Q What has been your most interesting day on the job?

Sergio Balaj, BI manager, Oi, Brazil's largest telephone company

A Today. I consider each day as the most interesting day on the job. Certainly, tomorrow will be better than today!

Q What is the best part of your day?

A The best part of my working day is early morning, when I organize my agenda and meet with my team. The other great moment of my day is at night, when I stay home with my wife and my little child.

Q What about information technology makes you passionate?

A Working with different subjects every day, with a great challenge to understand and increase the value of our customers, makes me passionate about IT and business intelligence (BI).

Q What keeps you up at night?

A The following questions concern me:
1. How can I take advantage of technology to get more efficient, effective and innovative?
2. How can I make my team excited to come to work?
3. How can I bring humanity into my team?

Q What is the most valuable thing you have at work?

A The working environment. I have a supportive manager and a great and collaborative team.

Q What is the best advice you can give someone new to IT?

A IT is like any profession; if you love what you're doing, then you are more likely to succeed. Being such a hard job, it is in itself the greatest motivation to get up in the morning! Pressure, stress and challenge come from many sources. If you love what you do, most certainly you will be good at it. Passion and enthusiasm are always present in those who achieve career success. T

NAME Sergio Balaj TITLE BI manager COMPANY Oi, Brazil's largest telephone company YEARS ON THE JOB 16 in IT and seven with Oi; currently with the Finance Department's Shared Service Centre

Photography by Paulo Fridman

Teradata Magazine-December 2008