Welcome to our latest meet the team blog.

Today we introduce Ayman Hariri who joined Bedford in 2019. Ayman is part of our EMEA Professional Services Team, based in Germany and in his spare time he likes reading sci-fi stories and travelling to new countries with his family.

What made you consider joining Bedford?

I liked the idea of being part of the DACH team from day 1 and having the space to shape and form the team, I didn’t want to miss that opportunity. Anaplan had an interesting cloud-only technology on offer that I believed was exactly the right thing for our customers. It was time to leave the old technologies behind and rely on this modern platform. With broad support from the established and experienced Bedford team in the UK, nothing could go wrong. I really looked forward to working with Anaplan.

What are you most proud of?

We were able to grow very fast, yet still stay as a team. We have made every customer happy so far. I am proud that we could keep this supportive environment that pushes individual initiatives and enables innovation to bring the best out of the technology and help our customers to succeed.

What’s your favourite part of working at Bedford?

You have one project methodology and are otherwise very free how to work. No shackles or elaborate status reporting templates. And if you need support, you can always speak to your POD leader or CSD and get it. There are no virtual boundaries between the teams and management.

Describe Bedford in three words

If I had to describe Bedford in 3 words, they would be quality, innovation and fun.

What’s the company like? How would you describe the team culture?

It’s like a family: the hierarchy is very flat and it’s used to support. Bedford is bigger than your average family though, so you’ll always find somebody who has already implemented a certain solution or knows how a process must run or who simply sits beside you to work out the best solution.

How would you describe a typical day?

Most days are dedicated to a single customer, and we start with a daily stand-up meeting with all project members where we discuss the progress and prioritise the upcoming tasks. Then I work in the customer model to implement the user stories and get in contact with colleagues or customer employees to clear open points if needed. At the end of the day, I present the results to the responsible customer employee and update our agile app.

What is the biggest challenge that someone in this position would face?

You must stick to the given project methodology and take the customer on the journey with you for the best outcome all round. Time is a precious resource but you must communicate with the customer how much you need upfront.

What did you wish you knew before joining Bedford?

I was in a consulting company before I knew what to expect. Bedford has a “no surprises” policy. This is also applied to candidates. Therefore, nobody is promised anything that is not kept in the end.

What’s the most important skill that someone will need to succeed as a consultant?

You should be able to see things from customer perspective. Every customer has several requirements that are different in importance and urgency. Being able to see things from their perspective will enable us to build the solution that fits best in the time they need it.

What have you learned in the last six months?

I have learned that sometimes a little support from outside the project team can help to motivate the project members and bring a tricky project to a positive outcome.

Why do you stay at Bedford?

The team are nice people, it’s a successful company, the projects are interesting and use a great solution. As with any job, it is still work and sometimes hard work. But there are so many positives that I don’t even think about leaving Bedford.

Stay tuned for our next meet the team blog. We’re hiring! For more information on our open roles visit our careers page.