Introducing DatameshAnd The Creation Of ASDY
The start of the year was rough - we came from two teams, different voices and messages, different ways of working and at the same time, trying to align the business on the beauty that could be the datamesh (aka building a data architecture on decentralized responsibility / self-serve design)
We'd all be lying if we said it was an easy start for ASDY - it took us a while to work ourselves out (sometimes felt more like an 80s coming of age movie!)
Finding that balance between leveraging where we'd come from, as well as what we wanted our future to look like - but think we could all agree we've come out the other side looking good and all the more stronger for it 💪
#tookawhile #morethanthesumofitsparts #worththewait #bffs
Data Products
If there was anything that summed up 2023 more than the creation of ASDY itself, then it was dataproducts. These are the badboys that basically enable us to find the right balance (agility vs stability) for the business our teams vision was built upon.
Just to add to the fun we decided to revolutionize how we approached data governance by adding terms to the mix (today over 7000 and counting!)
Dataproducts, the documentation and most importantly the knowledge embedded within them will be the legacy we leave in Satair - this year you all played a massive part in creating the foundation to those ambitions.
#180minrefresh #solidbaseline #ocdwiththegoverenance
DevOps & MasteringHow We Build Stuff
This is a funny one - there were moments this year (losing GCP to politics / accepting defeat on the impossibility of Datahub from source) where I genuinely questioned if we could ever become the kind of team under Airbus I envisioned Satair needs (the kind who can experiment quickly with apps & ideas!) and what we are aiming to become.
This topic didn’t necessarily impact everyone of you, but for 3-4 people - through blood sweat and tears - they've managed to define (and document!) a benchmark within Airbus for how to build and deploy things securely & quickly.
If dataproducts bring us the raw materials, then these are the capabilities that allow us to build some really cool stuff on top of it!
#helm4thewin #youbuiltithow!? #testittillitbreaks #upsanddowns
☠Targit Shutdown!
#celebratedwithchampagne
Faced & Overcome Obstacles
This is the one Im most proud of - we faced enormous challenges as a team this year - Targit was difficult, getting containers deployed - dataproducts looked (scarily!) unscalable there for a moment… but both teams genuinely came together, worked as one - focussed on the technical issues - continually refined the approaches and delivered. No outsourcing, no hands in the air, just a genuine willingness to get in and solve challenging technical problems together!
#eatsleeprepeat #teamworkmakesthedreamwork #salahsaysnevergiveup
2023 By The Numbers
7322 New Glossary Terms Created
6 World Cups For Australia 🏏
1 Platform Retired (Up 100%)
12 Potatoes (Up 142%)
14732 Reminders To Update Confluence
808 Unique Skywise Users
TBD Dataproducts Created
1 Glimpse Of The Future (SAP Pushback)
5 New Team Members
Olumides (Wife) 2023 FPL Champion 🏆
Outlook2024 & What's Next
As I reflect a little on this year, I feel super happy to know we have an absolute concrete foundation to build our future on. No need to align the business or convince people of the way forward, no need to focus on new vocabulary or work out what we want to do - next year will really be around further building on that rock solid baseline (both soft / people & technical) we've developed through 2023.
I think next year we will begin to play a larger role in leading change and new ways of working (not just) with the business but within ASD as well. Driving the use of dataproducts into other applications / uses - pushing for standards and reuse of approaches - APIs and automation (will blocks finally get it’s breakout year?) - the concept of communities and not necessarily the need for formal projects or hierarchies.
From an analytics perspective, the business should start to have enough foundational data available (which they will remain responsible for!) giving us more time to focus on exploratory and advanced use cases.
In a nutshell I think next year will really be about continually improving on what we revolutionized this year - with a focus on transitioning ourselves higher up the value pyramid to deliver insights, opportunities and drive transformation like no one else can…
#continuethetrend #moretimetoplay #standards #maybeapinchofml?
Some Final Thoughts
Every year I do this, I end up thinking and feeling "Wow! what a crazy year of ups and downs, next year will surely be a little more stable"
But I think that's actually the one constant we have as a transformation team - every year will mean going in and facing unknowns - embracing them, grabbing a board and riding those crazy waves.
I think that's genuinely what attracts people like us to our work, and can only thank you all how much I appreciate the energy, constructiveness and integrity you guys bring day in day out - genuinely it's been a tough year to bring us all together and create our joint identity - but all of you guys have done exactly that and been nothing short of outstanding to really make this job the delight it is…
Thankyou all so very much for an absolutely incredible year!
