My path in technology began in Italy, shortly after completing my Liceo Scientifico studies. My father enrolled me in a nine-month COBOL course at the Istituto Italiano per l’Impiego in Savona. That decision marked the beginning of a lifelong relationship with computers, programming, and data.
After the course, I was invited to a six-month internship starting in January 1981 at the demographic services department of the Municipality of Genoa. Their data center, located in Genova-Staglieno, was running COBOL programs on a Honeywell 9600 mainframe.
At that time, software development was very different from today. COBOL programs were written on punched cards, and operations that now seem simple — such as sorting citizen archives across magnetic tapes — required precision, patience, and a deep understanding of the system. That experience gave me a solid programming foundation that has supported my entire career.
From Early Computers to Data Management
My passion continued as personal computers began to appear. I started with a Commodore VIC-20, where I discovered BASIC. Later, I moved to the Commodore 128 and started using SuperBase, a program that opened my eyes to the power of data management.
I then bought a Commodore Amiga 2000, but after installing a Janus board, I became increasingly attracted to the PC world. My first PC was an assembled AT machine, and I quickly understood the potential of tools such as Framework, Lotus 1-2-3, and dBASE.
Over the years, I used, tested, or worked with almost every version of Microsoft Windows, starting from Windows 286, including lesser-known versions such as Windows 9.
From Business Owner to IT Professional
Before moving fully into professional IT, I owned a computer, photography, and mobile phone shop. During those years, I developed applications for my own business and for colleagues, mainly using Microsoft Access, first with Access Basic, then VBA, and later Visual Basic.
After moving to Romania, at the age of 45, I started my professional IT career.
I initially worked on websites, both maintaining existing ones and creating new projects. Later, I joined Computer Generated Solutions on the newly launched Dell Italy project. During six years there, I worked extensively with operating systems, hardware, BIOS, and technical support processes.
In 2016, I moved to Stefanini, first joining the Kraft Heinz project, where I worked on industrial servers, authentication issues, and hybrid authentication environments, mainly involving Okta.
Later, I joined the Nike team, where I supported Apple devices used by employees and VIP users.
Technical Growth and Certifications
While working in IT, I continued investing in my technical development. I completed a degree in Android Development at Link Academy in Bucharest, where I learned native Android programming in Java before cross-platform frameworks such as Ionic became common.
I also obtained many technical certifications, including more than 120 Dell Certified Systems Expert certifications, LinkedIn Learning certificates, and several other online qualifications.
Database, Messaging, and Enterprise Systems
A major turning point came when I joined the Extenda Retail team at Stefanini. There, I found the area of IT that best matched my interests: databases, data flows, integrations, and enterprise systems.
I became deeply involved in production database administration, working on systems supporting around 80% of Swedish pharmacies, including Apotek Hjärtat and Apotekstjänst.
My work included Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle SQL, Python scripting, and message delivery platforms such as RabbitMQ and MSMQ. This experience strengthened my ability to understand complex infrastructures, identify operational risks, and manage critical technical environments.
Current Consulting Activity
Today, I work as an IT consultant for CCP.RO, the Central Counterparty Clearing House of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
My current activity involves integration work between AS/400 systems and Linux/Windows servers, especially around retrieving and processing operational data such as logs. This role combines many of the skills developed throughout my career: system integration, database understanding, infrastructure analysis, scripting, and operational governance.
A Practical Approach to IT Consulting
My professional journey has given me a rare combination of hands-on technical experience, business awareness, and long-term exposure to real production environments.
I have worked with legacy systems, personal computers, enterprise platforms, databases, messaging systems, support teams, and integration projects. This allows me to approach IT consulting not only from a theoretical perspective, but from direct operational experience.
Application Engineering was created from this background: to help companies make better technical decisions, choose reliable partners, control project risk, and improve the quality of their IT delivery.
Mauro Ghiglia