Temenos training - Aspire Systems Poland Blog

What is Temenos Training? Who is it for and where did the idea for such training come from?

Let’s start with the main hero: the Temenos itself.

In a nutshell, it’s software for servicing banks. It is characterized by high safety, support, and both ease and speed. It includes Temenos UXP, our hero here, and a tool for creating end-applications for users. It’s already used not only in banking systems but has also started to be used in other industries such as insurance.

A technology not so easy to learn

As banking systems are a fairly significant part of the Aspire development, the company wanted to start building such a branch in Poland. Unfortunately, there are barriers to this technology – a lack of familiarity with the technology itself and a lack of specialists

Complex licensing methods and the somewhat closed architecture and makes it harder to learn this system, with access to on-line materials limited.

After several months of searching for Temenos specialists, the decision was made to change strategy. We decided that if we could not hire anyone with this knowledge, we would train up such a team ourselves. The whole operation began with activities at job fairs, where we announced the training programme.

There are barriers to Temenos in Poland – a lack of familiarity with the technology itself and a lack of specialists. Complex licensing methods and the somewhat closed architecture and makes it harder to learn this system, with access to online materials limited. On the other hand, those with a knowledge of Temenos have a real advantage in the current jobs market.

Finding Temenos

Recruitment itself didn’t require candidates’ programming knowledge. What we expected from them was a specific way of thinking, a willingness to analyze problems and all the features that would help us to train them as developers.

An on-line test of knowledge and predispositions awaited the candidates. The most suitable people were later invited to interviews and tested in terms of their technical capabilities. We also reviewed soft skills and such seemingly trivial matters as whether we wanted to work with such a person. From all the candidates, we chose the most promising six.

The next step was to organize the training. As I was between projects, I was given responsibility for organizing the training. From our Temenos team in Chennai, India, we received guidelines on the areas in which people should be prepared before the Temenos UXP training itself. The list of subjects for the students was so long that we divided the training into two parts, Java and Temenos.

Starting with (Java) basics

The first part of the programme consisted of Java basics and lasted less than a month. During this time, we went through material from Java, HTML, CSS and the basics of JavaScript. This training was conducted by 5 trainers, each responsible for their own topic. After this month, the students had a Java knowledge test and completed 2 projects, both group and individual. Everyone managed to successfully move to the next part of the training.

This second part, in its initial phase, was carried out remotely by a trainer from India. In the later phase, the trainer came to our office in Poland and conducted training on the spot. This part lasted the entire month.

It was a smashing hit!

All of our current Temenos team have completed the training and its results turned out to be a hit.

Two people from the team have just received their first commercial project and, together with 2 experienced developers from India, will start working in Krakow. The other four are still polishing their skills and waiting for their chance to show them off in a real project.

From my point of view, the whole training was a huge success and we were able to prepare everyone to work as developers in real projects. It is a good feeling, considering that 2-3 months ago some of these people had nothing to do with the IT industry and given that the subject of Temenos was completely unknown.

And now, with a new team comfortable in current and ready for future projects, I am convinced that this type of training campaign will not be our last.