Václav, what were your beginnings at Devcity? You’ve been with the company since the very start.
Yes, that's true. In fact, you could say I was part of the team that formulated the business idea on which Devcity was built and still stands today. We all met as part of a team outsourced to mall.cz, where we managed to bring the atmosphere of a small company into a large corporation and project.
You've been with the company for five years, so you know how Devcity worked at the start and where it is now. What has changed at Devcity, and what has remained the same?
"Changed" might not be the right word; the company is in a very different place than it was at the beginning. But what has stayed the same is the atmosphere. We managed to evolve from a startup into a professional development environment, yet the same atmosphere has remained. A big part of that is that many of us have been with the company for a long time. Today, Devcity is much more scalable in terms of focus. The teams are much larger, and I’d say the range of projects we work on is much broader.
What types of projects do you prefer?
You might expect that the subject matter is what matters most, but that’s not the case. For me, the most important factors are the project's concept, its long-term viability, and the professionalism of the environment in which the project is set up. Of course, it's nice to work on a topic that interests me, but this also speaks to Devcity’s professionalism in the field of IT outsourcing.
There’s often a negative connotation associated with bodyshopping on the market. How do you perceive it?
Bodyshop isn’t a “bad” word—in fact, it’s an absolutely essential solution in the IT market. Like anything, you can either do it well by working with clients long-term and relying on people who work with you for a long time, or you can use agencies for bodyshopping. In that case, it’s logical that it will have negative consequences for both clients and IT experts.
Last question: What is your dream project in terms of focus?
My dream project in terms of focus would be fast prototyping for an aerospace project. Something where lots of interesting problems need to be solved while also pushing boundaries. Sometimes, something might even burn up in the process.
