Itilians about Itility

About ten years ago, I noticed I was stuck in the ‘box’ of a role at a large organization. Four years after becoming project manager in an R&D department, I noticed that I missed the more technical discussions on content level. It was hard to break out of the box: a different role was possible as long as I kept doing what I did.

Then Itility came on my path, through one of our recruiters. Someone who had actually read my profile well and tried hard to get in touch. Back then, Itility’s website was not so great and focused mainly on IT infrastructure, so I dismissed the offer at first. But in the end the recruiter was successful in bringing me into contact with one of the architects who explained the ambition: using software and data to control and monitor advanced IT environments. Really something where I could use my technical, project management and business backgrounds.

What I like most about Itility is that the box of my role doesn’t exist. Every new project it is possible to shift between my different interests. Sometimes a more architectural role (for example at Schiphol), sometimes more focus on transformation (at a company building pizza bakery factories) and sometimes more on the people side (by coaching and training colleagues).

Every year we celebrate our achievements together at our Christmas party, and it’s always a joy to look at the changes I have made that year. Each project and customer comes with new challenges, and it’s great to reflect upon. At the same time, it whets my appetite for what’s to come. New surprises, new opportunities to learn, new people to meet and deliver new results. To be honest, it takes energy, but it also gives a lot of energy. Especially working together with smart people, both our colleagues and our interesting customers.

One of the things I value most about Itility is the trust you get from an early stage in your career. I still remember how quickly I moved from supporting the project to being the person others looked at for structure, decisions and follow-up actions. I was given the opportunity to take a leading role in a large-scale datacentre migration.

After my first project at Itility, I joined a datacentre migration program for KPN, one of the largest telecom providers in the Netherlands. At that point, I did not have years of experience to fall back on, so I had to learn fast: asking the right questions, making decisions before everything was fully clear, learning from setbacks, and moving forward. It was a challenging environment, with technical dependencies, multiple stakeholders and high expectations, but there were always colleagues around me who could help.

What stood out to me was that I was given room to make decisions, while still having experienced colleagues around me who challenged my thinking and helped me improve. At Itility, you feel the edge of responsibility, but not in isolation. That balance allowed me to make my own decisions in a safe environment, while continuing to learn from the people around me.

Looking back, these experiences have taught me much more than project management alone. I learned how to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, navigate complex situations, and stay focused under pressure. Most importantly, I discovered how much you can grow when people genuinely trust you to take ownership.

For me, Itility is a place where responsibility came early, but never without the right support. That combination helped me grow quickly, while still enjoying the day-to-day work and the people around me.