Summary
Challenge: The client’s workflows were fragmented across Airtable, email, and Slack, making task tracking, automation, and visibility difficult. They needed structured processes and a centralized SaaS-based solution.
Solution: We streamlined core underwriting and business workflows, integrated Jira and Confluence with Slack, added Jira apps, and extended functionality using AWS (Lambda, SQS, API Gateway). A Scrum Master supported delivery, and we upskilled the client’s IT team.
Outcome: The client now enjoys faster, more consistent processes, better task visibility, improved agile practices, and centralised reporting. Multiple systems are synchronised, reducing manual work and providing a single source of truth.
Challenge
So, what did our client need? A workflow solution to track and process tasks more efficiently, with complete task visibility, efficient task management, and approvals. They wanted to bring some structure to their processes and systems and have automated triggers for different workflows, like replacing Slack threads with query processes and automatic task generation. They also wanted to schedule automations to reduce the number of repetitive tasks they had to do. They needed a centralised location for their processes, especially since they operate across multiple continents. And on top of all that, they preferred SaaS solutions over self-hosted options and needed consultants with cloud-based experience and knowledge of integration tools and practices.
Solution
That’s where we came in! Our team was involved in the end-to-end DevOps cycle for multiple projects, from requirements gathering to deployment and support. We designed and created complex, structured workflows for the client’s core underwriting and other business processes, as well as general project and task management, while still allowing the client to maintain their existing business processes. These workflows were used at the heart of these processes and generally streamlined the process to match business requirements.
We also integrated Jira and Confluence with Slack, reducing manual effort, and allowing for automatic notifications based on certain triggers with links to the triggering activities. For example, we implemented sending a Slack direct message to a user if they are tagged in a Jira comment. And that’s not all – we integrated Jira with several other systems, like data warehouses, custom-built platforms, and PowerBI, and made sure these systems were bi-directionally synchronized. This way, users could create and update Jira tasks directly from the source systems and have everything update.
We recommended and implemented additional Jira apps to enhance functionality, like ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud, Zephyr Scale for better test management, PowerBI connector for Jira, and ProForma for creating custom forms on the JSM portal. And to really take things up a notch, we used scripted functionality and AWS to extend the capabilities of Jira, triggering AWS Lambda scripts from ScriptRunner to ease maintainability and reduce the risk of hitting capacity limits. We also used AWS Lambdas, SQS, and API Gateway to create queues of automated triggers, batch together automations for the same issue, and optimize many-to-one triggers. This helped us avoid overloading Jira Cloud’s API rate limits and allowed for the processing of complex business logic. The scripted functionality and AWS complement each other in terms of functionality and performance, making it easier to integrate with external systems.
But wait, there’s more! In addition to all the technical solutions we implemented, we provided the client with a Scrum Master to assist with the project delivery of one of the key Change Team workstreams and shape the client’s Agile practices and methodology. We also gave general assistance and upskilling to the client’s internal IT team and general BAU support to users.
Benefits
So, what was the benefit of all this? The client benefited from AC’s experience in implementing a wide range of IT and software solutions, particularly their expertise in the Atlassian toolset and AWS. AC provided better visibility into task volumes, query management, and turnaround time for both onshore and offshore teams. The client benefited from AC’s best practice consultancy, specifically in the Atlassian suite, AWS and agile methodologies. As a result, users spent less time on repetitive manual tasks and had better guidance on which tasks needed to be completed. The synchronization between multiple systems and centralisation of information also reduced manual repetition and provided a ’single source of truth’ for data. The solutions greatly improved the reporting of work completed within Jira and tasks were automatically escalated based on SLAs, leading to a better response time. Overall, the project resulted in a more streamlined, consistent and high quality way for users to execute the client’s business processes.
