The sole purpose of Technologies is to make lives easier. With its daily utilization, humans adapt to technologies in a way that it is hard to go back to normal. It becomes an integral part of our daily routines and makes our tasks much more efficient. One such technology is Cloud Computing, in comparison to a decade ago when the hard disk of a computer was considered to be the soul as it carries all the data that the user needs. 

With time, one no longer needs hard disks and the cloud has taken its position. Cloud has successfully solved the multiple problems users had about storage and security. 

Cloud has a lot to offer and understanding its importance is one such revolutionary leader, Mark Rekveld. He is the Founder of Marvelution. He is a visionary, who has been helping large-scale enterprises to make their operations more efficient than ever. He adds, “Through the cloud, the technology offers businesses an easier way to ensure the longevity of their operations. Cloud integration comes with a plethora of benefits but like the actual clouds in the sky, the concept of this technology may appear challenging to organizations as they may not have the best idea about how to go through with it.”

Laying the Seeds of Foundation

Mark is a senior software engineer, designer, and solution architect experienced in designing and building from small Open Source software to large enterprise applications. He started his brainchild as a hobby in 2007 that is today a full-fledged company. He was experimenting and playing around with open-source projects to increase his knowledge of them as they were not used on client projects that he was consulting on back then. 

One thing led to another and he started working on his view on how Jenkins (Hudson at the time) and Jira could be better integrated. This hobby project was quickly adopted by 3000+ companies and projects worldwide. Then in 2015, he got the opportunity to establish Marvelution the company to further better the Jenkins Integration for the Jira app. Adding support for Jira Data Center and Jira Cloud.

Today, Marvelution provides software development services next to supporting the existing Open Source projects that have made the company what it is today.

Shifting Gears and Becoming an Entrepreneur

Today, Marvelution is growing at an exponential rate in comparison to its peers in terms of offering software development consulting and development of its own open and closed-source software.

As a professional, there are many days when we wake up extremely motivated and consider quitting our job, starting our businesses, and just being our boss and making it big! 

However, this sudden surge of energy and impulsiveness dies down once we begin to think about the intricacies and challenges involved in embarking upon a venture of this nature. Entrepreneurship is a tough journey with never-ending complexities and most importantly it might get lonely and disheartening at many times. 

When Mark began Marvelution, he too went through the same emotions and had to believe in himself more than ever. He had just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Informatics and was working for a top consulting company. Job security was guaranteed and if he had kept at it, he could have easily risen through the ranks but Mark is built differently.

Mark is a true entrepreneur at heart, he faced a problem, identified a gap, and started his journey to find a solution. He looked deeper into this when he was not working and after researching in-depth, he gained a complete understanding of open-source programs which led him to the next chapter of his professional life, Marvelution.

Overcoming Challenges, Accomplishing Goals

As a company, Marvelution has had its share of turbulences along the path. During the initial days when Mark was attempting to transition it from an open-source umbrella project to a company, he had a realization that he now needs to know much more than just coding. 

Setting up an established business model from scratch was a major challenge and what made Marvelution stand out was the platform was free for all. It had to commercialize and make it a paid service which meant losing a significant portion of its clientele. 

He adds, “It was a hard call to make but you cannot call yourself a business and operate like a non-profit concern.” 

Mark was able to overcome this by developing different services for projects. Since the clients all had different requirements, they could opt to pay for the service that suited them the most. As a business leader, Mark was smart to offer customization to his customers and grab their attention without losing revenue. He was prompt and understood the need of the hour and offered personalization. 

Mark hit two birds with one stone as this approach reduced the price that clients would have had to shell out if the whole platform was offered as a single service and it also allowed Mark to stay true to the company’s origin of being an open-source free software.

Generating revenue streams is detrimental to the existence of any business but Mark was able to establish a business model that offered a unique product and generates healthy returns. 

However, there was another hurdle in the road that threatened the existence of Marvelution. When the Atlassian Jira server was discontinued, there were issues with the renewal licenses and other limitations that came into the picture which led to users having to switch to the Jira Data Center or the Cloud. However, Mark prepared the company by adding numerous cloud offerings which can help businesses to grow and continue to support clients who continue to use the Jira server.

Words of Wisdom for Budding Entrepreneurs

Mark takes it one day at a time and his biggest advice to those starting is to have fun at work! 

He states, “I believe that if you enjoy your work, you are not really working! There have been numerous instances where I have faced setbacks along the way. The program gets updates on a regular basis and at times when features that I may feel the clients may enjoy but do not, I am quick to act on the feedback. Customer support is the most valuable input that I get and the trial and error approach that Marvelution has adopted has not failed the company!“

Keep Learning, Keep Growing

The company has now grown with Leaps and Bounds and Mark continues to operate single-handedly while continuing to develop and innovate the software further. 

For anyone associated with the project management industry, it is hard to not have come across his name numerous times as he has become a respected developer. 

Mark’s passion and hunger to constantly learn and grow is inspirational in many ways. Despite having established a platform that is unique, he is a sponge that absorbs every bit of information and keeps himself well-acclimated with the developments in his industry. He keeps himself well aware of the changing demographics and integrates many advancements regularly in his offerings. 

An inspiring entrepreneur that urges fellow entrepreneurs to never be afraid of failure as that is the best teacher you will ever have. He strongly believes that rather than looking at obstacles in a negative light, take them in a positive manner, and look at them as opportunities to learn and grow. This advice applies to all aspects of life as those who analyze their failures will learn what works and what does not. With every single step that you take in business or any other area, there is a 50-50 possibility of it going either way but what is guaranteed is that you will learn something out of it and be able to move ahead a much wiser person