A demanding data management project equipped a software developer with new perspectives

“My client’s business has digitalised one area at a time. That’s why development has often progressed as independent ventures, disconnected from other operations. Our team’s goal has been to create a digital platform that connects and harmonises data across the client’s various business areas,” begins Jan Tuomi, Senior Software Developer at Nitor.

Tuomi has worked with the same client throughout his career at Nitor. The bulk of that time has been spent on a single, exceptionally demanding project.

The client operates on several commercial sectors, with data streams previously flowing between business areas and key locations in a wide variety of forms and without a centralised operating model. Tuomi’s team has been entrusted to design processes that account for all aspects and nuances of the business.

For Tuomi, one of the most impactful lessons the project has yielded has been working on modeling. Given the client’s significant size and wide range of operations, data has accumulated in vast amounts over time. A crucial part of the work has been to grasp the big picture both in terms of the greater structure as well as minute details.

“We’ve had long periods where we didn’t touch a single line of code. We spent a long time at the whiteboard drawing out the organisation’s data management landscape and tracking the movement of individual data flows,” Tuomi explains.

Third time’s the charm

During the complex development journey the team has had to make tough calls on tearing things down – the project has been restarted three times from scratch. However, the restarts haven’t been looked upon as failures, but as a natural continuation of a growing understanding of the business and its processes.

“The biggest challenge has simply been the lack of information, as we haven’t had existing process documentation to rely on. We’ve had to mine knowledge from individuals and second-hand sources to reach a comprehensive level of understanding. We’ve had to adopt the mindset of archaeologists digging for answers about how things were originally designed and why,” Tuomi notes.

Another major lesson of the project has revolved around designing for fault tolerance. The data platform has been built practically from the ground up, so its functionality isn’t based on existing solutions. This has sharpened the team’s focus on ensuring the platform’s resilience so that critical information flows smoothly between systems.

“A significant part of our work has been to make the platform durable. That way it can recover from even bigger hiccups without having to call in a Digital Engineer on the weekend for emergency repairs. Creating that kind of resilience requires constant scrutiny and considerable forethought,” Tuomi describes.

The learning journey never ends

As a self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Tuomi says the best part of Nitor’s work culture is the overarching atmosphere of curiosity and thirst for knowledge. That also translates into tangible value for clients, as Nitor’s communal culture is constantly shaping the workforce into more capable professionals.

“At Nitor, it’s completely normal to raise your hand and ask for help and guidance – that’s part of our culture. No one has to pretend to be smarter than they are or bang their head against the wall alone. Challenges are overcome through constructive discussion and mentoring,” Tuomi exclaims.

Drawing from his own philosophy on learning, Tuomi encourages future professionals to broaden and diversify the paths through which they learn. The most impactful growth comes from a mix of approaches.

“Digital development professionals won’t run out of work even in the age of AI. In the future, however, we will need an even wider array of experience through hands-on work and formal studying – diving into books, research papers, and other learning materials,” Tuomi concludes.

The article series highlights the experiences of Nitoreans in continuous learning as part of their daily customer work. At Nitor, professional growth builds on training, collaborative learning, mentoring, Nitor Core time, and interesting customer projects. This article series stems from a desire to show appreciation for learning while working, the fundamental pillar of everyday professional development.