Challenges
A UK central government department runs a fraud, error and recoveries workstream that tackles fraud, reduces internal error and ensures debts owed are accurately processed and recovered.
These services rely heavily on data. However, the data was siloed in on-prem locations within each of the workstream’s programmes. These acted separately and made the data within them unavailable to both the department and other government departments.
The department knew it had to free up its data, maximise its value through automation, and make intelligent decisions to improve its service to citizens and streamline internal resourcing. With these challenges at hand, the department turned to Tecknuovo for help.
Our solution
We engaged with stakeholders to understand the challenges, and proposed to address them with a dual DevOps approach:
- Providing DevOps-as-a-Service to help clear a hefty backlog and set up efficient mechanisms for future delivery
- Upskilling the in-house teams on the methodology, letting them take ownership of the work and making significant savings for the department
Within two weeks of defining requirements with stakeholders, we had mobilised a service team with the niche DevOps skills needed to fulfil the department’s objectives.
Ramping up at speed
Our experts:
- Infused the in-house teams with technical leadership to set the direction for change
- Quickly delivered on the lengthy backlog they inherited, from 600 stories to 200, using best practice agile methodology
- Started upskilling the in-house teams on agile in tandem with delivering on the backlog
This has led to:
- Time and resources being freed up to focus on future strategy
- Huge cost savings thanks to our teams’ efficient delivery by (initially) just two DevOps engineers
Delivering high-quality modernisation and automation work
Our teams are:
- Transforming and migrating legacy IT systems to modern web-based applications
- Migrating data to the new services
- Developing new products and portals for both citizens (external) and agents (internal) using modern cloud technologies
- Bringing in DevOps expertise to automate testing and minimise error throughout the applications
This has enabled the department’s teams to:
- Improve their internal processes, culture, productivity and cost efficiency for the medium and long term
- Rid themselves completely of their previous resource-draining supplie
- Improve services and applications for both internal and external users
- Significantly reduce time spent on, and errors stemming from, manual testing
- Ensure long-term quality of delivery using DevOps best practice
- Significantly improve their services’ reliability
- Send messages between services, including the department’s debt management service and primary benefits service
Working towards Zero Dependency
To work towards independence from us and other suppliers in future, our teams are:
- Creating reusable designs and patterns for cloud-based services
- Upskilling in-house teams on DevOps in tandem with supporting on BAU
- Creating a custom-made JIRA framework to ensure sustained efficiency across the department’s teams
- Hands-on upskilling staff on how to use the framework
This is paving the way for:
- Replicating patterns and work practices to future-proof productivity and cost-cutting across the organisation
- Automated, cost-efficient, DevOps-powered workflows across the workstream’s programmes
