Interview with Andreia Lopes

How did Luza come into your life and why did you choose us to develop your career?

I was graciously invited by Rita, one of Luza’s managing partners and a former colleague of mine, to hear about her new and exciting project. In one call, I was completely captivated.

Luza came at a time where I felt stuck to the position I was in and “bored” with the type of projects assigned to me. Occasionally, there comes a point in your career where it seems that you’re always doing the same thing over and over again, and no matter how much you try to evolve as a professional, there just aren’t opportunities out there that allow you to put your knowledge into experience.

Luza stands out as a company whose mission and primary goal is you, the employee and you achieving your goals and pushing you to be the best version of yourself. They strive and procure the opportunities and/or resources to allow you to fulfill your professional and personal objectives. One of the first questions I was asked was “What do you want to achieve in the near future?” followed promptly with a “We will help you”. In Luza, I feel like more than just a number or a resource.

What do you most value in the company and how do you expect to contribute to joint growth? What qualities stand out in you?

There are a few reasons why I value and am proud to be a part of Luza.

As I mentioned before, Luza works to make sure you achieve your own goals and create the space, opportunity and/or supply the resources for you to do so. Luza believes that happy people make a happy company. If you are content and feel valued in your role, if you have the opportunity to grow and follow the career path you create for yourself, you are sure to produce more and with more enthusiasm.

Luza then has an incredible energy brought on by our wonderful managing partners, Rita and Nelson. It’s honestly contagious. There are no grey clouds hanging over Luza!

With Luza, you also feel motivated and crucial to the team and company’s growth. Your opinion is heard and (more importantly) solicitated, no matter the position or role you have.

Luza also has a quite the notable ecosystem, allowing you to not only work with your team, but also with colleagues from sister companies, learning from people with different backgrounds and experiences.

I hope to be able to contribute to the team and company’s growth not only with my knowledge in Microsoft technologies and ideas, but also with my “soft skills”.

I believe myself to be a team player, pushing myself and others to be the best they can be. I consider the act of sharing knowledge to be an important part to the growth of any team, that being patient and understanding and feel supported even in tougher times is crucial in feeling like you belong. Teams also help each other out. You don’t know something or are having difficulty with a certain subject or task? Then let me grab a chair and we’ll figure it out together! Teams should feel united and allow you to grow as an individual, both professionally and personally. If I’ve been able to grow along the years, I definitely owe it to the amazing teams I’ve had the honour of being a part of.

I also consider myself to be autonomous and pro-active. Cloud was completely new to me when I first started. I had to do a lot of research and a lot of trial and error. And I carry that habit with me even today. I don’t let not knowing stop me from trying. If I don’t know about a certain topic, functionality or process, ensure that I will find out! Whether it’s by researching, testing or asking. This quality of mine has also given former colleagues the confidence to entrust me with projects and tasks, even those seemingly difficult or complex, knowing I can handle whatever challenge is thrown at me.

I also believe that as a young person, I can bring new ideas to the table, based on previous work experiences, where I as a junior or someone just starting their career would have benefited from the introduction of some of these ideas and concepts, for ex., user-friendly and intuitive folder structures and flows, automated processes, dedicated and continuously updated knowledge bases with tips and best practices, workshops and participation in national and international events, etc.

A last quality I believe can help also contribute to Luza’s growth is that I’m a “people’s person”. I’m empathetic, welcoming and pay attention to the smallest details (both in my work and with customers). I am able to build healthy and strong relationships with my customers, making them feel important, heard and safe. The connections I create not only enable the customer to view me as a reliable professional, but also allows them to feel comfortable and inclined to pursue other projects with the company and consider us a trust-worthy partner to aid in their digital transformation.

What is your opinion about remote work and why do you think it is a good option?

I love remote work! I’ve been working remotely since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and I can surely say it was greatest thing to come out of it.

Remote work brings a balance that was very much needed, specially in Portugal. With it, flexibility becomes possible. We can finally spend time with our family, have time for ourselves, keep up with house work and truly enjoy our home.

No longer is it necessary to endure never-ending traffic or time-consuming commute, to be in front of a computer 8 hours straight, “finding work” in every nook and cranny to keep up appearances whilst at the office, to constantly travel for in-person meetings (that probably last, at most, an hour) or arrive home just in time for dinner and spend a measly hour or two with your family.

With remote work, not only can you finally make time for yourself and others, but it also alleviates a lot of the pressure and stress faced in our day-to-day. Because you have the freedom of making your own schedule, you feel more productive and typically organize your time better. There is also no pressure from leering eyes, so you feel more relaxed to complete your tasks. You can wake at a different hour or enjoy some of that time before work to dedicate to yourself (for ex., going to the gym or for a run, grabbing a coffee or just taking in the morning breeze).

Remote work also extends the range of hiring. Before, one would be restricted to the companies found in their vicinity, which, specially for people in the interior and far south of Portugal, reduced a lot of opportunities as many companies typically found themselves based in more populated cities like Lisbon and Porto. With remote work, everyone has the opportunity to apply, as the only requirement to be able to fulfill one’s work is having a computer and an internet connection. This also enables teams to be more diverse, and bring together different backgrounds and experiences, surely enriching the team’s capabilities.

What are your main functions and skills?

I currently work at Luza as a Modern Workplace Specialist and am responsible for the Modern Workplace unit.

As the name indicates, I specialize in Microsoft 365 technologies and services, primarily in Modern Workplace, so everything dedicated to digitally transforming not only a customer’s organization but also their workstation, ensuring it is secure and compliant, whilst also allowing users to be productive and collaborative. I am dedicated to assisting customers with the adoption and implementation of Microsoft 365’s rich and diverse service portfolio. It is also my function to manage, develop and help evolve my unit, ensuring the best tools and resources are provided, so everyone can fulfill their job to the better of their capabilities.

I have experience in the following areas of Identity, Security and Compliance, Collaboration, Device Management, Adoption and Migration, having worked with services like Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot, Azure Active Directory and Identity Management, Microsoft Defender, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Exchange Online, Microsoft Information Protection, Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance and others. I am also skilled with PowerShell scripting and have experience working with BitTitan as a migration tool.

Besides my knowledge in Microsoft, I also have extensive knowledge in web and mobile development, design and usability.

What project are you involved in and what do you do?

At the moment, I am involved in an internal project with Cronos. In this case, it is a Yammer-to-Yammer migration. The objective is to consolidate acquired companies’ Yammer networks with Cronos (the primary network), which may or may not be active and populated with content, and so after a thorough analysis, we must then ensure a successful migration and upload of any necessary data. In this project, I act as the Microsoft partner with the Yammer and migration knowledge necessary to advise and execute this project together with the help of Cronos’ IT.

How did the onboarding process go?

The onboarding process went very well! Rita and Nelson were nothing but welcoming and assisted me in every step of the way, constantly keeping me updated of how certain tasks were going, what needed to be done and what to expect. I had a computer all ready and shipped for my first day of work and any extra items I needed were delivered to me promptly so I could fulfill my work efficiently. Besides the welcome meeting with both partners, I had emails already sent to me informing me of tasks needing to be executed, like filling out certain information on our RH platform, creating a Luza CV, workshops and modules I needed to complete and others. I felt completely at home at Luza – even when working remotely!

Where do you live and what do you like to do in your free time? Is there any curiosity about you?

I live in Viseu, Portugal, near to the district’s polytechnic. It’s a quaint city with a good balance of country and city life. In my free time, I typically attend the gym 3 to 4 times a week, spend time with family and friends, host dinner parties and watch tv or go to the cinema. I also enjoying reading and occasionally like to write my own stories. I’d love to publish a book one day! With more time, I enjoy exploring outside my city and trying out new things. This summer, for example, I did tree climbing and rappel.

Besides wanting to publish my own book, another curiosity about me is that I lived for about 12 years in England. North West London, to be exact. I emigrated there when I was about 1 and half years old and returned to Portugal just after my 14th birthday. I attended English school and consider English to be my native language rather than Portuguese, which I learned with my parents at home and also through my cousins’ old school books that I would bring every holiday. Today I speak fluently both languages and hope to learn others, including remembering most of the German I learned in 5th and 6th grade and unfortunately forgot.

What do you expect from the future?

I expect and will work towards making Luza a future reference in the Microsoft market and consulting industry, known both national and internationally. The thought might be ambitious and most certainly won’t happen in the next 5 or even perhaps 10 years, but I believe Luza has the potential, mindset and people to help it grow and become an incredible and noteworthy company to work for and with.

Do you consider we are fulfilling our claim of “We make work a positive experience”? Why?

I do, and I think everything I’ve said before proves just that.

Luza is a company that wants to make its people happy and works towards that, whether it be with the energy its people transmit, the resources and opportunities it offers, the concern it has with helping you achieve your objectives and goals, or the feeling that you’re more than just an employee (or worse, a number). Even when hiring, it is clear that your needs, goals and expectations are heard. Luza aims to provide you with the best conditions and resources, all so that you can feel happy, valued and motivated to work and grow.