For the DevOps team of a top-three global asset management company, standardizing best practices was critical to scaling effectively. With a common engineering framework, teams could move faster, switch projects more seamlessly, and troubleshoot each other’s work with less friction.
Reaching this state can be difficult. Engineers come from diverse backgrounds and coding habits, and in our project, many had yet to adopt the internal framework. The company’s maturity model ranged from Level 0 (new hire) to Level 3 (fully automated builds and best-practice adoption). At Level 3, teams could automatically build and release code while capturing quality baselines. Leadership wanted to speed up this transition to enhance automation, code quality, and time to market.
As a Strategist at Bunchball, I developed a program using our SaaS platform (Nitro) that integrated with the tools used by DevOps teams. For this client, we created a program that both motivated engineers and reinforced the adoption of best practices. My role as strategist was to ensure the program went beyond simple reminders or tool tips. It needed to educate participants, guide them toward consistent use, and provide visibility into progress for both engineers and managers.
This required a fully cross-functional effort. I collaborated closely with our client’s technical stakeholders, our internal integration team, and our analytics group to determine what could be tracked, integrated, and measured. I also led workshops, including on-site sessions, to align stakeholders and troubleshoot adoption barriers in real time.
Results
- Pilot participants demonstrated a higher adoption of best practices compared to control groups, progressing more quickly toward Level 3.
- Enabled consistent capture of engineering metrics to improve software quality, reduce technical debt, and decrease time to market.
- Delivered a reusable framework for managers to monitor adoption rates and identify opportunities to strengthen training and improve standards.