DevOps Transformation for Large Clothing Company 

2022 – 2023 (ongoing delivery)

My role is Platform Engineering Advisor, advisory role for IT Management & Platform Owner

The customer engaged me to help them transform their DevOps practices within the organization in order to eliminate bottlenecks, reduce operational effort and evaluate technology portfolio.

Advisory team of three consultants led be me discovered, that the biggest challenge the customer had was due to Operating Model and Technology Portfolio limitation – both causing cognitive load for delivery teams.

I recommended that we should remove the bottlenecks in SDLC process by introducing a DevOps Platform – delivery automation, environments, operational toolset delivered as a Service by the Platform Team. I have designed the Operating Model for Platform Team & Delivery Teams. I also recommended to do the change using Enabling Teams approach, with a set of short, fixed projects leading to creation of new Services & clean-up of technology portfolio. I’ve supported IT Management to promote the idea to DevOps & Delivery Teams – in order to get their buy-in for the transformation program. 

Now I am overseeing the Platform being delivered – which should be finished ~07.2023.

Digital Transformation in Raiffeisen Bank Albania

2019 – 2022

My role is Technology Strategy Consultant, advisory role for CIO/COO and IT Director.

• 2021-2022: Digital Transformation Program had been continued – but within the next steps of the initiative, I became CIO/COO and IT Management Advisor and leader of Digital Transformation Program. Ones we concluded together with RBAL areas and approach proposition, I invited a senior architect from BlueSoft to support me within Strategy and Execution. After discovery & recognition phase within new role, we focused on four streams of work: API Management,  Architecture Maturity, Team Topologies and DevOps Platform. At the moment you are reading it, we are focusing on execution of planned projects and activities.
• 2019-2020: Digital Transformation Program, led by BlueSoft, started in Raiffeisen Bank Albania in the end of 2019. I have joint it at its early stage, becoming Integration Stream Team Leader. A goal of my Stream was a knowledge and practice transition of designing and building Microservice Architectures, becoming an initiation of Microservice Practice within Bank. I joined the Delivery Team as an advisory role for Product Owner of the solution selected to be built within new approach. For a few months, I was planning a scope of work for the Raiffeisen Team, acting as Product Owner – together with one more BlueSoftians to act as Solution Architect. Our main goal however was not to deliver the product by our own, but to led Engineers from Client Side to deliver it and learn new practices and microservices patterns on the way. As a result – according to the plan, Product Owner and Engineers from Raiffeisen took over Product Backlog and Architecture Management – initiating the Microservice Practice Guild and new delivery patterns.

Digital Transformation in Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine

2020 – 2022 (currently stopped – we are waiting for Ukraine to win the war).

My role now is a Team Member of Enterprise Architecture Division.

I also supported Lending Product Owner as an Advisor to set-up a team and understand her new role in organization.

• 2021-2022: After successful delivery of Credit Card Lending, I was assigned to became a team member of Enterprise Architecture, working closely with IT Management and CIO – with a task to create a single point of truth around systems, services, capabilities and teams responsibilities in the whole Bank. The task was a challenge – because in that time of transformation we had hundreds of legacy systems and even more newly-created microservices around ten business domains. I have started with tools recognition, which can support in building such Enterprise Architecture Repository. After understanding Management Priorities and structure of Software Delivery around Business Domains – I selected a toolset already available in the Bank, created a Proof of Concept and Delivery Roadmap proposal. My idea met with approval – because the design assumed little or no engagement from Delivery Teams, which was a promising perspective for having the data up to date all the time. We have started Product Delivery on February 2021 – and it stopped 02.2022 because of Russian invasion on Ukraine. Now the initiative is parked and waiting for Ukraine to win the war. I hope to come back to our cooperation soon, with all Ukrainian Colleagues safe and sound.
• 2020-2021: I have joined ongoing Digital Transformation Program as Proxy-Product Owner od DevOps Platform – a key pillar of delivery transformation. From technical perspective – platform was almost done in the moment I have joined the Team – so I focused on Operating Model Processes within it. I have standardized the rules of engagement between Platform Team and Delivery Teams – which allowed DevOps Platform to be used in scale by multiple teams around more than 10 domains. I also supported Raiffeisen Product Owner in taking over the role by co-shaping the backlog with him and my Team. Ones the Platform was settled-up, I asked for an assignment which would allow me to experience it from users perspective – in order to validate my ideas and processes from being a proxy-product owner. I hd been assigned with an ambitious task to set-up a backlog and delivery team for Credit Card Lending.- with tough deadline of just 4 months to be released. I have started the challenge by inviting the business for Value Proposition Canvas workshops, which helped me understand Loan Business Domain and real needs of my Stakeholders – so the Product we were to built address properly its purpose. Then, with Product Owner assigned from the Bank, we created MVP backlog, with scope aligned on priorities we discovered during the workshops. I had been assigned with the best Team of Engineers both from RBUA and BlueSoft – and I became a team member as Proxy-Product Owner, co-building architecture with Solution Architect and acting on any role I saw necessary to deliver our Business best possible product on time. I am proud of my Team – because we were able to deliver the Product on time, after 4 months, being (at that point of time) the fastest one to deliver MVP on Production from zero to release. And the scope was ambitious – because the Product was serving both existing and new customers of the Bank.

New Products, Agile & DevOps Culture in Inter Cars

2020 – now

I supported Warehouse Management Product Owner as an Advisor to set-up a team and understand his new rol in organization.

I support BlueSoft in Partnership building with Inter Cars and New Business Development as Technology Consultant.

• 2021-2022: Now, I am being asked to facilitate workshops or provision advisory within BlueSoft and Inter Cars Partnership as a Technology Consultant. I also take part of new BlueSoft offering and co-build Value Proposition within BlueSoft’s growth within Inter Cars account.
• 2020-2021: I was a main author of BlueSoft’s winning offer for Inter Cars request for building a new warehouse management system. Based on RFQ, I proposed microservice-based architecture and agile delivery strategy for building and operating IC-Work: a solution supporting Inter Cars in managing the work of warehouse employees. Then, I have joined Delivery Team as Product Owner Advisor – taking full responsibility for initial backlog, based on Value Proposition Canvas workshops I facilitated with Warehouse Domain Management. After some time, step-by-step learning by doing, Product Owner from Inter Cars took over backlog management. Minimum Valuable Product had been released quickly – business people had a chance to use it and provide us with feedback based on small number of crucial functionalities which they reported to be missing or critical for their day to day work. I left the team with a good hands of Inter Cars Product Owner,  with engineers whom I’ve inspired with agile mindset. They are now still working od Product Development, releasing new functionalities almost every sprint.

Digital Transformation in Scanmed

2018

My role was an IT Advisor for CFO/CTO.

This initiative was a first one I had a chance to work as advisory role for Executive Level of Management. I was one of the three consultants who joined Scanmed for Discovery Phase. Within it, I had a chance to conduct workshops and interviews with multiple domains – in order to discover areas, where Software Delivery (or enhancement) will bring the biggest value. Out of my discovery, I proposed to change some business processes shape in order to avoid noticed bottlenecks. I also designed the architecture and backlog for software product supporting procure-to-pay process – playing a role of Business & System Analyst. I proposed to deliver the software within existing CRM Platform, in order to be cost-effective and integrated quickly with architecture already in place in Scanmed. I have supported the delivery of new features within first sprints – so the vendor responsible for CRM had the same view and understanding of business needs I had been able to discover with my day-to-day interviews and observations of Scanmed Business Domains operations.

MuleSoft Integration Platform in Volkwagen Financial Services

2019-2020

My role was Integration Architect, Team Leader and MuleSoft Developer.

This initiative was the last one I was writing a commercial, production-ready software by myself. Having previous, 2-years experience with Anypoint Platform and MuleSoft, I was a Team Leader, Integration Architect and main developer of Volkswagen Financial Services new Integration & API Management Platform. I was the one to set this Platform up, configuring for specific requirements and license limitations – so the Platform became cost-effective and ready for ongoing developments. Then, a team of developers together with me delivered first production-ready MuleSoft Services. I also created templates, patterns and cookbook for Volkswagen Financial Services to take over the management of a new solution. My goal was to write as little custom Java as possible, in order to simplify Platform operations and further delivery, having a low-code strategy recommendation by MuleSoft Vendor – and yet became simple to understand and use. The goal had been achieved – and all services which my team and I delivered were 100% MuleSoft-predefined components supported. 

Digital Banking Platform in Nest Bank

2019

My role was Integration Architect and System Analyst.

This project had been obtained from Atos (my previous employer), where I also had a chance to work – so having more experience in architecture and team leadership, I was trusted as Integration Architect role for BLIK and PSD2 functionalities implementation around Digital Banking. I have supported BlueSoft Team also within know-how of obtained product design (especially integration) – as I had been one of its creators working for Atos. What I did was a design of new services to be implemented in Oracle Service Bus, and design of Customer Experience and Business Processes within Digital Banking (a new role, which in Atos was played by other team members).

GDPR Data Management Platform in UCB Pharma

2018

My role was Team Leader and Integration & Collibra/Activity BPM Developer.

This project was the first long-term assignment I was trusted within in BlueSoft. At the beginning, I was a one-man-army analyst and developer of GDPR processes delivered for UCB Pharma in Belgium. A newly introduced Platform – Collibra – had been a heart of processes implementation. Having early stage of platform development (and product development as commercial Collibra solution), I had a lot of technical challenges around my implementations. After some time (and thanks to my reliable software deliver – like I hope so), I had been scaled up with two more developers to join – so I became a small unit Team Leader, deliverying Collibra BPM implementations of business processes. After six months, I left the Team – first, the new developers became mature enough to deliver new services without my help; second, the amount of work decreased as most of the scope had been delivered (and then taken over by UCB).

Digital Banking Product Delivery

2015-2017

My role was Systems Analyst – part of Product Team, responsible for delivery of Atos Digital Banking Product for Nest Bank and cooperative banking groups (SGB, BPS).

I have joined Exion Team (name of Digital Banking Product) in 2015 as System Analyst and Integration Designer. Back those days, we were doing three-layered Enterprise Service Buses, so the integration part of the Product had been designed with this standard. The solution had a strategy of core, customizable services and functionalities, enhances with customer-specific features – so it can be sold to more than one Bank at the time. It was actually the biggest challenge for an Integration Designer – to keep it that way.

My day-to-day work was oriented around new functionalities delivery for existing customers – and configuration and new features delivery for new customers whom Atos contracted to deliver the Product. I was working closely with Business Analyst (both from Atos and Bank), using UML and BPM notations to clarify requirements and shape them in stories ready for development. My advantage was being a developer for 2 years in ZUS Project – so I was doing my best to shape the system design in a way I always wanted to get working for ZUS as software developer. Using my developers skills, I was also automating tests within SoapUi Groovy Scripts, and fully automated documentation adjustment of confluence-generated one by Visual Basic scripts for Word and Excel (a process, on which previously one person needed about three weeks of manual work and a very powerful-in-ram computer in order to support graphical interface refreshes of pages).

ZUS: Electronic Sick Leave

2013-2015

My role was System Analyst and Software Developer – in one of the biggest delivery for healthcare sector that time, part of my country digitalization program.

AMG.net won a big contract for Delivery and Operations of ZUS PUE Platform (Polish Public Social Insurance Institution) – a facade of ZUS Digital Services for patients, insurance payers, private companies, medical institutions and retirees & pensioners. As of many smaller and bigger changes delivery, the most important was Electronic Sick Leave service delivery – which at the time was a manual, paper process of around 20 million(!) cases yearly. Statistically, each adult Pole is on sick leave ones a year – so imagine the pain of paper based, manual work. And I was a key part of Delivery Team which digitalized it.

I have joined the team as Software Developer – and had a short time to learn WebMethods Integration Server and service development, mostly from forums and tutorials (because at that time there were no available experienced developers to onboard young me). After just a week or two of trainings, I have started deliverying first production-ready services on the Platform – at first simple gets, and then – more and more complicated puts and posts, with data transformations and business logic within it (yes, now I know it is an antipattern – but time was running out quickly, and I was a junior back then. Good is that I’ve payed the debt by the end of my assignment – so Poland has now reliable, still working solution, which I am one of the main, proud authors). After some time younger collegues joined the team of integration developers – so I had a chance to share my knowledge and onboard them (for the first time in my career). 

Electronic Sick Leave service is one of the projects I am proud of the most. First, it was a real challenge not to have any experience WebMethods Architect around and still deliver working software (of course, I had mentors in systems integration in AMG.net – but with the technology, I was on my own). Second – services which I delivered actually impacted the way of how Poland – my country – works like now. This project really simplified life of patients, doctors and clerks in Poland. I am not proud of the code I have created – now I would probably do it way better – but I am proud that software I delivered brought a business value, which I see every day.