Full Capacity for the Part-Time Master's: Michael Auer

Full is primarily one thing for Michael Auer: the calendar. And this, despite the fact that the SRB consultant works part-time. Discover why he has a busy weekend and why points often drive him to the brink of madness in a new episode of our employee series 'Inside SRB'.

Actually, Michael Auer is not a 'split personality'. However, anyone who looks at his calendar will notice that he is currently dancing at least two weddings in his life. Michael is fully booked: While he contributes his programming expertise part-time as a consultant at SRB in the field of Integrated Digital Maintenance during the day, his master's thesis calls in the remaining hours.

‘There’s really a lot going on right now – and I must say, I’m glad when it’s over and the master’s thesis is submitted,’ says the 25-year-old Business Informatics student from FH Technikum Wien, looking ahead. He gives himself and his busy life a few more months. Then it should be done, and the master's degree should be in hand. After that, he plans to transition into a 'structured full-time position' at SRB.

From Internship to SRB Maintenance Cockpit Expert

That he wants to deepen his approximately two-year relationship with SRB after completing his studies is obvious to Michael. He has come to love SRB, SAP, and the associated challenges.

‘Working at SRB is exciting, varied, and challenging. Both from the client side and generally. And the best part is that you get up in the morning and often don’t know what’s really coming your way. Wonderful.’

Everything began with an internship. More precisely, with several. Even in HTL, Michael had his first encounters with his current field at another SAP consulting company, then again at SRB. And he quickly realised back then: This is what I want to do. A healthy mix of programming and client contact. Hence the Business Informatics degree.

The native Lower Austrian then stayed on after the initial SRB internship, where he gained insights into different SRB areas, in the field of Integrated Digital Maintenance. His passion: The SRB Maintenance Cockpit, a self-developed solution from SRB for mobile, digital maintenance. Here, Michael is the man for developments and programming in the backend as well as client consulting.

There is always a solution

Can’t do, doesn’t exist – that’s Michael’s motto. A motto that has solidified over the years in the projects he has been involved in: ‘Clients always come back with new questions for which we initially have no answer. What we know as a team at SRB is: Together we can find one, we can definitely develop a solution. And somehow it always works out,’ he shares from his experiences.

He can’t help but smile at the stories from his professional life. He recalls his favourite phrase from his 'boss' and team lead, Manfred Scheiner, which he hears repeatedly: We’ll have that right away. ‘To be honest, it does sometimes happen that we don’t have the solution right away. But in the end, we do have it,’ Michael says with a grin.

However, there is one thing the friendly programmer is at war with when searching for a solution: points. Following the 'small cause, big effect' principle, it sometimes happens that Michael spends ages searching for errors in SRB Maintenance Cockpit developments. Errors that are often nothing more than a misplaced or missing point. ‘The experienced colleagues might find that amusing, but it annoys me immensely,’ admits the ambitious consultant candidly.

Ready to give the colleagues a piece of his mind

Even though there is currently little time left alongside studies and SRB, Michael tries to enjoy the pleasures of student life, meeting friends and visiting bars. So it’s no surprise that Michael engages in physical activity to unwind and literally 'get out of the chair' by going to the gym. However, anyone wanting to meet him there should have stamina, as he is usually there – due to time constraints – only around 11 PM.

On weekends, however, he almost always heads to Raabs an der Thaya in Lower Austria. And there’s a reason for that: Michael plays in the town band there. He has a busy schedule, as his instruments are tenor horn and trombone. He has been playing them since he was little, starting in the first grade of primary school. His passion led him through Europe during his basic military service with the Military Music of Lower Austria. The highlight: a five-day soldier pilgrimage in Lourdes, France, where he played with around 40 other military bands from all over the world in front of about 30,000 soldiers.

Fortunately, it hasn’t come to the point where Michael had to raise his voice at SRB and literally give his colleagues a piece of his mind. 😉

Inside SRB

This year, we are also introducing some of our employees in more detail here on the blog. We look behind the make-up, business outfits, and PowerPoint slides to bring you closer to the people who make up our SRB expertise. Together we are SRB. More SRB employee portraits to read: #1 – Manfred Scheiner #2 – Veronika Lomasow #3 – Yamen Albahesh #4 – Norbert Leimgruber #5 – Michael Henninger #6 – Harald Epner #7 – #7 – Jelena Ilie