Thomas Rauscher

Hello Thomas! Since your calendar is always quite full, we are even more pleased that you took the time. You’re almost an “old hand” by now (in terms of being part of Checkmk 😉). You started as Manager Strategy & Analytics in December 2019 and are now leading the Revenue Operations team.

What made you decide to join Checkmk?

In addition to a strong product and a unique spirit in the company, I was particularly attracted by the growth potential. In such an environment, exciting challenges and interesting creative opportunities inevitably arise.

What fascinates you most about your job at Checkmk and what are your tasks?

As VP Operations I take care that we continuously improve our commercial tool and process landscape and thus make the workflows more efficient for different teams in the company. So for example the sales team has more time - to better take care of our customers. The thing that fascinates me most about this job is the breadth and depth of this field. We work on each of the 5 product categories from lead handoff by the marketing team to handoff to the accountant and cash in the bank account. We handle this across Sales Channels and Geographies. We are involved in all fields, whether legal issues, work organization, technical interfaces in peripheral systems or tax challenges. So my colleagues and I probably have the deepest insight into how our commercial machine runs.

What’s a work week like for you?

There is actually no such thing as a typical working week. Every day is different and has a different theme. I spend a relatively large amount of time coordinating and aligning decentralized teams and ensuring that systems and teams interlock at all levels, from IT infrastructure to the actual application. In addition to the multitude of content-related issues, I also deal with management issues at team and company level.

What tools/technologies do you work with in your team?

We work purely Jira-based. That’s the linchpin of what we do. We communicate almost exclusively via Slack and Zoom. For our tool stack we use Checkmk, GitHub, Jenkins, ELK-Stack and Weblate, among others. When we customize processes for ourselves, we – like Checkmk itself – work primarily in Python, JS, and HTML.

You still had the pleasure of starting at normal times. How was the change during Corona for you?

The changeover went relatively smoothly. Since we were already working in a decentralized setting – even before the crisis – not too much changed. The biggest challenge in such a setup is certainly to integrate new colleagues into the team.

You are now responsible for 3 colleagues in your team and have many interfaces within and outside the company. What has been important to you here so that the introduction of new colleagues and new service providers runs smoothly?

From day 1, we try to make onboarding the highest priority in day-to-day situations, sharing all the knowledge we accumulate so far in order to make colleagues actionable. We frame the week with a Zoom-based duo of check in and checkout. In the check in we plan the week, in the checkout we take time to reflect on what went well and what we should improve or stop doing. This gives us a fixed point each week where we can learn and improve as a team. In a distributed setup where the team is spread across the world, we value transparency and accessibility. The quick consultation over the table doesn't exist and takes place via Slack or zoom. Of course, this only works if the response times are similar. Overall, however, we have found a good modus operandi that works well for the team and the task

What makes your team stand out?

The Operations team is bursting with energy and drive for positive change. The characters that have come together here complement each other, so that everyone can play to their strengths. Despite all the pressure to deliver results, it is always clear to everyone that we are human beings, that there is a reality outside of Checkmk that can also take on a higher priority and that the fun and joy of the activity must never be neglected.