At MM18HR, Miguel Balparda will teach us how to effectively communicate with Support

In our series of articles in which we’re presenting speakers at Meet Magento Croatia event, the time has come to find out more about Miguel Balparda who will join us with “A day in Support” presentation.

As a Magento 2 Maintainer, Core contributor, and avid Magento supporter, Miguel is also known in the community as a passionate traveler. He’s probably on the beach coding, while you’re reading about his career, and his opinion on how important is it for a developer to understand client’s needs from a business perspective, rather than “just” the technical one.

Hi Miguel! Congratulations on being rewarded with the Magento Mover title! A lot of hard work led to that recognition, right?

It’s been quite a journey. I’ve been traveling non stop for the last couple of years and I was able to meet a lot of people from the community, so I can’t say it’s been a hard job to do. I really enjoy meeting new people and being a Master has helped me connect with a lot of different Magento users and developers from around the globe.

Movers are Magento’s top advocates and ecosystem thought leaders who have demonstrated their expertise in driving innovation through Magento solutions. Whose shoes are most interesting for you to walk in when thinking of solutions – developer’s or merchant’s and why?

I’m a back-end developer who has moved into the system administration world, which means my way of thinking is mostly programmatic and not so much business oriented. Being part of a company like Nexcess has helped me understand the hosting business better and be able to introduce this into my everyday decisions.

You have an interesting view on career development, especially work environment, where you always encourage developers to work remotely. What would you say was the most difficult moment of your career, and what good came from it?

Working remote isn’t for everyone, but it’s worked well for me and I think companies and developers mutually benefit. I like being a remote developer because it allows me to travel while working, but don’t get me wrong, I work 8 hrs a day just like any of you, with meetings and deadlines. I just do it in a different timezone while on the beach 😀

Me visiting both for #mm18in and #mm18hr ? pic.twitter.com/Ml6cDUDfzG

— Miguel Balparda (@mbalparda) July 17, 2018

In your opinion, how important is it for a developer to understand client’s needs from a business perspective, rather than “just” the technical one? Should they focus on technically excellent and well-performing solution and leave the business side of things for someone else to worry about?

Developers usually want to code. Some of us like knowing more about the business behind the code and some don’t, and that’s okay too. Understanding the bigger picture is always desired skill for any developer, but it’s not something I consider mandatory if you just want to code. Also, it’s always good to have someone to work with, so you are not a jack of all trades but a specialist working in a multidisciplinary team.

It looks like you’re having an interesting topic at Meet Magento Croatia 2018 event. What’s hiding behind its title“A day in Support”?

I used to call support and be mad at them, yelling and insulting the person on the other side of the phone when I was a developer. When I joined Nexcess, I experienced first hand how people work on the other side of the phone and I realized I haven’t been always polite. In this talk, I’ll be showing the issues we see, the people who contact us and how any developer can effectively work with any support team and get better and faster results.

We can’t wait to hear Miguel’s presentation!

Join us on 28th and 29th of September in Osijek at Meet Magento Croatia 2018. Grab your ticket while you can, seats are limited!