The Problem
The volume of incoming requests & issues from our Fortune 500 Insurance Client’s partners & stakeholders was becoming overwhelming for their team. This became a distraction for their developers & engineers when they got looped into such discussions, hence being steered away from their main priorities & deadlines . Often, most of the incoming requests didn’t necessarily require a developer/engineers’s involvement. The incoming partner requests needed to be triaged, filtered accordingly and assigned to the appropriate squad as needed. Our client needed a Technical/Systems Analyst and we were happy to fill this gap.
The Solution
New processes were implemented with this role along with leveraging technologies for monitoring & support. Responsibilities mainly consisted of communication, root cause analysis, testing, deep diving into the monitoring logs, triage, and ownership of documentation management & updates. Tickets were created, triaged and assigned accordingly for the incoming requests. Assisted with backlog management. Communicated accordingly, keeping the partners/stakeholders and the appropriate internal team members informed.
The Result
This in turn allowed developers to focus on development, engineers on architecture/solution design, and Product Owners on their partner/backlog priorities. With this role, came the understanding of the level of detail teams needed in order to successfully bridge the gap between the business requirements and the technical requirements. This time management allowed developers to focus on what they do best: creating solutions.
Technologies Used
Splunk, Datadog, Appdynamics – These monitoring tools provide a deeper look into the client’s environment and activity logs for further analysis, discovering the root cause of an issue, and determining the appropriate next steps accordingly. These tools’ intuitive & user-friendly interface facilitates ease of use and reporting. Their customization features provide the ability to tailor charts and dashboards, which provide improved observability of application performance and environment health.
Postman API Platform, ReadyAPI – We leveraged these tools for API testing in order to review a new functionality prior to release.
Business Value
- Created a positive change by streamlining processes in monitoring & support
- Increased the team’s work efficiency and productivity which in turn returned the increase of investment in projects
- Helped the team stay on track by minimizing distractions