Since its creation in 1976, ORSYS has placed the transmission of knowledge and people at the heart of its history. To celebrate these 50 years of adventure, our trainers share their memories, their experiences and the moments that have marked their career with ORSYS. From the company's beginnings to developments in the training profession, these testimonials reflect the spirit of trust, proximity and sharing that has driven ORSYS for half a century.
Testimony of Jean Hugues: ORSYS, a history of encounters
In 1986, relational systems were booming. At the time, Georges Gardarin was a key figure in France in the field of databases (Oracle, DB2, etc.). ORSYS offered a seminar on DBMS led by Georges Gardarin. I signed up for the course, without imagining that it would mark the start of a forty-year adventure.
During the lunch break, we all had lunch together in the gardens of the Mercure hotel. Someone from outside the course sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. He asks me if I know anyone who has mastered MERISE, an emergent design method that is much talked about. I told him that I had just co-authored a book on the subject with two friends, published by Dunod and available in bookshops the following week. He suggested we continue the discussion after lunch...
This meeting, which was as unexpected as it was decisive, marked the starting point of my training career at ORSYS.
Over the years, many memorable moments have marked this adventure. Two years after I started, ORSYS sent me to work alongside Georges Gardarin to run two week-long seminars at Club Med in Marbella, Andalusia. It was an experience that was as rewarding as it was unusual, and the participants were particularly proud to see their trainers - master and pupil now colleagues - win the club's great petanque competition.
Another striking memory: in 1998, during a training course at the Mercure hotel, the participants didn't return after the afternoon break. After some searching, I found them all together in the lounge, captivated by a football World Cup quarter-final involving France. We find a compromise by pushing back the last session by an hour. The result: 14 excellent evaluations out of 15 participants... the last of whom was clearly not a football fan!
Anecdotes aside, what is striking is the spectacular change in training conditions.
When I started out, I used a noisy overhead projector and felt-tip transparencies - in colour, though. Decades later, I was conducting my last training courses from home, in front of remotely connected participants, in the midst of a pandemic. The tools had changed radically, but the same passion for transmitting information remained.
If I had to sum up this experience in one sentence, it would be above all a story of encounters. Denis, Michel, Estelle, Dominique, Geneviève, Laurent, Karine, Raphaëlle, Véronique, Sylvie, Emmanuelle... and many others. A team that has never stopped growing, just like the pleasure of sharing and learning together.
Testimony of Serge Fdida: ORSYS, a human and friendly spirit
I'm certainly one of ORSYS's longest-standing and most loyal collaborators, having started working with the company when it moved to Porte de Versailles under Denis Levy-Willard.
Since our first meeting, I've always been impressed by Denis' vision and professionalism, but also by the human and friendly spirit that he has instilled in ORSYS.
At the time, we had a very small team and everyone contributed to creating this warm atmosphere. I particularly remember Mrs Allen, who was responsible for welcoming, organising and running the lunches with the participants, giving us a real opportunity to exchange ideas and take a breather during the training days.
If I had to sum up this experience in a few words, I'd say it was a wonderful, long adventure of sharing.
Testimony of Frédéric Lung: immense admiration for Denis Levy Willard
I created the whole technical training branch at ORSYS. Before I arrived in the mid-80s, ORSYS didn't yet offer practical training. The company specialised mainly in seminars for company managers, generally lasting one day.
I've had a lot of fun developing a very wide variety of courses, gradually but at a steady pace, and I'm extremely proud of that.
In the early years, the courses were even run on top-quality Sun machines that I personally owned.
As the business grew, I was instrumental in bringing many top experts into the ORSYS community of trainers, some of whom are still with us today.
I'm often reminded of an anecdote. In the early days, there was just one classroom on rue Firmin Gillot, with just three sessions a year - one week devoted to UNIX and another to the C language, both run by myself.
With Dominique Aquaviva and Marie Buffard, we got down on all fours to prepare the room and fix the cables to the table legs, which were extremely rudimentary, to prevent participants tripping over them!
If I had to sum up my experience at ORSYS in one sentence: I have immense admiration for Denis Levy Willard.
Testimony of Gauthier Lamothe: an experience full of human contact
I started working with ORSYS in 2019, just before the Covid crisis, on the recommendation of a friend who is also an ORSYS trainer.
What struck me immediately was the incredible freedom I was given: I'm always busy with various entrepreneurial projects, I always need a flexible schedule, and I also like to produce my own material.
I was immediately won over by the ORSYS mentality, which allows you to work flat out on a wide range of training courses, but choose your own timetable and pedagogical direction.
Working for ORSYS sometimes means travelling like an itinerant artist on tour: I remember the amusing tours of France by bus or night train to go and train people in a hard-to-reach area, sometimes in Marseille on Monday and in Luxembourg on Tuesday... Hearing the recognition of participants who are happy and touched that we made the trip is worth every minute of these complex logistical adventures.
Working with ORSYS is an experience full of human contact that lets individuals express themselves, and one that I hope to extend for as long as possible.
Testimony of Stéphane Bataillard: the ORSYS method, combining professionalism, rigour and high standards
My collaboration with ORSYS began in 2009. At the time, I was a multimedia integrator in the TF1 Group's on-air communications department. I mainly created websites and mini-sites to promote the channel's programmes to the specialist press (TV news). I was also involved in creating and running internal communication tools.
I loved learning and discovering new technologies. As luck would have it, one day a friend asked me to give training courses at ORSYS. Initially out of curiosity, I started giving talks on the subject of website creation.
I was impressed by the professionalism, rigour and high standards of the ORSYS «method», which enabled me to improve my own way of working.
An anecdote?
I was recently called in to work with an elite unit of the French army. This particularly well-known unit carries out in-depth intelligence operations in certain external theatres of operations. The training took place in a barracks, in the context we know today.
Every trainer knows how important it is to ensure that the sign-in sheets are filled in correctly. However, as soon as we went round the table, I noticed that the participants, all dressed in uniform and wearing a blank name tag, were introducing themselves with nicknames that were sometimes comical: César, Cailloux, Rétro, etc. I also noticed that they were signing the attendance sheets with these same nicknames.
Naturally, I told them that wasn't possible. Then I discovered that they simply couldn't tell me who they really were. That's when I realised what I'd got myself into. To the answer I was given, I said: «OK... it's the Office of Legends, so to speak! They said yes.
For two days, I spoke to them without ever knowing their real identity, without getting a precise answer to some of my questions, and without knowing exactly what they really wanted from me.
ORSYS in a nutshell ? Know-how that pushes you to give the best of yourself.
Testimonial from Christophe Charpentier: frequent exchanges and joint projects with ORSYS
Having been a trainer for over 30 years, I got in touch with ORSYS in 2012 to be listed on their platform and to develop the training activities within the company I had just joined. Today, more than a dozen trainers are listed with us and we have several excellent clients to our credit.
ORSYS isn’t the only organisation I work with, but I regard it as my true partner. That is undoubtedly the most striking aspect of our collaboration.
Over the years, we have had many discussions, carried out joint projects and established a regular working relationship.
This relationship is particularly valuable and differs from those one might have with other players in the sector, which are often more focused on one-off opportunities, with little real continuity.
An anecdote?
I had the opportunity to lead several training sessions at the Banque de France, at its Chamalières site (Puy-de-Dôme). On that occasion, the client had organised a private tour of the printing works, allowing me to discover the various stages involved in the production of banknotes. The most memorable moment was undoubtedly the chance to touch a «roll» of banknotes: a cylinder nearly three metres in diameter containing thousands of notes, worth several million euros. It was an experience as rare as it was unforgettable.
Read also: ORSYS, 50 years of expertise, innovation and transmission