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DXC Technology

3.3
  • #10 in Technology
  • > 100,000 employees

Youssef Elias

What I really love about my role is that it is so flexible to accommodate with other commitments.

What's your job about?

DXC’s Sales Solutioning and Delivery Architecture team focuses on delivering and designing IT solutions for large, multinational clients, responding to tenders and proposal opportunities and addressing our client’s problems with next-generation solutions across DXC’s 9 offering families.

Specifically, within a typical sales pursuit, there are various tasks I have been involved with, including:

Requirements gathering, and consulting with customers to understand their solution requirements
Costing up services and offerings for various components of the solution and working with pricing teams to finalise cost models and price to customer
Bid proposal writing, collaborating with various subject matter experts across all offerings, in addition with pricing and commercial teams to finalise solution proposal

I have also managed bid teams from qualification to submission, managing teams of various sizes, taking on a leadership roles, ensuring that all aspects of the solution have been accounted for. Managing bid related activities was vital for the role, including ensuring the budget has not been exceeded, ensuring the correct processes and reviews are completed, and ensuring that deadlines are met.

More recently however, I have been working closely with the Senior Principal Technologist on identifying how we can bring value add offerings to a customer’s solution. This involves working with niche product vendors, going hands on with Cognitive and AI technologies including developing solutions utilising IBM Watson and Amazon Web Services, and conducting research on innovation and business. This is done to ultimately ensure that there is an incentive for the client to adopt our solution.

Since joining DXC, I have been fortunate enough to work on a variety of engagements, working with a great team, and importantly, knowing that you are making a difference and leading clients on their digital transformation journey.

What's your background?

I grew up in Adelaide for the first six years of my life before moving to Melbourne to attend primary school, which was about the time I gained interest in Information Technology and Computing. In primary school, I began to realise the potential of a computer in a learning environment, and its potential in other fields, I had set a life goal of pursuing a career in IT. In the years that followed, I taught myself how to fix computers, and eventually became an advisor amongst my friends on purchasing a piece of technology.

In high school, I aligned my VCE studies to focus on IT and business subjects, and was admitted a scholarship placement at Swinburne University’s Information Technology degree, which was a three-year degree that included a year of Industry-Based Learning, where I gained an experience in a range of areas including Systems Administration, Programming and Business Analysis. These placements gave me a broad understanding on where I wanted to be headed in my career.

Whilst at university, I went on a study tour to Malaysia with a group of students to work with local villagers to promote their homestay business with the use of IT. In two weeks, we managed to complete requirements gathering, created a website, with a handover complete with documentation, in addition to teaching the locals how to use a computer for the first time. Experiences like this demonstrate how IT can grow and transform a community/organisation.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Absolutely, the great thing about my role is that you do not have to be IT-savvy to excel in the role. Anybody with an understanding of various industries, including mining, retail, and finance will blend in well with the team, as our job is to understand our customer’s pain points based on the industry they’re involved in, and proposing a solution that will solve their problem utilising that knowledge. Additionally, the endless support, mentoring and extensive training you receive will ensure your success in the role.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

What I really love about my role is that it is so flexible to accommodate with other commitments. DXC utilises next-generation collaboration tools enabling you to work from home when you wish, like the ability to attend meetings just as though you were in the office.

I also love the diversity of technologies in my role. Each client requires a unique and customised solution. Being in a pre-sales role, I am exposed to and learn the various offerings and solutions from DXC’s wide range of vendors, and using that to better understand what solution is best for our customer.

What are the limitations of your job?

In my role, I regularly communicate with people in various other countries, including England, USA, India and Vietnam, due to the global nature of DXC. This means that meetings are sometimes scheduled to suit the time zones of other regions, thus leading to working late nights. You also need to consider with offshore teams that English is not their first language so you need to learn to be patient, which sometimes can be difficult when work is hitting its critical stages.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

  • Travel, travel, travel! Go out and experience the world while you still can!
  • Don’t be afraid to take up any opportunity that comes your way. Take risks and learn from your experiences/opportunities that arise
  • Networking is one of the most valuable lessons as a university student.