head of the telecommunications department.

It's important to note that since the beginning of my professional journey, I've been lucky to come across knowledgeable people. I have encountered and continue to communicate with not just leaders, but mentors. One of them advised me to look into the telecommunications domain, made me realize that I could do it. I went for it. It turned out he was right. What I love most about my job is the logic. Order and consistency are very important in telecoms, and I feel akin to them as a principle, an approach. I also like the feeling of importance of my domain. After upscaling the CSC network, my team and I even came up with a saying of our own: "If telecom doesn't work, nobody works at all." It was a very challenging integration: we were working out meticulously all the details, points of presence and areas of responsibility with our partners for a long time. In the end, we aligned all of them and achieved proper operation.

I managed to touch upon other areas of IT as well. It was important for me to test my range of possibilities, but I realize that telecoms is the core of my professional evolution, if I can say so.

Especially now, considering economic trends and global changes, the telecommunications domain is especially promising in the context of import substitution. More and more data centres are arising in the Russian Federation, more and more data centres are being set up here. Constant change pushes us towards refined template solutions that can be replicated and applied across different customer models.

First, the migration of data centres from Belgium. The whole team didn't sleep for several days, the intensity was enormous, but the result was worth it. The value of the work done was recognized not only by our management, but also by our partners.

Second, of course, is the corporate data network. We implemented this large-scale project in cooperation with Rostelecom. The network includes 65+ local units plus data centres in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The organization of the corporate data network itself took place from 2020 to the end of 2021. We are now continuing to develop and look at different technical possibilities of the network. It's a responsible and exciting task.

But none of these projects would have been implemented without the team. All people are very different, some people were not up to the task, others developed a rapport with the team. Each of our customers involves their own specialists, so it's the simplest of communications that play a big role in telecoms. If everything works out in terms of human resources, then we can move forward. Currently our cooperation with our customers and integrators is aligned perfectly. We are a team focused on the result.

I am now staffing my personal team within the CSC. I can only say good things about my people: I chose them myself and was doing it for quite a long time too. With regard to experience, I look mostly at the knowledge-to-practice ratio. As for soft skills, persistence and my favourite consistency are important. For me, structured thinking and a logical mind are universal for easy understanding.

I am an emotional person, unlike my manager. He and I have a "long-term tandem", we met and worked together even before the CSC. Here our "reunion" helps me grow. It was from him that I adopted a structured approach both in the technical part of the job and in the leadership position. But as different from his "cold reasoning", I find it easier and more efficient, when the work is tinted with emotions. One of such examples - my zealous attachment to my own results. Even when I'm tired out, I cannot imagine giving up something I've created myself. So, when they say I'm not hard to motivate - it's true. My pride, the importance of my work, are the sources of my motivation (and, as my superiors laugh, leverage). I take to heart all the projects and continue supporting their products. This, I believe, has been one of the most important points of growth. Here I created something so important to myself and the business that I learned to proudly take responsibility for my project and people, against all odds.