A day in the life of a Technology Evangelist at Kocho

From running our events and webinars to helping clients deploy configurations, technology roles at Kocho offer a lot of variety.

We recently sat down with Dave Guest, our Senior Architect and Technology Evangelist, to get an insight into just how unique his responsibilities can be.

The Q&A

Hi David. Would you mind introducing yourself and your role here at Kocho?

Of course, I’m David, most people call me Dave, and I have been employed by Kocho for eight years. Talking you through a typical day is a tricky one for me as – if I’m being honest – there isn’t one! However, this makes my role even more exciting, so let’s talk about the Technology Evangelist part first.

I’ll take a face-to-face roundtable event as a starting point (not that there are many of these at the moment!). I’m up early and on the train, ready for the event. I know I have an agenda for the roundtable, but I never really expect to follow it exactly as the roundtable is all about answering the questions the attendees have.

One week it will be predominantly around the set up and configuration of multi-factor authentication and the next it’s information protection and encryption services. A very mixed bag! We tend to do two roundtables in a day on different subjects. So, after changing hats at lunchtime, the process is repeated with a different set of attendees and a completely different set of questions.

The only change with moving this to a virtual event is that I don’t have to travel quite so far to attend, about 20 metres along my landing now!

Thanks Dave, your role within Kocho sounds unique! Can you tell us a little more about your Senior Architect responsibilities?

Delivery days can be totally different. If I’m on-site, it will normally start with a run-through of what is planned for the day. Followed by deploying the relevant configurations to software and adding elements to the workstations (when we need to), testing and documentation. At the same time, passing knowledge on to the client’s team so they can support the implementation after we’ve left.

Then, mostly because I tend to do the initial deployment rather than roll-out, it’s a matter of showing the new users what they have just had installed and how to use it. In some cases that doesn’t take long, but sometimes it brings up other questions and so I can get quite involved.

Another part of my day is documentation, either writing or proofing. We all know how important this is, so it needs to be right and to a high standard.

I’ll also take calls from other Kocho consultants who are on-site and want a fresh pair of eyes to look at a specific issue, or I’ll be showing a new team member how to configure some of the more esoteric options buried in the application details. This can include editing application manifests to support role-based activities as part of a single sign-on deployment.

Do you think there is anything that separates Kocho from other places you’ve worked?

Freedom – in a word. We get the freedom to advise the client about the right thing to do and be honest if that means choosing our solution or not.

Respect is one of our values, and possibly the most important one. We respect the opinions of our colleagues, partners and clients. From that ability to listen and empathise, we provide the solutions our clients demand.

We welcome people with open arms so that they aren’t thrown into the deep end without support. It’s like a big family and because of that, we will always be there for each other.

Thank you for your time today David, one final question: What advice would you give to someone considering working at Kocho?

Be prepared to work hard and don’t be surprised if after three months you’re still a bit overwhelmed. We do a lot of things, and in great detail, so no one is expected to know everything all the time.

We generally don’t produce the same solution twice, so the variety makes it exciting. If you like the sound of that, then come and chat to us!

Sound like something you want to be a part of? Get in touch!

We are hiring for several roles across our offices as well as remote workers.

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