Having a coffee with …Christian Urban
Christian Urban, born in Pforzheim, has been working at Rutronik since 1998. Shortly after starting his apprenticeship to be a wholesale and foreign trade merchant, he was moved to the IT department to support the team there in introducing a new system. He now works as an IT Project Manager specializing in SAP.
How did you end up in IT? It was a rather unusual route, wasn’t it?
Exactly, I’m a typical career changer. There was a personnel shortage in IT and they then took on students and apprentices for some work. I was in the second year of apprentices that there had ever been at Rutronik.
What are you currently working on in IT?
We are introducing SAP S/4HANA, which is the latest product from SAP. We are pursuing a highly integrated approach with this: I don’t have different databases that I have to synchronize and align somewhere any more. This kind of change is a huge job: the whole construct has to be entered in the current form once.
What is your everyday work like? Is there anything everyday about it?
No, I cannot describe a specific daily routine. It all depends on the availability of people and specialist areas that are of course also incorporated into other topics too. My remit is a strong mixture of technology, i.e. understanding the technology and how it works but at the same time how the business process has to work. The commercial aspects, the legal requirements from the legislator. I see myself as a mediator between these two areas.
Is the project limited to Rutronik in Germany?
It’s a global project – it’s about the whole company. We started with HR at a global level and now we are gradually adding other processes worldwide.
So would you go as far as to say that your passions are also part of your job?
Yes! I am very curious and extremely interested in new things, further developments and technology. In this respect, we have just the right thing with the current SAP product, in my opinion, as it is forward-looking and uses state-of-the-art technologies.
What is the greatest challenge in your job for you?
The greatest challenge in my area of responsibility is keeping track of everything. I have to invest a lot of time, the normal working day is usually not long enough. Sometimes I read up a bit on the topics on the sofa in the evening. You can find a breadth of information, which you have to filter down to what is really relevant. It calls for self-initiative and motivation, going one step further and not just thinking you’ve understood something but wanting to really understand it exactly. This is the only way that I can personally do the work to my satisfaction in my job. This also means I try things out in the system until I find ways to reach my goal.
What is Rutronik for you?
As I’ve been here quite some time, I’ve seen certain developments. Rutronik is a dynamic company that offers its employees the chance to get involved and therefore be given tasks they enjoy. The corporate philosophy is also a deciding factor, besides future security. For me, it’s important that I can identify with this and that there’s a collegial climate on the whole – that’s the case at Rutronik.
What do you most like doing outside work?
I love playing with my little son. It’s the most wonderful balance when I come home and have been able to already shake off some things and switch off on the way home.