Technology director with a passion for reuse
After spending several years in cloud infrastructure at Discover, Roland Krocin now leads efforts to improve software reuse using open ways of working via a program chartered with reducing duplication of software assets and shortening software development time with improved quality. The idea is to drastically improve developer efficiency (and happiness!) through a reduction of the cognitive load required to navigate the maze of enterprise technology. In his current (and most of his prior) roles, Roland gets to play with nearly every part of our technology stack, which keeps him sharp and always learning. Wow!
Here's just a sample of some of the things that Roland has built during his Discover tenure:
- Application platforms - from building, scaling, and running our most mission critical application platforms like Jboss, WAS and PCF, along with related messaging and non-relational data platforms (Gemfire, etc).
- Public cloud - Roland led teams that laid the groundwork for the Discover presence at AWS and GCP, enabling datalake and related public cloud capabilities for Discover. The challenge there wasn't the new technology, but the required new ways of working and thinking how to make the cloud not a place, but a way of delivering technology capability in a very different way.
- Chapter engineering - Roland partnered with many people internally to build a world class infrastructure engineering organization with standardized engineering practices and operational models, as well as engineer competency development programs.
"Discover is special because of the people," Roland says. "Since I started in 2004, it has always been about the people, the work, and all of the work experiences that led to making a number of lifelong friendships. I'm a self-proclaimed geek who's very passionate about engineering excellence—often constructively dissatisfied and finding new ways to deliver better technology solutions through investing in people and improving processes. I especially enjoy cultivating engineering talent and developing new technologists and leaders that will change not only our company, but whole industries."
Get to know more about Roland
What's your tech origin story?
I was always interested in things that 'go beep.' From early pinball games in the 80's, to arcades, to the Commodore series of computers, I was fascinated with how it all worked and always wondered what impact those technologies would make on the world in the coming decades. This led to running an internet startup in the late 90's during the first 'dot com' boom where I was able to wear many 'hats' and learned many lessons on what not to do in technology and management. Like many startups of that era, mine did not survive. I was fortunate to then come to Discover and have been here since 2004 in a variety of technical and leadership roles.
What are your favorite hobbies?
Traveling and cycling, especially mountain biking (as 'mountain' as the Midwest gets anyway)
What's the best thing you've ever eaten?
Grandma's cooking, obviously!
What's your caffeine of choice?
Coffee. Is there anything else?
In virtual meetings, Roland prefers ...
Camera on (on good hair days)
What's your preferred pet?
Dog. No cats. Sorry.
