As a senior software engineer at Arxan Technologies, Inc., which offers software piracy protection products, services, and solutions, Brian Case is responsible for developing new product features, maintaining existing features, and addressing defects as they are reported by customers or by quality assurance engineers. Case says, “The techniques used by attackers constantly evolve as vulnerabilities are discovered. I have to understand attack techniques and participate in devising ways to thwart them.” The Arxan development organization uses the Scrum method to organize tasks and track progress. For Case, this means that “success is typically measured in small forward steps, where a step can be a new product feature, or personal enrichment like learning current techniques used by attackers.”
 
“Since Arxan is still a relatively small, rapidly growing company, I work directly with customers when it makes sense,” Case says. He also works directly with the company’s growing list of B2B partners.

In A Day’s Work:

Case hits the gym every morning, so “a typical day begins when I walk into the office 1 minute late for my daily Scrum meeting.” During the Scrum, team members report briefly on the previous day’s work, the plan for the day, and any issues affecting their work that may be of interest to the group. After the meeting, Case works on his tasks for the day, attends meetings, works with other engineers, solicits code reviews for his work, and reviews the work of other engineers.

His workday regimen is punctuated by ruthless games of foosball or pool. “We like to set a standard for excellence in match play that carries over to our product development,” Case says.

Most Memorable Customer Encounter:

“We had an important customer report a problem that we assumed was with our product, and we threw all our resources at troubleshooting it. It turned out to be a 30-second fix on the customer side. We’ve built in some ‘sanity checks’ to our support process as a result.”

View From The Desk:

“I sit in a cubicle that is almost a ‘viewbicle,’ from which I can see some of the San Francisco streets. The sights and sounds from the nearby firehouse are complemented by periodic traffic congestion and the occasional march or protest.”

Outside Interest:

“I took up competitive bodybuilding a couple of years ago when I realized that I would soon be too old to give it a try.”

If Not Econtent, Then What?

“I would probably want to be the coach of a sports team. I really like to help people understand how to reach their goals and make changes in body and mind.”