About

I began as a junior developer and spent 10+ years progressing through backend development and systems operations roles. Platform engineering became my specialty—designing reliable infrastructure, streamlining deployments and enabling teams to move faster. I now work from Finland, applying those lessons to platform and DevOps challenges.

When I'm not focused on platform engineering, I build websites and landing pages for local businesses—bringing the same rigor around performance, reliability, and user experience from my infrastructure work into frontend and design work.

This blog is where I share deep dives into platform engineering, DevOps practices, and the operational lessons I've learned over a decade of building and maintaining distributed systems. I write about the technical decisions that matter—CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure design, scaling challenges, and the messy realities of production systems. If you're navigating similar problems or curious about platform engineering, you'll find something useful here.

hermanmjr@icloud.com

Career Snapshot

Nov 2023 – Present

Platform Manager & DevOps Engineer

Crosskey - Åland Islands, Finland

I work cross-functionally with Platform Managers, DBAs, Architects and Product Owners to design and deliver technical solutions aligned with team strategy. I drive development, quality assurance, and operational excellence while supporting developers with the tools and infrastructure they need to move fast—and initiating improvements where friction exists.

Jun 2022 – Jul 2023

Backend Developer

Enfuce - Åland Islands, Finland

Design and built backend microservices using Java/Spring Boot and TypeScript/Node.js, deployed across AWS. Contributed to optimize for reliability and scalability and collaborate with the broader platform team to ensure our services support developer workflows and business objectives.

Aug 2020 – Apr 2022

DevOps Engineer

Paf (Games Sports Casino) - Åland Islands, Finland

Helped with the CI/CD pipeline architecture and optimization, streamlining deployments for Java/Spring Boot microservices on AWS. I maintain system reliability through rotational on-call support and coordinated release management, troubleshooting incidents and driving operational improvements to reduce friction and incident impact. Started working remotely from the Philippines during the pandemic and moved to Finland in 2021 to continue working with Paf on-site.

Jul 2018 - May 2020

Technical Manager

Novare Technologies - Philippines

While still thinking of my career path, I joined a medium-sized software company as a Technical Manager. I was responsible for release management, deployment management, task management, R&D, risk management and monitoring 4 employees when it comes to career growth and development.

Jan 2011 – May 2017

Lead Software Engineer

Accenture - Philippines

Started as a Senior Software Engineer, I was promoted to Lead Software Engineer after 2 years. I was responsible for leading a team of 5-10 developers, managing project timelines and ensuring the successful delivery of software solutions. I also played a key role in mentoring junior developers and fostering a collaborative team environment.

Projects

WebSnabb

A side-project for designing and building websites for local businesses.

websnabb.github.io