Franck Gil is the Project Director at Docoon, the new entity formed by the Odyssey Messaging Group and its brands DPii Télécom & Services and Docoon. A key figure in product/solution development, he now coordinates all of Docoon's development teams. His testimony is all the more interesting given that he has been part of the Odyssey Messaging adventure since the beginning, when he was hired as a simple developer. Let's take a closer look at the strategic position of a professional who has grown with the company, offering rare and valuable insights...
Hello Franck, can you explain what your role at Docoon involves?
Franck Gil: My role as Project Director essentially involves supervising teams of developers. It is primarily a managerial role; the technical aspect is secondary. I coordinate all the development teams, both front-end and back-end, as well as the project managers and testers.
In addition to my technical role, which involves delivering new features, I work closely with the support teams, who sometimes report bugs encountered by customers to me: I provide them with the tools they need. I am also the point of contact for the infrastructure teams that manage the physical support on which our solutions run (machines, servers, network, Internet). Finally, I also liaise with the sales and product managers who report back on customers' functional development requests.
You could say that I'm the hidden part of the "development team" iceberg! I work at the crossroads of technology and customer relations.
For example, I am very involved at the start of a project, at the customer's site, when we work together to develop a solution with them. Once the solution is installed, I may be called upon by our support teams who are in contact with the end users of the product.
Today at Docoon, I lead the teams working on redesigning a new solution that will offer our customers the best of both worlds: messaging and digitization, within a unified platform. To achieve this goal, we have developed expertise in new technologies: Microsoft Azure for the cloud, GraphQL for the development of our APIs, and React for the front office.
How do we organize development work on a new offering?
F.G.: We use tools and methods such as SCRUM. It's a method that works like a "snail." We set ourselves a long-term goal, which is the project. Between the start and the achievement of the goal, the development teams produce deliverables at regular intervals, known as "SPRINTS," which generally last three weeks. The goal is to progress at the end of each sprint toward an even more functional solution, and so on, until the final goal is achieved.
This technique has a major advantage: at each sprint or stage, we compare the initial requirement(s) with the current requirement(s), which prevents us from ending up with a finished product that no longer meets user and market expectations. You know, IT developers don't like to change what they've already developed!
Another working method we use is CI/CD, which allows us to carry out continuous integration and development. Each time a task is completed, the developer publishes their changes in our source code centralization tool, which then triggers a compilation and testing mechanism. If the test is successful, the changes are automatically deployed in a test environment before being integrated into production for our customers. This saves us time between developing a new feature and making it available to management or the sales team. Previously, to achieve the same result, the process was more complex, requiring an additional person to act as an interface. As a result, feedback from the field comes back faster, allowing us to be more responsive and offer a product that best meets the expectations of the requester/customer.
From what you say, I get the impression that you place a lot of importance on customer satisfaction?
F.G.: Yes . It's in our DNA, and has been since I started with Odyssey Services!
We have rarely worked in R&D mode, which consists of designing a solution based on internal thinking and then testing it on the market. We take the opposite approach: we listen to the market to identify needs, and only then do we build a product. So, obviously, listening to needs and customer satisfaction are a priority.
I would also like to emphasize that we are working closely with our partners to develop our offering. In messaging, which is my primary area of expertise, we work with Manpower and Carrefour, which uses our servers for food delivery. For digitization, we collaborate with Yooz and Toshiba, which distributes and resells our solutions. My teams and I also act as consultants. We help our clients build customized solutions tailored to their specific needs.
We support our clients through change by getting involved early on to work together to develop the right solution.
Let's be clear, long before Docoon, you were part of an adventure that began in 2007?
F.G: Absolutely, I must have been thefirst employee hired by Odyssey Services in 2007! Fifteen years already... The company first merged with Alliance MCA, led by Laurent Mezrahi, who then took over the management of a group renamed Odyssey Messaging. Whether with Alliance MCA or DPii Telecom & Services, which joined us more recently, we share the same business vision: to focus first and foremost on meeting customer expectations and needs.
How has your profession changed over the years?
F.G.: I started as a project manager at Odyssey Services in startup mode. It was an exhilarating time, as we had to deliver a solution to customers who were waiting for us... I remember watching the gauges measuring the level of incoming traffic on our system increase in real time—it was thrilling! In 2010, we took a second major step forward when we merged with Alliance MCA. We merged two different systems and integrated clients with different profiles, more "marketing" oriented, before returning to growth with the absorption of DPii Telecom & Services.
Today, it's a bit like we're starting from scratch with expanded teams and new technologies to offer our customers joint solutions combining digitization and messaging. The future is being written now, and it's exciting!
Personally, it's been quite a journey. How have you evolved?
F.G.: When I first started at Odyssey Services, we had to recruit quickly to respond to strong market growth. Although I was an IT developer, I quickly realized that I preferred supervising and managing a team. That's why, throughout my career, I have worked to move into management roles. The Odyssey adventure gave me the means to achieve this ambition. In fact, I try not to do anything anymore, to let things happen...
What do you mean by "I'm trying not to do that anymore"?
F.G.: My transition to management was not easy.
At first, I always wanted to keep getting my hands dirty. Odyssey and now Doccon have taught me to let go and trust the teams.
In fact, I'm still learning. I recently became the father of twins. I was able to adjust my schedule accordingly by working part-time. And now, I have no choice... It's impossible for me to do everything! This constraint has allowed me to take even more of a step back. I focused on coordinating the teams, and I realized that it worked very well that way! You know, technicians aren't very talkative, so my role is also to facilitate communication within the teams.
What do you want to remember from the "Odyssey" adventure? What are you most proud of?
F.G.: Having succeeded in building a team that is almost autonomous. I have trained colleagues for 4-5 years who can replace me in the development area. I have built a team that I feel comfortable with and that surprises me: I can confidently delegate all technical tasks to them.
If you had to name some mentors, who would they be?
F.G.: The first is Arnaud Gaudillere, the former founder and technical director of Odyssey Services. I learned a great deal from him. Above all, he trusted me to move from developer to project manager and then entrusted me with R&D.
The second is Laurent Mezrahi, President and CEO of Odyssey Messaging. He is a remarkable figure, known for his ability to drive people and the company forward without having to bang his fist on the table. He is someone who can unite teams and provide inspiring leadership!
Looking back, for those of you who went through all these stages leading up to the creation of Docoon, is there a common thread?
F.G.: Yes .
We are a customer-centric company. We share a corporate culture based on customer satisfaction. This has been the case from the very beginning, and we continue to follow this path. Then there is the quality of the products we supply. Our customers and the market have evolved, but these two values are deeply ingrained in our identity.
I insist on quality. We implement rules and standards in our processes to be very rigorous and deliver products that meet market standards. I am thinking in particular of the ISO27001 standard for electronic invoicing. Let's not forget that we are a Digital Services Company that offers SMEs, mid-sized companies, and large enterprises the opportunity to digitize and secure their information flows. Our solutions guarantee the highest level of quality, security, and compliance.
And you are, in a way, its custodian! Franck, thank you for this fascinating interview!
