TALK WITH JOSÉ MARÍA REJAS LOPEZ, HEAD OF THE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT AREA; PRODUCTION, SYSTEMS AND COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
CHAT WITH| JOSÉ MARÍA REJAS LOPEZ
José María Rejas is part of the living memory of our entity. He joined La José María shared offices with historical figures such as Mr. Escolástico Zaldívar (Founder and President) and Mr. Jesús Antón (Managing Director). José María Rejas tells D. Escolásico that "he was not as serious as people think, from time to time we would go down and he would invite us to an aperitif." At that time, Fraternidad had 43 employees, of which 20 were at Paseo José Calvo Sotelo 21, above Café Gijón. One of those 20 employees was José María Rejas.
Head of Maintenance and Support Area; Production, Systems and Communication Department
FM: How was your first contact with computing?
J.M.R: In the year 69, a company called International Business Machines arrived at Fraternidad. He sold us the first server and carried out some psychotechnical tests on the entire staff. They selected four employees to create the new IT area, among them was me. Thus, I changed the studies I was taking, Tourism Technician, for the new computer science studies.
FM: I imagine you wouldn't be able to cope.
J.M.R.: So much so that in the 80s we had to expand the team. The first communications lines were installed, point to point between the headquarters and the six main headquarters, the rest were connected with X-25 lines to each headquarters or to the headquarters. It managed membership, collection, benefits, medical centers and accounting, this was consolidated with the central server at night. Quite a few more things were done than you can imagine. The Fraternidad was growing at a strong pace. They were years of a lot of work.
FM: How was computing modernized at Fraternidad?
J.M.R.: It was a qualitative leap. The budget dedicated to IT multiplied by 10. This investment helped us to be a benchmark in the sector, and became part of our competitive advantages. I had a very important task during these years, leading the data warehouse team with projects as important as the management account; This made it possible to open analytical accounting to all the directors of the Mutual Fund and make them see the importance of income and expenses, even reaching the CCC level.
FM: And what does your work currently consist of?
J.M.R.: When we moved to the Alcobendas building, Pedro Maestre asked me to take charge of the building. It is a complex issue, since these are very technical facilities, which include a Data Processing Center, a high security facility with very demanding availability requirements. I can say that we have not had any interruption in service in almost ten years. Furthermore, this building is alive, organizational changes are continuous, the entry and exit of personnel, each lost consultant's day costs a lot of money. Many companies cannot take care of critical facilities and choose to migrate their data processing centers to outsourced ICT centers, but this alternative is worse in terms of costs and, above all, flexibility in operation.
FM: What challenges have you faced lately?
J.M.R.: In the mid-2000s we set ourselves the challenge of certifying the building in Environmental Management. We achieve this through two certificates: ISO 14001 and EMAS; This last certificate was suggested to us by the new Manager, it is a very prestigious European Union seal. Both certificates oblige us to continuous improvement, which is why every year we establish new objectives that maintain the tension of day to day. I am especially rigorous with the energy control of the building. Data Processing Centers are the largest consumers of electricity in the 21st century; energy saving measures must be continually adopted. If you want to be at the cutting edge of technology and comply with all legal and environmental requirements, you cannot let your guard down.
FM: What feelings do you have about Mutua today?
J.M.R.: I think we are achieving good economic results, very good in comparative terms, and the involvement of all workers in management is evident. Communication has also greatly improved, which is very fluid both from management and between departments and delegations. At the management level we are achieving a very enriching mix between seniority, experience, drive and professionalism. I see the Mutua in good health, even in times of crisis, although always with fear of some reduction by the Ministry. I'm worried about the competition, I don't know what's going to happen. Can we be calm? We will wait for the new Mutual Insurance Law.
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