The monthly member spotlight is an opportunity to learn more about a leader at one of our member companies and showcase the work they are doing. This month we spotlight Zoran Vujcic, Production Support Team Lead with MCCG. Learn more about MCCG in our Member Directory.
Name: Zoran Vujcic
Title: Production Support Team Lead
Company: MCCG
Founded in 1993, MCCG has established itself as the leading provider of software solutions for mutual insurance companies across Canada. The company’s flagship product, The Insurance Business Solution (IBS), automates and simplifies time-consuming activities, such as underwriting insurance policies, writing rules, and managing claims. We have a beautiful office in the Westmount Mall and in the past four years we have rapidly grown to over 80 employees. We also have an undefeated soccer team and are looking for a new challenger :).
What is your role and what is your favorite part of your job?
I’m the lead of our production support team. The team is composed of account managers and software developers. Our main responsibility is to resolve issues arising from the field in a timely fashion. My favorite part of the job is the unpredictability of each day. At any given time our ticket queue may explode and that’s where the entire team has to pull together, diagnose and fix defects in a timely fashion. I also like the wide variety of tasks I get to do. When things are calm, my focus is on improving our team processes, fixing root cause issues, building tools and gathering metrics to make sure that we are always improving.
If you could have coffee with any business leader or industry expert, who would you choose, and why?
If I could have a coffee or preferably an espresso with any business leader I would choose W. Craig Jelinek, the CEO of Costco. While I’m not necessarily the business type of person, I would use this opportunity to talk about reducing the use of plastic as well reducing their overall environmental footprint. Costco has always struck me as a progressive company and I feel like if one of the retail giants takes the lead, the rest will follow.
What is the #1 business book/blog/website you would recommend?
I would recommend a book called Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. It takes a really fresh perspective on successful people. While it does talk about hard work and smarts, its main focus is on other circumstances that you’d never suspect play a role in being successful. Saying anything else would spoil it but it is definitely an eye opener. The second book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. This classic is full of gems of wisdom about life, relationships and overall effectiveness. For leadership articles I’m subscribed to SmartBrief on Leadership. For meditation, I suggest 10% Happier podcast and the application.
Looking at your company’s future, what are you most enthusiastic about?
I love our company culture. I think we have the right level of pressure to keep us engaged and challenged while allowing us to lead a healthy lifestyle outside of work. I’m also very excited about our new project (codename Elegance), which is going live very soon. Another thing that makes me excited about our future is the talent of our software development team. Over the years, we’ve accumulated some remarkable programmers and our level of software craftsmanship is very high.
What excites you most about the local tech community?
The scene has really improved in the recent years. I remember coming out of UWO in 2005, looking for a job as a programmer and finding only a handful of companies and a very few opportunities. Nowadays, I feel like I hear about a new company every day so things are clearly moving in the right direction.
What causes or community activities is your company involved in?
Many of our team members participate in charitable fund-raising activities, such as Movember, MS Bike Ride, London Film, Motorcycle Ride for Dad, and Farm Mutual Re scholarship program. The MCCG Social Committee hosts an annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast fundraiser in support of the London Food Bank and a November fundraiser to collect money for a family in need at a local school. In previous years, we have exceeded our goal and the extra funds were put toward the hungry student program.
We have also participated with the Business Cares Food Drive with the Salvation Army and the ‘Wear Purple Day’ in support of the Shine Light on Woman Abuse Campaign.
