From humble beginnings, to being part of a listed company, Natalie chats about her journey with Digi.

What brought you to Digi 20 years ago?

I started my career in computer programming and wanted to move from a contracting position to a more permanent position, and here I still am 20 years later! I heard about Forwardslash, who offered amazing perks and had a dynamic culture. The technology used was at the forefront and of course they offered lunch. The culture was what I was looking for and once I joined, it felt like I became ‘part of a family’. To this day, the company is still upholding the culture and continues to reward employees with perks like free meals, gym access, and the best coffee.

Tell us about your Digi journey

I applied for a software developer position with SQL exposure and ended up being offered the Junior DBA position. At the time, we were a team of three and the amount of work was intense, as we were supporting developers and BI reporting. Compared to where I came from it was extremely fast paced. Fortunately, I had the pleasure of working with a DBA manager at the time who was supportive, very knowledgeable, and positively influenced and shaped our team. 

We were extremely busy setting up applications on SQL, creating our first player-facing servers and making sure tracking worked. SQL code for player communication and promotions had to be churned out fast and the exciting world of risk and fraud had to be figured out. I got promoted to Senior DBA and later became the DBA manager.

Throughout my journey, exposure to the business has been limitless and this is a gift that you seldom get in a company. We worked hard but played hard as well and the social events were legendary.

Keeping up with the ‘constant’ changes has been challenging and rewarding. As a DBA team we were part of IT for most of the years, with a brief move to the BI team and more recently having moved into the Enterprise Platform portfolio. Craig Hovey was our infrastructure support resource when we started, IT manager and is now the Managing Director- what an inspiration! One thing is for sure, the only thing that is ‘constant’ is change.

Why are you still with Digi after 20 years?

We are always working to become the best in the industry and remain focused on the customer experience. Because of this, we push the boundaries in technology all the time to meet business needs. There is always ‘a project’ on the go, which I enjoy being part of.

It’s been an honour to be part of this dynamic company and the Digi family. I work with so many talented, hardworking, and inspiring colleagues and I am excited to experience the next chapter ‘in this story’.

We started from humble beginnings in the Sea Point offices and look at us now, on the world stage, as a listed company – it’s truly amazing!