As we continue our Employee Spotlight series, we're proud to feature team members who are making a significant impact within our organization.

Today, we shine a light on Rajan Suri, a DevOps Engineer with 7 years of experience, who has played a pivotal role in driving digital excellence at a leading Indian business group. Rajan is a detail-oriented and meticulous professional with a proven track record of success in automation, standardization, and cultural transformation.

Join us as we delve into Rajan's impactful journey, exploring his experiences, insights, and contributions while working on his latest client engagement.

Q: What was the client engagement about?

Rajan: The client engagement aimed to enhance the efficiency, consistency, and resilience of their software deployment pipeline. The key objectives were to automate deployments to reduce manual effort, errors and environment inconsistencies, while fostering a DevOps culture.

Q: Can you summarize the issues you worked on & the solutions you implemented to address them?

Rajan: During the project, we identified three main challenges:

(i) inconsistent deployment environments,

(ii) lack of application resiliency, and

(iii) misalignment of services with business domains.

To address these issues, we implemented a unified pipeline view in GitLab integrated with Jenkins, automating build, test, and deployment processes. This improved visibility, reduced errors, accelerated issue resolution, and optimized deployment time.

We guided teams on DevOps adoption, focusing on best practices, tools, and security. We also facilitated domain-driven development, aligning services with business needs.

We also implemented ephemeral environments with automated testing for each build, improving deployment reliability and resiliency.

Furthermore, we collaborated with stakeholders to align services with domain capabilities, improving efficiency, capacity planning, and fostering smart-solve opportunities.

Q: What was your biggest challenge? What did you do to overcome it?

Rajan: Our main challenge was the resistance to unit testing and insufficient smoke testing practices. We conducted training sessions and implemented automated smoke tests in our pipelines. Additionally, we integrated Jenkins CI/CD pipelines with GitLab for better visibility and collaboration. We also facilitated closer collaboration between technical and business teams, ensuring better alignment of services with domain capabilities for a smoother DevOps adoption

Q: What were your key learnings from this engagement?

Rajan: My top three learnings include:

• Aligning services with business domains reduces duplication, improves capacity planning, and enables smart-solve opportunities.
• Cultivating a DevOps culture requires a perfect mix of expert guidance, appropriate tools, and effective training initiatives.
• Adapting to the expectations of various stakeholders requires strategic prioritization and clear communication, ensuring that quick results align with long-term success

Q: What was the biggest highlight from this experience?

Rajan: The most significant aspect of this experience was the remarkable impact my contributions had on the organization, which Greyamp Consulting played a crucial role in facilitating. Greyamp provided the necessary support and resources, enabling me to excel in my role as a Senior DevOps Consultant.

The appreciation and recognition from my colleagues and leadership were genuinely gratifying, underscoring the value of my work and the importance of Greyamp's dedication to nurturing its talent. This experience reinforced the importance of a supportive work culture, which Greyamp exemplifies, in driving organizational success.

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