BTS Behind the Scenes is a chance to showcase the people who are making things happen at BTS and give you a “behind the scenes” look into their worlds. In this month’s feature we’ll talk with Michael Walker and learn about gardening, growth, compliance, and the people side of IT.

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Your career has taken you from NASA to healthcare, higher education, cybersecurity, and now BTS. Any key moments or highlights stand out (besides joining BTS, of course)?

A highlight of my career very early on was that I got a chance to support the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) while it was being built at Goddard Space Flight Center. Being a part of something like that really puts things into perspective. No matter how small the role played in something of that magnitude you will have a chance to say you worked on it.

But my favorite project that was for my personal gratification was achieving the CMMC compliance here at BTS. It was a culmination of months of work to get everything in place in conjunction with the BTS team and the assessors to achieve something that not very many companies have completed yet. Working on something like that is a very different project and really feels like you are creating a foundation on which to build something.

You’ve worked in a wide range of technical roles. What’s the common thread that connects them?

Helping people has been the common thread amongst the support that I provide people in the technical roles. I seem to find myself always doing something a little different in each role because I love the ability to be well rounded when it comes to the field of work.

As IT Manager at BTS, how are you helping remove bottlenecks and support the company’s growth? What’s your vision?

Right now, the goal is to get up to speed with the history of BTS and get an understanding of the executive vision for the company. With that understanding I can create a pipeline of SOP’s and general understanding of what BTS does to help grow at a rapid pace. In the end of this process, the hope is to know where all the little problems are, where we are pushing boundaries at this current size, and reducing turn around times to get tasks done to better map what growth looks like at scale.

What drew you to cybersecurity and compliance work, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I have always enjoyed cybersecurity work since I was in high school and within the last 2 years was graced with the opportunity of getting my CISSP after meeting the work requirements. I was drawn to how adaptable cybersecurity and compliance must be for a company to be healthy. There is no chance of being stagnant at any point in a cybersecurity and compliance field. My enjoyment in this field is the chance to work through different scenarios. I love to work with people to make sure that not only can their vision and initiative move forward but that security can be built in and work in tandem.

You’re an avid plant collector. What does gardening teach you that also applies to your work? 

Persistence. You may want your plants to have these great things happen and all this growth, but it takes time and effort. Plants need the right environment and the right nutrients to grow properly. There are certain factors that you can possibly modify to help a plant grow but all it takes time and care. 

Things like major projects or compliance initiatives take time, a roadmap, communication with different stake holders, and small incremental steps towards a shared vision.

What are you reading right now? Do you have a go-to genre or series?

Right now, I am reading a couple books: Once and Eagle by Anton Myrer, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, and The Witcher: The Last Wish by Andrezej Sapkowski. The go-to series that I have loved is the Silo Series by Hugh Howey.

Ok, lightning round!

• Go-to snack during the workday: Shake Shack fries (With the Lunch Bunch)
• Dune- book or movies? The book is fantastic for the world building that it creates and the inner monologue for that I do have to say the books. But if you have a chance to see that movie on Airbus Imax Theater like I did, it puts up a good fight.
• Top IT pet peeve: The assumption that IT people just say “no” to everything. Problem solving and helping people are my favorite things to do. I love discussing possibilities to help people forward and a request would have to be outlandish or completely against compliance for me to flat out say no.
• Favorite spot for dinner out: The Dabney out of DC that is my favorite spot I have been to in this area.

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Tags: behind the scenes, IT, Michael Walker