Hello, I am Seren Corbett, a software developer at Awen Collective. For this blog I thought I would tell you about my first year at Awen Collective, a wonderful Welsh startup.
First, let’s rewind a few years… In 2015 I began my BSc Computer Science degree at Cardiff University. As part of this degree I spent a year in industry at Citrix (a large company with an 8000-strong workforce) as a Software Engineer Intern. In this role I learnt a lot about the software development lifecycle in a large company and gained skills in Testing and User Interface development. From this internship, the main thing I learnt about myself was that I enjoy a challenge and trying new and different things. So when I returned to university, I began my search for a new adventure in my career. Then I came across Awen Collective - a cyber security startup. Working for this company seemed to be the perfect opportunity for me, for many reasons, including:
1. It’s cyber security, an area of technology I have always been interested in, and an area of technology it would be difficult to live without (read the previous blog to find out more). In fact, when leaving my sixth-form, I was asked what was my goal for the future, and I said that I wanted to work in cyber security. Little did I know that this goal would be achieved so soon.
2. It’s a startup company. This intrigued me being a very new and different environment to that of a large company like Citrix. A startup company can offer more varied opportunities and responsibilities than a larger company and your input equates to a greater contribution than it might at a larger company. At a startup you are a big cog in a small wheel, so to speak. This was the main reason I decided to join Awen Collective. I wanted to be able to try different responsibilities to learn new skills and improve my self-confidence, something that I have definitely been able to do this past year. Other benefits of a startup include the smaller team, a predominantly flat company structure and business transparency. This structure allows for easy communication across the team as well as better collaboration. This quality lends itself to our company values, Agility, Warmth, Equality and Next-level innovation. While continuing to be productive and innovative, as a smaller team we are very social and in general the startup atmosphere is informal compared to many larger companies. CEO Dan and CTO Jules are also very open about business discussions and decisions, this has meant that I have learnt a lot about how running a business works, another thing that I have always been interested in. Another perk of working at a startup is the mutual trust and flexibility, which creates a perfect work/life balance.
Awen Collective focuses on building software solutions to help Critical National Infrastructure companies, and other companies with operational technology (OT), protect their network from cyber threats. We currently have 2 products, Profile and DOT. Profile is cyber security compliance audit software that allows users to assess their cyber resilience against the NIS Directive. DOT is software that enables the discovery of OT assets and vulnerabilities on the network.
During the first half of the year I was working on Profile, building new features and automated tests ready for the release of Profile v1.2. While these were my main activities, I collaborated with my team in many areas of the software development lifecycle from user interface design, through front and back end development, testing and release. I have also had the opportunity to learn and use cloud services, something which in the not too distant future I hope to gain a certification in. More recently, I have been working on project DOMINO for the MOD, extending the development of DOT. Releasing Profile v1.2 and joining this project coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic being declared, so I had to adapt to working from home. These circumstances also meant that I became the primary developer on this project, an interesting challenge but definitely not an insurmountable one! I didn’t have much experience with the code at this point but a good tip for new projects is to play around with the code to discover how it works. That is what I have done these last few months to develop DOT to fit to project requirements and it has been a fun learning experience. The skills I have learnt due to our unforeseen lockdown, have improved my work ethic all round. I am more productive, due to the reduction in my commute, and my problem solving skills and organisation have improved along with my independence and confidence. I also think that Awen has adapted brilliantly, with an instant form of communication and regular check-ins with members of staff not just to check how work is going but also to check how we are doing in such strange circumstances.
What have enjoyed the most about my first year at Awen Collective?
Firstly, the team is great, being a small company, the team is like a second family. We get on very well with each other and new members quickly settle in. When we are in the office, we always get lunch together and if the weather is nice (a rare Welsh treat), we go walking in the Caerphilly hills with our canine colleagues Twiglet and Elsie.
Secondly, there is always a new challenge, something to do or something new to learn. The work tasks at Awen are tailored to each individual’s strengths within the project brief and there are always opportunities to learn or try out something new. Throughout the year, alongside the software development I have done, I have also had other opportunities and responsibilities to take on. These include writing this blog, delivering product demos, solving customer issues, attending various conferences, including BSides Cymru and Black Hat Europe in London and attending Cyber Wales Capture-The-Flag cluster meetings, to name a few. I have enjoyed them thoroughly and the opportunities have continued to arise. In September I will be starting a leadership course to improve my leadership skills and increase my self-confidence. An opportunity I am very excited for, and one where I will gain a qualification to add to my CV.
Working for Awen Collective has been a brilliant experience so far and I look forward to seeing what the future holds as my journey here continues.