We are back with our Meet the Griffins series where we present an outstanding employee who we feel embodies Axway’s culture and is an excellent example of commitment, achievement, motivation, and work ethic.
In the last Griffin Spotlight, we travelled to Bucharest, Romania and met Monica Avram, AI Suite R&D Manager. Today, we are going to Uxbridge in the UK to meet Darren Baggs.
Darren Baggs’ job
Darren has been with Axway for four years as a Principal MFT Architect, and part of the UK PSO Team.
As an MFT Architect, Darren primarily works on pre-sales from a services perspective while also getting hands-on with project implementation and serving as a consultant.
Because of his vast MFT knowledge and strong client relationships, he occasionally delivers SecureTransport training directly to his customers.
Darren has enormous experience working in the MFT space.
Prior to joining Axway, he worked for several banks specializing in message-oriented middleware before spending 10 years with an Italian MFT provider. His long career in IT began as a mainframe assembler programmer at a national bank.
Darren’s approach to the job
Delivering a great customer experience is what drives Darren in his daily work, and one of many reasons he embodies Axway’s #BetterTogether culture.
“I always try to deliver the best service by reacting quickly to customer requests and providing detailed information.”
Darren pairs his commitment to responsiveness with an additional commitment to thoroughness. Whenever possible, Darren takes the time to test any potential solutions before sharing them with his customers to be sure they are working exactly as they should be to avoid creating additional uncertainty or stress.
Inspiration
Forming positive relationships with customers and keeping the contact going even after a project is finished is part of Darren’s core work philosophy. Stressful situations arise naturally when working on projects and working directly with customers to face any issues together nurtures a strong bond that lasts long after the project ends.
“For example, I met one of my current customers when working for my previous employer, but the good relationship was carried over to Axway.”
The best part of the job
For Darren, the best part of the job is that no day, project, or customer is ever the same. He loves the varied work and is motivated most when working alongside other talented employees at Axway. The chance to meet new people and travel to visit Axway offices around the world are added bonuses!
“I like the interesting projects and customers that I get to work with. As some of our UK customers are government organisations, I need to have special security clearance to work on their projects.”
Darren’s advice
As a subject matter expert himself, Darren recommends the importance of growing expertise in your domain while balancing it with a holistic approach to understanding the solution and its interconnected parts. A big picture approach is crucial for completing your job. Knowledge of a solution that incorporates an understanding of all variables involved helps create the best outcomes for the team and customer.
“Be very strong in your specialist subject but also make sure you have a good understanding of all the other aspects that make up the solution.”
Philosophy for life
“I think you should only do things that you enjoy, and of course do them to the best of your ability.”
Putting things into perspective, Darren applies his philosophy by enjoying the variety of Axway life while approaching his work with nothing short of excellence, shown through his commitment to providing agile and comprehensive support, his deep expertise of MFT and its related solutions, and the strong bonds he forms with his customers.
Downtime
In his free time, Darren enjoys spending time with his family and walking in the great British countryside. He is also partial to good restaurants and a drink or two, as you might have surmised from his pictures!
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