Ewoud Zanders

The beating heart of ABN AMRO’s network 

“I joined ABN AMRO as a trainee in the IT Talent Programme four and a half years ago. After completing the traineeship, I became a platform engineer in the data centre department. I consciously chose this route after completing my marketing degree. At the time, I had various sales jobs at technical companies, in which I also got a bit involved in the content, because I enjoy problem solving. The role of technical engineer at ABN AMRO therefore suited me perfectly. After a while I was promoted to project leader and I eventually became a product owner. Initially in the department where I was already working, and I transferred to Private Infrastructure Platforms | Networks in the same role at the start of last year.” 

A digital roundabout 

“My team manages ABN AMRO’s network hub – our digital ‘vortex’. This massive task is crucial, as everyone who connects to our network, internally or externally, has to go through the network hub. This includes clients who open the ABN AMRO app as well as colleagues who connect to the Wi-Fi at the office. The network hub can be thought of as a huge roundabout, and the engineers in my team as traffic managers who make sure everything is directed the right way. They write the codes that keep everything running.” 

“As the product owner for this team, I represent the business side of things, so I become involved in political matters. This includes striking a balance between various stakeholders, for example in terms of ‘availability’ versus ‘security’. I also set the course – you could say that I take care of navigation. That way, I make sure the engineers can do their work without any worries.” 

Work with impact 

“My team also comes into action when a system malfunctions because this obviously has a direct impact on clients, so it’s a big responsibility. Sometimes I receive texts from friends asking why Tikkie isn’t working or why they can’t log into Internet Banking, for example. I usually know what’s happened but I’m not allowed to tell them. Sometimes we deliberately bring down systems so a migration can take place, which means moving traffic from A to B. That’s usually done at night or during a weekend to minimise the potential impact on clients. The engineers take care of this, but I’m also involved every now and then.” 

Work how you want 

“The traineeship at ABN AMRO turned out to be a perfect start to my career. I had plenty of space to explore the organisation and take a look behind the scenes in various departments. I was also given the opportunity to do additional training courses. For example, I took a course to become a certified data centre professional and specialist, I participated in a talent development programme, and I’ll be starting a course on confident leadership shortly. All the opportunities I’ve been given have really paid off. For instance, I’ll be giving a talk at a trade fair soon, which I’m very much looking forward to.” 

“Besides giving you space to learn, ABN AMRO also gives you lots of freedom in other areas. For instance, I can choose where I want to work no matter what day it is, and I’m able to plan my days flexibly. Some days I’ll take a break to get some exercise, and in the summer I start work much earlier.” 

Setting the tone together 

“I’m quite frank with people, and our team communicates in a similar way. Arguments such as “we’ve always done it that way” hold no water with me. Change is the only constant, so it’s vital that you always continue to learn, work on your development and see if things can be done differently. That applies to my team, but also to myself. And we always do our best to make the most of things by helping each other, setting a positive tone and going for a drink together every now and then.”