Looking back on five years at Dynatrace: Insights and lessons learned from a Product Architect

Jordi Masramon Solans is a Senior Product Architect who just celebrated five years of highly-engaging work at the Dynatrace Lab in Barcelona.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey to Dynatrace.

I’ve worked for many IT-related companies and frequently changed jobs during my earlier working days to find more enthusing opportunities. I spent a long time at an online stock trading company as the CTO and tried building startups twice. Later, I went to New Zealand to pursue an MBA, then spent half a year in Australia and another half in the US, getting up to speed on the latest tech trends.

Eventually, I worked for Qumram, a startup in Barcelona started by a team from Switzerland. Dynatrace acquired the company, particularly for its Session Replay product and, more importantly, the minds behind it.

What has made you stay at Dynatrace for five years?

When I moved to Dynatrace, it was bigger than my previous workplace but still felt like a startup, which I found pretty interesting. This made me very comfortable, and I felt no need to check any offers I receive.

Is working at Dynatrace very different from being self-employed?

To me, Dynatrace offers the best of both worlds. Firstly, there’s a focus on quality in contrast to many startups where teams take a lot of shortcuts to get revenue quickly. Secondly, Dynatrace has an innovative spirit, with a workflow that’s not too hinged on hierarchy. While the transition to a mid-sized company can be challenging, the core ethos of agility is maintained at Dynatrace.

How has your journey with Dynatrace been?

After some years working as a CTO, I returned to the role of a JavaScript developer since I missed development, then later dabbled in team leadership. So when I moved to Dynatrace, I was involved in a lot of development-leaning work to transition to the new framework, and eventually, I was asked to become an architect.

And while I’m the sole Dynatrace Product Architect in Barcelona, I currently work with three other colleagues in different regions, and I hope to see more architects joining us in the future.

What does your typical workday look like?

I’ve been working more from home since the pandemic. While I’d like to spend more time at the office, it’s easy to get used to work-from-home patterns (thanks to options like Flex Remote, one of several Dynatrace working models that promote flexibility and keep hobbies alive).

I still show up at the office, interact with people, have coffee and breakfast (orange juice and avocado toast in the lab) with about three or four people, and then start my meetings on Zoom. Another one of my favorite facilities at work is the gym.

On top of staying fit, I also gear up for the one day in every 2-week sprint set aside as innovation day, where developers are free to work on anything besides company work. Ultimately, these efforts can polish developers’ skills and come back full circle to benefit the company.

The innovation day is also complemented by the monthly tech talks where people can share what they're working on during innovation time. This helps us improve our soft skills, and we also learn about what’s going on at other Dynatrace Labs.

And during my free time, I’m constantly changing from one hobby to another. Currently, I’m into playing Padel. Before that, I did woodworking, drawing, painting, and rally driving.

With so much experience, how do you sustain continuous learning?

I enjoy learning. It’s like a hobby and doesn’t feel like work. So I’m always reading one book or another. Fortunately, Dynatrace offers access to resources like Udemy courses, and frequent updates through its university.

I’m also in charge of our technical library, and I try to keep it democratic by having everyone suggest books they’d like via a Wiki page and vote so we can buy at least five from the list each month. This approach helps keep everyone happy while also creating a diverse book collection.

What would you like to achieve at Dynatrace within the next five years?

I would really love to see a successful and super-fast third-generation deployment. Also, I want to see developers and other team members immersing themselves more in the practices that have made Dynatrace a fun place to work over the years. We're always pursuing new ingenious ways to improve software solutions, and I’m eager to see that conversation continued and expanded.

I’m hoping for a greater shift away from a monolithic architecture to microservices. I believe working with independent modules will enable team members to make changes without worrying too much about how they might affect other software facets. This will definitely encourage autonomy.

And, considering that we're an international and multicultural company, it’s essential to understand each other better. We recently had a Culture Workshop at the Barcelona Lab to address issues arising from collaboration with so many different cultures. Collaborating with people is easier when you physically meet, converse, and learn more about each other’s backgrounds, interests, and influences. On that note, I also hope for even more relationship-building.

What advice would you give a young professional trying to have a similar career path?

I’d advise them to treasure mentorship and the ideas of others. This helps address your blind spots, considering that working without asking for help makes it harder to see your own imperfections and keeps you away from growing. I’d encourage them to maximize every opportunity to learn from their peers.

Personally, I always give every new recruit preliminary knowledge about Dynatrace through an introductory session so that there’s minimal tunnel vision and team members can stay aware of and aligned with the bigger picture.

What do you enjoy most about working at Dynatrace?

With roughly +20 years of experience in my field, I’ve acquired quite some knowledge, but I can still learn from other people. I work with many talented people, and we're always devising and sharing new ways to solve challenges.

Looking back on five years at Dynatrace: Insights and lessons learned from a Product Architect was originally published in Dynatrace Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.