Wizards of Extentia: Bobby Moothedan

How it all began…

I started working at Extentia without any formal education in computers, back in 2001 when it was a 30 people company and have only seen growth since! My first project was an e-commerce site on which I used to do both development and testing. There was an instance when the team was struggling for a couple of days to reproduce a client-reported bug. Coincidentally, I was on PTO for those days and when I came back, I was able to reproduce the bug immediately. From that point began my QA journey. There on, I worked on finding different ways of testing, cleared various certifications like CSQA and CSTE, and started learning about automation testing.

Back in the day, there was no formal DevOps team to assist in deployments. We had to do everything on our own. This led me to explore more about Microsoft server components, Jenkins, as well as other CI/CD tools, and I continued to grow in that field. As a result, I became a QA/Deployment Manager and had the chance to work on very challenging projects with great teams. In 2013, the team I was working with had been downsized, leaving it with no manager – a role that I filled that gave me the opportunity to have a wider perspective of things. We built an extremely transparent culture within this team, something that I feel helped in great measure, in the long run – making the team self-sufficient where each team member contributed to the success that was well appreciated by the client. Now I’m a Delivery Manager with more responsibilities that I manage to justify because of the tremendous amount of experience I have gained over the years at Extentia!

And, 20 years later…

100+ projects done

50+ clients interacted with

4000+ bugs found (I think)

600+ people worked with

80+ tools and technologies worked on

Advice to youngsters

I’d say customers and managers usually look for a self-driven attitude, a yearning for learning, and proactivity. The best way to understand the domain, technologies, and processes is by reading up, grasping concepts, and trying to implement learnings on the job. Please ASK QUESTIONS. Recognizing the problem and how it is affecting the business objective is extremely important. And finally, speak up and you will definitely get noticed! Please do not stay silent in calls thinking someone else has understood and will explain it later.

What makes Extentia such a great place to work?

What stands out for me is the culture of the company – the caring and extremely thoughtful atmosphere, the fun environment (we used to play video games at the office back in the day ;)), and the inspirational leaders! A small but important part of the facilities that we get here is the crèche that has been a great help for both Nidhi and me when it comes to managing our family and work, given we both work here. Extentia believes in delivering confidence and that is something that has not changed – to the clients, the teams, and everyone that works with us. There is a purpose here at Extentia, and it’s really fulfilling!

My lifelines

Professional sphere – my amazing team, my customers, Jaya, Binu, and Naazneen – her working style is commendable, there’s so much to learn!

Personal sphere – Nidhi, my kids, my family, if that wasn’t a given! My friends (you know who you are ;))

Connect with me…

For anything and everything, that I can help in of course – I’d love to have a chat and explore new ideas and processes. I’m an ardent football fan and Manchester United is my club. So, all you football fanatics, let’s talk!

At the moment, it’s Netflix and chill during some time off (which is very rare nowadays)! :)

Read other Extentia Blog posts here!