Get to know Alin Besnea, Director of Engineering and General Manager of the OPSWAT Romania Office!
How long have you been with OPSWAT?
I joined OPSWAT on April 1, 2015, so I’ve been with the company for over 7 years.
How did you begin your career in the cybersecurity industry?
OPSWAT was the first cybersecurity company that I’ve worked for. I’ve previously worked in industries like online gambling, online gaming and a technology company that wanted to offer mobile facial recognition capabilities, before this sort of technology was introduced by the phone manufacturers.
Tell us about your role at OPSWAT.
I’m the General Manager of the Romania office, overseeing HR, Operations, and, generally, everything that has to do with the smooth sailing of the Romania office. I’m also the Director of Products for the OESIS product line, overseeing the Product and R&D parts of this business, handled by the teams we have in Romania and Vietnam.
What is your favorite part about working at the OPSWAT Romania office?
My favorite part about working at OPSWAT is the fact that I can work in a product company. Most of the companies we have in Romania are outsourcing/service companies, where, in my opinion, it’s very difficult to see the outcome of your work, since you may have limited access to the product metrics, to the end customers, or even to the development lifecycle of the product. OPSWAT is very transparent when it comes to sharing the success metrics of the products and facilitates the interaction between R&D/PM layers and the end customers.
Other than this, I would say that the people and the culture of the office and embracing and encouraging collaboration are other strong points of the Romania office.
How has the OPSWAT Romania office and/or team changed since you first started?
It has changed a lot, mostly because of the growth that we’ve experienced over the past few years. When I first joined OPSWAT we were less than 20 people in the office, and now we’re more than 70. I think the culture and mentality remain largely unchanged, but the footprint of the office has changed: we have more teams and more products developed here.
I also feel like the office has matured. We have a very strong layer of management, overseeing fundamental products and functions of the global organization, as well as experienced individual contributors in all the teams.
What is the best advice or lesson you’ve learned in your career?
It’s something that I’ve learned at OPSWAT: you don’t need to be a huge company or have a large team to be a market leader. The quality of the products, customer focus and a smart and dedicated team can help overcome any challenge.
What has been your favorite project to work on at OPSWAT?
It would have to be the OESIS Framework. It’s just a great product, that has a solid and dedicated team behind it and, on top of this, it’s used by some of the biggest names in the SSL / VPN and EPP spaces. It’s fantastic to see the product grow and expand, and to see the team members evolve with the product.
If you could describe OPSWAT Romania in one word, what would it be and why?
Solution-focused. It’s two words, but I think it captures the DNA of the office. The culture of the office is to always find the solution to the problem we have in front of us. We don’t like to say it can’t be done.
Interested in learning more about career opportunities? Visit our careers page or contact one of our critical infrastructure cybersecurity experts today.
