We are starting a new series of contents in our blog that aims to bring you a little closer to the people behind the company. Throughout the weeks, we will be publishing interviews with people from our team, under the title “Inprosec Human Capital”. On this occasion, we will get to know José González, our Head of the Projects Department and Partner at Inprosec, in greater depth.
Tell us a little about yourself
I am José González, partner of Inprosec and responsible for the project department, as well as a consultant specialized in SAP and SAP GRC security. I have been working at Inprosec since 2013 and I always like to say that, after finishing my studies (technical engineering in telecommunications), I received a call from the head of human resources at Inprosec asking me if I knew what SAP was and, although my answer was negative (I had never heard of this big company), Inprosec gave me the opportunity to join the team and start a professional career almost from scratch.
What is your function within Inprosec?
Like almost all workers, I started doing consulting work (SAP security and GRC, in my case) and in just 3 years I started managing projects as a Project Manager. In addition, I was directly involved in defining and improving the internal process of project management and, at present, I am responsible for the projects, innovation and production department, although I continue to manage and work on projects for end customers. In addition, in recognition of my work, Inprosec offered me to become a partner and, since 2017, I have a share in the company. Currently, I am also directly responsible for 6 workers. As project manager, I am responsible for assigning projects to the different project managers and consultants, as well as helping them to carry out regular monitoring of the projects to detect risks or deviations that may affect the achievement of the project’s objectives. I am also responsible for measuring customer satisfaction through an assessment survey that we send out after the completion of each project and we also manage and review internal innovation and development projects in the department. I also manage and execute SAP and GRC security projects for end customers and am directly responsible for 6 people whom I help to improve their professional development.
What has Inprosec meant to your professional career?
Pretty much everything. This is my first job and, from the beginning, Inprosec had complete confidence in me, even though I had no experience in the sector. For me, the most important thing is how Inprosec recognizes the effort of its workers and how it rewards them. In addition to regular salary increases, there is an internal training culture that ensures that the team is constantly renewed. In my case, I am studying a Master’s Degree in Information Security, of which Inprosec has helped me with a percentage of the cost. It is also worth noting that we are a young company with a very good working environment and that we are privileged to be able to work in such a pioneering and unique sector being in Vigo very close to our families. In 2019 we have started a biannual event, called InproBeers, in which all the members of the company meet to do group activities and have a few beers.
How do you manage to reconcile your personal and professional life?
Since we have very flexible working hours, it is easy to combine professional and personal life. In my case, I have a 2 year old son and the company does not prevent me from accompanying him to the swimming pool or to the daycare parties during working hours, since we are allowed to make up those hours at another time. In addition, we have no restrictions on applying for our holidays, and we can select individual days at any time of the year. As a curiosity, our vacations are measured by hours and not by days, and we can request half days of vacation and even enjoy more days of vacation if we request more Fridays (since on Fridays we work less hours than the rest of the days).
Any anecdote that has caught your eye at a stage in Inprosec that you would like to share?
Beyond the one I have already told you (I did not know SAP before joining Inprosec and now I have 6 years of experience in the sector), I always remember when my grandmother asked me what I did shortly after I joined Inprosec. It took me a few days to find the answer that summarized in a simple way what we do and I simply answered “we make big companies treat their own data as well as the data they have of ours in a safe way”.
What do you value most about working for a company like Inprosec?
The freedom to contribute new ideas that are always listened to and applied in the majority of occasions, as well as the recognition of the work and effort of people. The continuous improvement and constant innovation, is allowing us to have robust processes that allow us to increase the workforce quickly. From 6 employees in 2013 to almost 30 at present.
As an employee of a company that specializes in cybersecurity, what is your advice to any entrepreneur who is starting out with respect to their systems?
My recommendation, regardless of the type of company and sector, is that information security should be one of the pillars on which a company is built, and it is very important to take it into account from the outset, as it will always be more difficult to secure our information assets once they are up and running.
What are your hobbies at the end of the working day?
Disconnect from technology when I leave the office and spend time with my wife and child. I am passionate about knowing how things work, both natural and technological, and since my son was born I like to learn about modern methods of feeding and education, which break with the paradigms that we have all been taught. Besides, I like 70s rock and enjoying nature and the outdoors.
Who do you “nominate” to interview next and why?
I would like Iago, as founder of Inprosec, to tell us his point of view and what it has meant for him to have founded Inprosec almost 10 years ago.