Data Operations Engineering

Why does TableCheck need a Data Operations Engineering (DOE) team?

What’s the current strategy?

The DOE team is an essential part of TableCheck. The DOE team consists of squads, with each focusing on a specific aspect of data handling, pipeline creation, and data transformation. These squads often have to prioritise data reliability, security, and availability while managing tight deadlines. Moreover, customer requests and integration issues may sometimes require cross-team collaborations. While the DOE team makes efforts to balance client demands with data infrastructure improvements, this dual focus can sometimes be challenging.

Why is this a concern?

In Data Operations Engineering, the concerns parallel the concept of "toil" in Site Reliability Engineering. Toil for the DOE team involves repetitive tasks and maintenance work that is essential for the smooth running of data systems but detracts from the time available for building new data pipelines and implementing innovative data solutions. Such toil tasks can slow down the pace of key data infrastructure developments, adversely affecting the overall data strategy, and over time, can negatively impact team morale and customer satisfaction.

What is the solution?

Data Operations Engineering! Engineers within the DOE team work on Data Reliability. This group focuses on improving data reliability, automation, and handling data-related requests from stakeholders within the company.

What structure does the DRE team take?

The DOE team operates as an organisation-level shared resource, similar to how the SRE and CRE team operates.

What does Data Reliability Engineering handle?

The DRE flower-like responsibility model. DREs,

• Adapt tools and methodologies from Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) for data-specific purposes.

• Work closely with other teams (e.g., Sales, Consulting, QA) to understand data-related issues.

• Support integration and data handling, ensuring seamless data flow.

• Develop and maintain data pipelines, schemas, and transformation processes.

• Handle data reliability through code and automated processes.

• Train and support internal teams on data best practices and troubleshooting.

• Continuously improve data systems by developing tools and solutions that identify and resolve issues.

• Have a high degree of familiarity with TableCheck's data systems to provide rapid and effective solutions.

This DRE model ensures data reliability, streamlines data processes, and frees up resources within the Data Operations Engineering team to focus on innovation and building robust data systems.

How does the Data Operations Engineering team contribute to the organisation?

The DOE team is vital in ensuring that TableCheck has reliable, secure, and efficient data systems. They design and maintain data pipelines, create schemas, and transform data so that it can be used effectively across the organisation. The insights generated from the data they manage are instrumental in decision-making and strategy planning, ensuring that TableCheck can serve its customers effectively and continue to innovate in a data-driven way.

In summary, by incorporating Data Reliability Engineering into the Data Operations Engineering team, TableCheck can achieve higher efficiency, innovation, and customer satisfaction through optimised data processes and infrastructure.