DevOps Services for Ecommerce Website Management

About Client

We got the opportunity to work with one of Australia and New Zealand's chief retailers of home improvement and offers over 120,000 lifestyle products. The company was a leading supplier to the housing industry and commercial tradespeople with more than 200 warehouses and 60 trade stores across Australasia.

Client's Challenges and Goals

The customer's internal IT team was understaffed and required a team of 5 DevOps engineers to enhance the e-commerce website's performance and reliability by managing the complex infrastructure of their website. Their objective was to automate processes to streamline repetitive operational level tasks including deployments, system updates and removals.

Furthermore, the client did not have an environment to test tasks like load balances of queries especially during peak seasons. Therefore, the customer's website employed the team to establish a testing environment to ensure the website's stability during peak seasons.

Solutions and Implementations

The DevOps team at Swivel Tech adopted a strategic approach to address the project's challenges:

1. Streamlining DevOps Processes:

- TerraForm Implementation: The client recognised the importance of efficient infrastructure management and opted to leverage TerraForm. By defining infrastructure configurations as code, the Swivel Tech team ensured consistency across environments and facilitated seamless deployment of updates and enhancements to the e-commerce website. 

- Docker Containerisation: In addition to TerraForm, the team implemented Docker containerisation to further streamline DevOps processes. Docker containers encapsulate applications and their dependencies, enabling consistent deployment across different environments. This approach simplified the deployment process, reduced compatibility issues, and enhanced the scalability and portability of the website's components.

2. Automation of Repetitive Tasks:

- CI/CD Pipelines Implementation: The Swivel team introduced Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to automate the build, testing, and deployment of code changes. By integrating CI/CD pipelines into the development workflow, we were able to minimise manual intervention, accelerate release cycles, and improve overall efficiency. Automated testing within the pipeline ensured that code changes were thoroughly evaluated before deployment, reducing the risk of errors and enhancing the website's stability. 

3. Testing Environment Establishment:

- Creating a UAT Testing Environment: This environment was specifically designed to simulate real-world conditions, allowing for comprehensive load balancing tests during peak seasons. By leveraging Kubernetes for container orchestration, the team ensured the scalability and reliability of the testing environment, enabling thorough performance evaluations without impacting the production environment. 

4. Enhanced Communication

- Regular Meetings and Updates: The Swivel team implemented a communication strategy focused on facilitating regular meetings and updates between the client’s internal team and the external DevOps team. Scheduled meetings provided a forum for discussing project progress, addressing challenges, and aligning on objectives. Additionally, the team provided regular updates on project milestones, ensuring transparency and fostering collaboration between all stakeholders.

- Clear Documentation: The Swivel team emphasised the importance of clear and comprehensive documentation to support effective communication. Detailed documentation encompassed project requirements, technical specifications, deployment procedures, and troubleshooting guidelines. By maintaining up-to-date documentation, the Swivel team facilitated knowledge sharing and empowered both teams to navigate the project's complexities efficiently.

- Collaborative Tools: To streamline communication and collaboration, the Swivel team utilized collaborative tools such as project management platforms, version control systems, and communication channels. These tools facilitated real-time collaboration, enabling teams to share updates, track progress, and coordinate tasks effectively. By centralising communication through collaborative tools, the Swivel team minimised communication barriers and promoted seamless collaboration between geographically dispersed teams. 

Results and Impact

The team's work on this website yielded several positive outcomes and results. These include:

- Improved Website Performance: Due to the Swivel Tech DevOps engineers’ strategic interventions, the e-commerce website experienced a noticeable improvement in performance metrics. Load times were reduced, and page responsiveness was enhanced, leading to a smoother and more enjoyable browsing experience for customers. This improvement in performance contributed to increased user satisfaction and engagement, ultimately driving higher conversion rates and sales for the client.

- Efficiency Gains: By streamlining DevOps processes and implementing automation solutions, the team enabled the client to achieve significant efficiency gains in website maintenance and deployment. Manual tasks were minimised, and deployment processes were optimised, resulting in faster release cycles and reduced time-to-market for new features and updates. This improvement in efficiency allowed the customer's internal team to focus their efforts on strategic initiatives and value-added activities, rather than routine maintenance tasks.

- Enhanced Stability During Peak Seasons: The establishment of the dedicated testing –UAT environment, proved instrumental in ensuring the website's stability during peak seasons. Through comprehensive load balancing tests conducted in the UAT environment, the DevOps team identified and addressed potential performance bottlenecks and scalability issues proactively. As a result, the website was better equipped to handle high traffic volumes during peak periods, minimising downtime and ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers.

- Business Impact: The combined outcomes and benefits of Swivel Tech team interventions had a significant positive impact on client's business. The improved website performance and stability contributed to an enhanced online shopping experience, driving customer satisfaction and loyalty. The efficiency gains achieved through automation and streamlined processes translated into cost savings and increased operational efficiency for the client. Moreover, the strengthened collaboration and communication between teams facilitated faster time-to-market for new features and updates, enabling the client to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.