I left Ksolutions after almost 15 years: just saying that these years were formative to me is pure understatement. I was hired as a Junior Software Engineer at Alsoft, became later a Project Manager at Aleph, then I joined as an Associate of Alsoft and later of Aleph and became finally a Technical Director at Ksolutions. The names changed (Alsoft, Aleph, Ksolutions) but the company was the same (or sort of... from 2005 it was not really the same anymore...). From a technical perspective I really did a lot of different things (development, system administration, project management, quality assurance inspections, ISO9001 auditing, chief technical officer, R & D director, presale consultant, doing a bit of service management and marketing support when needed) and learned a great deal of stuff, mostly - as usual - from my own mistakes.
I'm really happy right now to move on but I'd like here to remember with a "TOP 3 list" the nicest moments in Ksol: there were lots to choose from but right now these are the things that bear the most particular meaning to me.
# 3: the first official "Company Dinner" in 1993, in Viareggio.
The restaurant was small and cosy and opened just for us. There were Monica, Enrico, Jean-Claude, Emilio (Aleph/Ksol original associates), Silvia, Ilaria 1, Matteo, Ilaria 2 and I. My attire was not really professional to say the least: I was dressed - as usual - in black with an ultra-goth T-Shirt (with an exorcism in latin written on it...). I had my army jack-boots on and had long curly hair. I spent the whole evening pretending I could divine the future of those present through palm-reading. Despite all that (or probably because of that) they later on hired me full time!!!
# 2: working there on 1999.
I just joined the company as an associate, getting on board together with Marco and Davide. We were in the heydays of the Internet era and were working very hard. Things were very difficult but we had the feeling that together we could solve every problem. We were a tight and powerful team, a supernova of creative energies. Together we were not afraid of anything, and could deal face-to-face - with no fear at all - with super-big partners, suppliers and customers, from Gruppo Espresso to CNN US or Netscape Corporation.
# 1: going to India in 2000.
On those days the hype in the Information Technology industry was "outsourcing" to India. The group Ksol belonged (and still belongs) to sent my colleague Jean-Claude and I to Delhi just to evaluate the opportunities to collaborate with Indian companies. We spent there just a few days, basically a week-end where we roamed around Delhi and Agra, and two days of business meetings. From a mere working viewpoint this travel was totally pointless but as a personal experience visiting India was simply gorgeous! I just published on my Flickr account a few pictures I took there.
Now, enough with nostalgia... It's time to move on!
