FRONT ROW AT THE BACKEND
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DEVOPS IN CONTROL
WELCOME TO THE BACKEND
Hi, I’m JP. I’m a DevOps Engineer at Essent. In this blog, I’ll take you behind the scenes of our IT department. Today’s focus is on how our cloud team evolved. What used to be a helpdesk is now a driving force of innovation.
We’ll hear from Karol Muciek, Senior Cloud Architect. He helped shift the cloud team from reactive support to proactive consulting. Let’s dive in.
This is the third episode in the DOPE series, listen to the first two here: EP 7 and EP 8.
FROM TICKETS TO IMPACT
In the past, the cloud team worked like this: you filed a ticket, waited, and maybe got help. Tasks were small. Access requests, connection help, security tweaks. It worked, but it didn’t scale. The team was drowning in support work. Then something changed. Karol and the team saw an opportunity. What if they stopped reacting and started leading? They built tools. They automated access and account setup. They gave power back to the development teams. Teams got more freedom, more ownership, and more responsibility.
THE BIG IDEA: FULL OWNERSHIP
“It’s your solution,” says Karol. “Your team owns it. If something breaks, you fix it.” That mindset became the foundation. No more passing tasks to another board. No more waiting on other teams. with freedom came speed. Happiness grew. Developers moved faster. But they didn’t lose control. The cloud team stepped back, but not out. They became advisors. Guides. Not bottlenecks.
THE CONSULTATION MODEL
They launched something new: architecture consultations. Not audits. Not approvals. Just a conversation. A session to explore a team’s workload, architecture, and business goals. No pressure. No judgment. Afterward, the cloud team would deliver a report. It rated the architecture using AWS and Essent standards. It flagged red, orange, or green zones. It made clear what worked and what needed help. This was a hit. Teams appreciated the clarity. Some didn’t even realize how much they’d been missing.
THE DOPE PLATFORM
One of the first success stories was with the Dope team. They manage a massive data platform. It was complex and growing fast. Karol’s team helped them evolve toward a data mesh architecture. Instead of one giant data lake, data stayed closer to its source. It stayed in the hands of the experts. That made the platform easier to scale and easier to understand. They also helped with things like access, secrets, and IAM roles. Simple stuff, but critical when scaling up fast.
FASTER ACCOUNTS, HAPPIER TEAMS
One massive improvement was how fast teams could get started. In the past, it could take months to get a cloud account. Now? It’s down to days. Soon it could be minutes. The cloud team built a system that uses automation and pre-defined templates. New teams get a ready-to-go environment. No waiting, no delays.
WHAT’S NEXT: AI CONSULTATIONS
Consultations are great. But the team can’t do them all. That’s where AI comes in. Karol and his colleagues are exploring agentic AI. Imagine an assistant that checks your architecture and gives advice. It won’t replace people, but it can help scale. This could be huge for onboarding, security reviews, and financial optimization too.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Essent is shifting fast. From utility to tech. From slow to smart. The cloud team is leading the charge, not by doing everything, but by enabling others. It’s about power. Responsibility. And working smarter. Thanks for reading. Want more insights like this? Stay tuned for the next post. We’ll be diving into the world of AI and architecture.
Big thanks to Karol for sharing this story.