Success Stories

Complementing low code tools for automation

“For me, learning Cloudomation Engine was like switching from Duplo to Lego technic. Now I can build much cooler things than before.”
Gerald – AI Workflow Designer at apsa personnel concepts GmbH

Challenge

  • Low code automation tools like PowerAutomate and Zapier are already in use but have limited capabilities, because API requests are predefined and limited.
  • Automating processes is only possible to a limited extent or not at all due to the lack of access to central data.
  • Especially the integration with Bullhorn CRM using Zapier was limited.

Solution

  • Created an endpoint in Cloudomation Engine that can be used to query and write all Bullhorn data.
  • Training of the AI Workflow Designer to independently create additional endpoints.

Result

  • Automation of additional processes e.g. automated translations of an introductory text for job postings is possible now.
  • The AI Workflow Designer can create and extend endpoints with Cloudomation Engine on his own. By expanding his automation toolbox, he can now automate processes that he could not implement using low code tools alone.

Details

apsa personnel concepts is a recruiting company specialising in the IT sector. Their central data of candidates, job postings and companies which are looking for staff are managed in Bullhorn CRM. The Zapier app for Bullhorn is limited and permits only the request of a few data points from Bullhorn.

Similar to Bullhorn, a lot of software that has “difficult” APIs or is only used by a few companies lack Zapier integrations or offer only very limited ones. To integrate such software in an automated process it can be valuable to use a pro code automation tool like Cloudomation Engine to extend the capabilities of low code tools.

  1. A connector for the Bullohorn API was created using Cloudomation Engine. The authentication is done through OAuth.
  2. A custom REST API was created in Cloudomation Engine that allows parameterised querying of data from Bullhorn in a simple format. The following elements were developed for this purpose:
    1. A Cloudomation Engine webhook was created. This is the endpoint for the custom REST API
    2. A python script was created, which is processing the data and parameters that are passed to the webhook. From the parameters passed to the webhook, the script creates valid queries for the Bullhorn API.
  3. The Cloudomation Webhook is requested by Zapier. The AI Workflow Designer automates additional process steps directly in Zapier and PowerAutomate.
  4. One use case, which serves as the basis for many others, has already been implemented on site with the new endpoint: the automated optimisation of job postings plus optional translation.
    1. Information about the job posting which is scheduled for publication is read from Bullhorn through the Cloudomation endpoint – triggered by a webhook linked to Zapier.
    2. The information is sent over the API to the OpenAI/ChatGPT API together with a prompt (instructions for generative AI) developed by the Workflow Designer.
    3. The revised result is imported into a specially defined field in Bullhorn through the Cloudomation endpoint.
    4. Optionally, in a second step (with an adapted but identically structured process), the revised job posting is translated from German to English
  5. Several other use cases to support the workflows of recruiters have already been implemented or are being planned.

In a two-day workshop with the AI Workflow Designer and an Automation Expert from Cloudomation, the planned use cases were analysed together and areas were identified where existing hurdles could be overcome using Cloudomation Engine. After half a day, the AI Workflow Designer, with the support of the Cloudomation Automation Expert, created the first endpoint in Cloudomation Engine for querying Bullhorn data. As the workshop progressed, the AI Workflow Designer was trained to create endpoints in Cloudomation Engine independently, to adapt existing endpoints and to analyse and correct any errors, and to perform further queries to other systems (e.g. OpenAI API) using Cloudomation Engine.

  • Automation of other processes related to the creation and translation of job postings in various formats and designs
  • Rolling out automated processes across the entire company to reduce the number of manual work steps for recruiters
  • Automated extraction of candidate data from a legacy CRM system and automated importing of the data into Bullhorn

apsa has already implemented the following additional use cases using Cloudomation Engine in the past:

  • Automated data cleaning in Bullhorn: The extensive use of custom fields in Bullhorn resulted in unstructured data that could not be used in a structured way. The contents of the custom fields were extracted using Cloudomation Engine and added to standard fields in Bullhorn based on predefined logic.
  • Automated uploading and processing of resumes in Bullhorn: Resumes were uploaded automatically for several thousand candidates in Bullhorn, assigned to the associated candidate and an automated extraction of data from the resume was initiated.
  • Querying job postings from Bullhorn and providing them in a specific format over a webhook. In this way, job postings can be published automatically on WordPress.
morawa logo

Automation and monitoring of procurement processes

“Cloudomation saves us a lot of time and makes our daily work easier.
It supports us in monitoring our processes and helps us avoid errors.”
René – Operator and SPOC of the Morawa project team

Challenge

  • The legacy automation software, that managed internal processes, was discontinued.
  • Manually operating would take considerable time, therefore it is not a viable option.
  • Need to migrate processes within a 3-month timeframe.
  • The new solution has to integrate multiple systems while maintaining the overall process structure.
  • Operators need a solution that provides visual process monitoring.

Solution

  • Migration of processes from the legacy automation software to Cloudomation Engine in close coordination with operators from Morawa.
  • Creation of a flexible scheduler that could mimic the complex schedules in the legacy setup.

Result

  • The legacy procurement process (orders management, invoicing, crediting) now runs in Cloudomation Engine.
  • Considerable time saved with automated workflows and error handling.
  • Additional monitoring of schedules that notifies operators in case of scheduling failures.
  • Unresolved process errors are immediately detected and can be resolved quickly.
  • Operators can monitor processes visually.

Details

  1. A Cloudomation on-premise instance was set up within the company’s data center.
  2. Connection credentials are stored safely in a HashiCorp Vault.
  3. Connectors were set up to the systems involved in the processing to
    • execute Batch jobs via PowerShell,
    • implement locking via a stored procedure in a Microsoft SQL database,
    • transfer logs via the Secure Copy Protocol,
    • access files on an FTP server,
    • set up email and Microsoft Teams notifications.
  4. Workflows parse logs and proceed according to return codes, handle errors with retries, and notify operators automatically if an issue persists.
  5. Workflows are scheduled with various parameters (e.g. monthly; in certain calendar weeks; only on weekends), while correcting for changes in the time zone and allowing for holiday calendars and exceptions.

A Cloudomation automation expert and a Cloudomation project manager coordinated with stakeholders to assess technical and business requirements. The implementation was done by two Cloudomation experts with a time expenditure of 3 weeks. The implementation consisted of creating automation scripts, schedules and connectors, that depicted the business logic of the legacy process. After the implementation, the customer had a ready-to-use workspace with the procurement process automatically running.

During the implementation phase, the project team was in close contact with the operator team of Morawa. Progress was monitored in weekly calls. Together with Morawa, we implemented a stepwise rollout to replace legacy processes one-by-one.

  • Extending capabilities of the current scheduling solution, so more edge cases can be covered.
  • Integrating and automating further steps of the procurement process.

Large Austrian Company

Automatic handling of IT security incidents

Challenge

  • IT security incidents are processed manually by highly paid specialists.
  • Experts spend a lot of time doing copy-paste work.

Solution

  • Automation of 80% of the process steps for two common IT security incidents: data breach and phishing emails.

Result

  • Time savings of up to 4 hours per week for highly paid IT security experts.
  • Faster and error-free processing of data breach and phishing email incidents.

Details

Phishing email incidents:

  1. Connection of Cloudomation to an Office365 e-mail inbox, to which phishing and other malicious e-mails are reported by more than 1000 employees. Cloudomation continuously monitors the inbox. The automatic process is initiated when a phishing or malicious email arrives.
  2. Cloudomation extracts all links and attachments from the email.
  3. Cloudomation transfers links and attachments to two analysis tools: JoeSandbox and VirusTotal.
  4. Cloudomation searches the Office365 email inboxes of all employees company-wide for emails with the same subject or content and thus identifies other recipients of the malicious email.
  5. Cloudomation creates a ticket in the Redmine ticketing system. Cloudomation documents the following information in the ticket:
    1. The email itself and the person who reported the email.
    2. The analysis results from JoeSandbox and VirusTotal.
    3. All other recipients of the e-mails that were identified.
  6. Cloudomation assigns the ticket to an IT security specialist for further processing. The specialist uses his/her expert knowledge to decide how to proceed. This means that IT security specialists concentrate on activities that require their expertise and knowhow. 

Data breach incidents:

  1. Customer subscribes to two services that monitor international data breaches and provide information about data breaches to their customers: Have I Been Pawned (HIBP) and Spycloud.
  2. Have I Been Pawned and Spycloud send notifications of data breaches to customers via email. This triggers the automatic process in Cloudomation.
  3. Cloudomation reads out the information about data breaches from notification emails:
    1. Have I Been Pawned: csv with data is downloaded and processed by Cloudomation.
    2. Spycloud: data are read out via API.
  4. The data from both services are searched for the customer’s domain name in order to identify affected e-mail addresses.
  5. Data are compared with the customer’s Active Directory database to identify employees’ user names.
  6. A ticket is created in the Redmine ticketing system. The data breach reports from Have I Been Pawned and Spycloud are attached. The results of the search are also documented in the ticket.
  7. Cloudomation assigns the ticket to an IT security specialist for further processing. The specialist uses his/her expert knowledge to decide how to proceed. This means that IT security specialists concentrate on activities that require their expertise and knowhow. 

Cloudomation was installed on-premise in the customer’s data center. After half a day of training, the customer took over operation and maintenance of the platform, as well as developoment of flow scripts. Cloudomation experts provide support on demand. 

  • Partial automation of further IT security processes that are currently carried out manually.
  • Extension of the automatic processes into steps that can be standardized, e.g. automatic deletion of malicious e-mails from the inboxes of all employees.

Large German Software Company

Reduce ServiceNow Licence Cost through Data Integration

Challenge

  • Seat-based licensing model of ServiceNow customer support platform leads to high cost.
  • Dozens of people do not have access to relevant data due to lack of costly ServiceNow licenses
  • Only customer service agents get costly ServiceNow licenses. Account managers, project managers, developers and other stakeholders do not have access to relevant customer support requests on the ServiceNow platform.
  • Poor customer service due to lack of access to information.

Solution

  • Customer support ticket information is extracted from ServiceNow and automatically transferred to internal documentation platform in near-real-time with Cloudomation.
  • 4 days of effort to set up the integration.

Result

  • Customer support information is available to all relevant stakeholders.
  • No need for additional costly ServiceNow licenses.
  • Significant improvement in customer support speed and quality.
  • Significanlty lower license cost.
  • Customer support data is now also available for analysis and combination with other data sources, e.g. customer contract value.

Details

  1. A Cloudomation on-premise workspace was already running in the customer’s data center and is used for other use cases as well.
  2. ServiceNow and the company internal data warehouse (DWH) were connected to Cloudomation.
  3. Cloudomation fetches all customer support ticket data as well as related customer data from ServiceNow and transfers the data to the DWH.
  4. The data transfer is scheduled to run hourly. A switch to near-rea-time data transfer is planned, which shall be triggered by each change in a cusomter support ticket in ServiceNow.
  5. Reports are generated in the DWH based on the ServiceNow data.
  6. In a next step, transfer of the ServiceNow data to an internal documentation system is planned so that more people get access to the data.

An automation expert from Cloudomation developed the data transfer logic in collaboration with the DWH-team.

  • Switch to near-real-time data transfer after every change of a customer support ticket in ServiceNow.
  • Transfer of data to a documentation system to which more people have access.
  • Intergation of ServiceNow data into company KPIs.

German ERP-Software Company

Integrate Rexx HR with central Data Warehouse

Challenge

  • All HR data siloed in Rexx HR software.
  • No visibility or reporting on HR data for 1200 employees.
  • Without a structured data basis for reporting, management has to rely on highly manual, high-effort and low-frequency reports to make decisions.
  • No KPIs for HR. A lot is simply not known.

Solution

  • Automated data request, data validation, data preparation and loading of structured data into the central data warehouse (DWH) with Cloudomation.
  • 6 days of effort to set up the integration.

Result

  • HR data for 1200 employees available in structured format in the central DWH.
  • Regular automated reports are run on the new consolidated data basis.
  • Management has full visibility of HR data and has a solid data basis for decisions.
  • Data is checked thoroughtly during each load. Errors or missing data are spotted immediately.
  • Notifications are sent automatically if data issues are detected. Issues can be fixed very quickly, preventing data loss and problems downstream.
  • Data can be combined and analysed jointly with other data sources in the central DWH, e.g. financial data.
  • No more time consuming highly manual and highly error prone reports are written based on manual research done in the Rexx HR system.

Details

  1. A Cloudomation on-premise instance was set up within company’s data center.
  2. Data is requested from several JSON APIs from the Rexx HR software.
    1. Different data categories are accessed via different API endpoints.
    2. Due to limitations of REXX HR APIs, only a specific amount of data can be accessed via one API. Therefore, data sets are split up and accessed in parts from different APIs.
  3. E-mail notifications are sent in case of persistent failure to access any API.
  4. For each of the data categories, all the individual data parts are validated:
    1. Check if the same number of records exists for each part.
    2. Check if data is complete.
  5. E-mail notifications are sent if data checks fail.
  6. Data is prepared for further processing:
    1. String fields contain amounts and currency information as string are split up into numeric fields for amount, and a separate currency column.
    2. Data types are set.
    3. Data sets are merged.
    4. Column names are changed to fit requirements of the DWH.
  7. E-mail  notifications are sent if data pre-processing fails.
  8. Data is loaded into DWH.
  9. Stored procedure for reporting is triggered in the DWH.
  10. Result of stored procedure is monitored. E-mail notifications are sent if the stored procedure returns an error.

A Cloudomation automation expert and a Cloudomation project manager coordinated with internal and external stakeholders to conduct detailed requirements engineering. In close consultation with company’s business stakeholders, Cloudomation project management coordinated with client’s internal functions to gather all necessary information and accesses. The automated process was developed in close collaboration with external developers responsible for the DWH and the reporting process. 

  • Add additional HR data categories to the data processing pipeline.
  • Add more detailed monitoring of post-processing in DWH to ensure success of the entire process, including the steps happening outside of Cloudomation.
  • Automate data delivery of processed HR data from DWH to project management software, ticketing software and ERP software. 
  • Cloudomation will support the client in achieving gold-standard data management across departments and data siloes by functioning as central automation, orchestration and monitoring layer for data integration. 

IT Recruitment Company

Automatic publication of job advertisements

Challenge

  • Job ads are copied manually from a CRM system to a job portal.
  • Highly paid recruitment consultants spend a lot of time copy-pasting.
  • Mistakes happen.

Solution

  • Integration of CRM and job portal via Cloudomation.

Result

  • New and changed job ads are automatically published on the job portal.
  • Recruitment consultants have more time for value-adding work.
  • No more copy-paste errors and no more outdated job ads.

Details

  1. Interface with Bullhorn CRM REST API with OAuth authentication was configured.
  2. Reading job advertisements from Bullhorn: data from several entities in Bullhorn are combined in order to transfer information about a position and an employer.
  3. Data from Bullhorn is processed and converted into a Wodpress-compatible JSON format.
  4. Job ads are delivered to the WordPress job portal via the WordPress REST API.
  5. Job ads are transferred automatically every night.
  6. Recruitment consultants can trigger a transfer of job ads at any time via a simple link. As a result, new or changed job ads are automatically published.

The integration was developed in three days, in cooperation between an automation expert from Cloudomation, a recruitment consultant and a web developer who takes care of the job portal.

  • Automatic transfer of job advertisements to other platforms, such as Xing, karriere.at and others.
  • Automated “cleaning up” of data in Bullhorn: previously there were many “custom fields” which are now transferred to standard fields in order to facilitate the automatic processing of the data. This remapping of the data for thousands of candidates, employers and job advertisements that have already been created in Bullhorn can be carried out automatically in a few minutes.
  • Automatic CV processing: transferring data from CVs to Bullhorn CRM fields.

Swiss Software Company

Automated payslip delivery to HR tool

Challenge

  • Over 300 employees need access to payslips in HR tool.
  • Payroll tool which produces payslips lacks functionality to deliver payslips directly to HR tool.
  • Existing integration layer lacks crucial functionality: cannot read pdf payslips to extract employee number and cannot upload pdf files to HR tool.
  • Customer spends significant amount of manual work to get the payslips deliverd to the HR tool and still faces errors in payslip delivery.

Solution

  • Payslip delivery automated with Cloudomation.
  • 12 hours of effort for developing automation script.

Result

  • Payslips are delivered automatically.
  • Delivery of correct payslip to each employee is ensured.
  • Fully documented audit trail of payslip delivery.
  • Notifications in place for invalid employee numbers and excess payslips.
  • Process can now be extended to automate more tasks in HR administration.

Details

  1. Payslips are uploaded in bulk to Cloudomation.
  2. Parse payslip pdf files to extract employee number.
  3. Access HR database to extract mapping of employee numbers between payslip tool and HR tool, which use different employee numbering systems.
  4. Check: Correct employee number in payslip pdf?
  5. Check: Each payslip can be assigned to an employee? (No excess payslips.)
  6. Create report containing all successful uploads and any issues that were encountered. If there are issues, all valid pdfs are still uploaded.
  7. Upload individual payslips to correct employee account in HR tool. Employees can now see and download their payslips in the HR tool. 

One Business Applications Manager from the customer and one Automation Specialist from Cloudomation met for two afternoons. With support from our expert, the Business Applications Manager developed the automation script himself. He now owns the process and can extend and adapt it on his own.

  • Streamlining automated process: parallel processing of pdfs, parallel creation of employee number mapping.
  • Direct automated download of payslip pdfs from source.
  • Dynamic update of employee number mapping for new or resigning employees.
Semantic Web Company Cloudomation Customer

Deployment Automation

Challenge

  • More than 100 dedicated customer servers worldwide.
  • Deploying new instance manually took more than two hours.
  • Errors happened frequently.
  • A lot of manual work to get the job done and afterwards additional time spent on troubleshooting and fixing errors.

Solution

  • Automation of deployment with Cloudomation.
  • 8 hours of effort for developing automation script.

Result

  • Deploying new instance takes 5 minutes.
  • Error-free deployment.
  • Full audit trail of deployment.
  • Anyone can deploy new instances, not just System Administrators.
  • Parallel deployments possible.
  • New automated process fully accepted by the employees.
  • Increased Customer service quality.
  • Reduced significantly time-to-market to onboard new customers.

Details

  1. Spin up AWS machine of specific type.
  2. Configure security groups.
  3. Configure network.
  4. Configure hard disk.
  5. Set up operating system.
  6. Install, update, and configure libraries.
  7. Download, set up and configure software product.
  8. Create account for customer on software product.
  9. Send notification email with login credentials to System Administrator, who does a final check and then forwards the credentials to the customer.

One System Administrator from Semantic Web Company and one Automation Specialist from Cloudomation sat together one afternoon. The System Administrator didn’t know Python. With support from our expert, he was able to develop the automation script himself. He now owns the process and can extend and adapt it on his own.

  • Extend the automated process for additional deployment options, e.g. on different environments and with different components.
  • Add steps before and after the process, e.g. a quick test after deployment finished, and direct send out of credentials to the customer. 
  • Automate roll-out of updates and other maintenance processes.

Austrian Software Company

Integration of Time Tracking and Work Planning Software

Challenge

  • Work planning and time tracking take place in different tools (Jira and Clockify).
  • Times cannot be reliably assigned to tasks.
  • Billing of customer projects is complex and imprecise.
  • Project managers spend a lot of time doing detective work. That leads to conflicts in the team.

Solution

  • Integration of time tracking in Clockify with work planning in Jira via Cloudomation.

Result

  • Time tracking directly in Jira is much faster. Employees do not have to use any other tool.
  • Higher quality of time tracking: descriptions and projects are always filled in and correct.
  • Work on customer projects is recorded and billed to the minute.
  • Less conflicts about time tracking in the team.
  • Project managers and developers have more time for productive work.

Details

  1. Free Clockify-Jira-plugin was installed. With the plugin, times can be tracked in tickets directly via the Jira user interface. The plugin transfers the Jira ticket number and the title of the ticket to Clockify.
  2. Project managers can even assign individual tickets to epics in Jira, which stand for customer projects and internal projects.
  3. Employees only have to start time recording directly in a ticket. All the rest happens automatically with Cloudomation:
    •  The ticket number is taken from the description of Clockify time recording.
    • Epic is requested in Jira.
    • Clockify project is mapped to Jira epic.
    • Projects are updated automatically in Clockify.
  4. Time spent on individual tickets is now directly visible. Billing of customer work to the minute is now possible.
  5. Project managers no longer have to remind  their colleagues about their time recording. Times are no longer “reconstructed” days and weeks in retrospect.
  6. Time recording effort for employees is significantly lower, as they can do everything directly in Jira and do not have to manually enter descriptions or projects.
An automation expert from Cloudomation developed the integration according to the requirements of a project manager within half a day.
  • Automatic creation of Clockify projects based on Jira epics, so that project planning can take place entirely in Jira.
  • Notifications for project managers when the workload for certain projects is reached or exceeded.
  • Automatic creation of time reports for customers from Clockify projects with nice formatting and only necessary fields.
Aras Tiernahrung Cloudomation Customer

Integrate webshop with an inventory management system

Challenge

  • Highly successful webshop not integrated with inventory management system.
  • 4+ hours / week manual effort to enter orders into the inventory management system.
  • Manual rounding led to differences in prices between different systems, causing problems.
  • Only one person knew the process - orders not processed during holidays and sick leave.
  • A lot of manual work keeping us away from focusing on important elements to increase revenue and profit.

Solution

  • Integration of webshop and inventory management system via Cloudomation.
  • 2 days of effort to set up the integration.

Result

  • New orders are processed fully automatically.
  • 4+ hours per week time saved.
  • Prices are synchronised exactly. No more rounding differences.
  • Orders are processed independently of employees, also on weekends, holidays, and during the night.
  • Employees are freed up for customer care and more high-value tasks.
  • Webshop is now ready to grow even further. More orders can be processed quickly and easily.
  • We defined a plan to spend more time on customer facing improvements with the ultimate goal to increase customer loyalty and revenue.
  • Extension of integration possible to connect more systems, e.g. accounting.

Details

  1. Order information is requrested from SaaS webshop system (Magento) via REST API.
    • Product information: ID, amount, discount codes. 
    • Customer information: name, delivery address, invoice address, phone number, email address.
  2. New orders are requested every 30 minutes.
  3. Order information is transferred to the on-premise inventory management system (MS SQL) via the Cloudomation satellite.
  4. When the on-premise system is shut down or rebooted, the satellite automatically reconnects. Order processing continues at exactly the point of interruption. Double processing of orders or lost orders are impossible.
  5. Customer information is cross-checked with existing customers and classified: new or existing customer.
  6. Data wrangling to ensure correct processing:
    • All phone numbers are converted to the E.164 standard. Any international phone number can be processed.
    • Anomaly detection logic for intelligent mapping of existing customers:
      • Same customer name, but different phone number – assume phone number changed.
      • Same name, different delivery address – assume moved.
      • Same name and both different address and phone number – assume different person with same name.
  7. New customers are created in the inventory management system. 
  8. Order is created in the inventory management system. Invoice and delivery slip are created.
  9. Packaging and shippping are the only manual steps left in the process.

A Cloudomation automation expert conducted an in-depth requirements analysis with Aras employees who are responsible for the order process. This was followed by a technical audit in coordination with external IT service providers: the webshop hosting provider, as well as the inventory managemet system development company. The integration was developed by Cloudomation in close coordination with Aras. During a six week trial period Aras was able to fully test the process. Minor adaptations were done to ensure every possible scenario is covered. After go-live of the process, we continue to support Aras in the use of the process and work with them to extend it further. 

  • Extend the process to automatically print delivery slip and invoice on the warehouse printer so that the warehouse has a physical “to-do” package of delivery slips.
  • Add automatical send-out of dispatch notice and invoice to customers after package has been handed over to logistics partner.
  • Automatic forwarding of invoice information to accountant’s software.
  • Automatic send-out of vouchers and other loyalty program items to customers two weeks after their last purchase.

Viennese SaaS Company

Application Release Automation

Challenge

  • Need to support several releases per day.
  • Poor performance of build process automation with build service of popular cloud provider.
  • Build failed frequently.
  • When working, build took 15 minutes.
  • Error prone release process resulting in additional time spend on fixing issues and getting the release job done.

Solution

  • Automate build process with Cloudomation.
  • 3 days of effort for developing automation script.

Result

  • Build completes much faster: 2-3 minutes.
  • Build completes reliably without errors.
  • Build automation script is a lot shorter and clearer. Before: 693 lines of code, now: 360 lines of code.
  • More granular control of build steps.
  • Extension of process automation is now possible.
  • Developers focus on coding and bringing new features out instead of fixing release errors.

Details

  1. Integration with git source control system: git commit triggers build.
  2. Source code extracted from git.
  3. Components are built and deployed in fixed order. This was much easier to do in Cloudomation than before. 
  4. Build completes in 2-3 minutes. Before it took 15 minutes.

One Automation Expert from Cloudomation developed the build automation flow script based on the previously used build script. In cooperation with the build master, our expert was able to improve elegance and performance of the build process significantly.

  • Further improve performance by only building components with committed changes, instead of always running a full build.
  • Extend build automation into full CI/CD pipeline.

Austrian Software Company

Website Management: Release and Backups

Challenge

  • Difficulty managing changes to the website.
  • Half-ready pages and changes that still had errors were often published accidentally.
  • Updates of plugins often caused problems.
  • No simple way of restoring previous versions if an update caused problems.

Solution

  • Set-up of separate development and productive website.
  • Automation of website release, backups, and rollbacks with Cloudomation.

Result

  • All changes to the content are done on the development website. No half-ready content is published accidentally any more.
  • Even large changes to the website can now be managed easily.
  • All plugin updates are tested on the development instance. No problems on the productive website due to updates.
  • If an update causes problems on the development website, a rollback can be done easily and quickly.
  • Much more frequent updates because it is now easy and risk-free.
  • With each release of the website, there are now tests: all forms and links are checked. Quality of the website improved a lot.

Details

  1. The website environment was cloned. One environment was defined as development website, and the second as productive website.
  2. Separate URLs were deinfed for the development and the productive website. No-index and no-follow flags were set for the development website, so that search engines to not lead visitors to the development website.
  3. The release process was automated:
    • A full database backup of both the development and productive website is created.
    • The backup is restored in the productive environment.
    • Base-URLs are updated to fit the productive website URL.
    • No-index and no-follow flags are removed for the productive website.
    • A link-checker is run on the new productive website. Any dead links are reported via email to the person who triggered the release.
  4. The release process transfers not just changesd concent, but also all updates to the backend, plugins etc.
  5. The person who triggered the website release is informed via email once the release is complete, which takes about seven minutes (including the link-checker). Information about any issues found are included in the email.
  6. If there are problems with the website, a roll-back can be triggered. Any old backup can be chosen to be restored to the productive website. Usually, the backup created right before the release is restored. 
  7. Restoring the backup takes about three minutes.
  8. Updates of plugins are tested in the development instance before release. Only working updates are released.
  9. Because the release process is so easy, changes are published frequently. Even small improvements are always carried out consistently in the development instance and then released. Nobody logs in to the productive website to make changes.

A Cloudomation automation expert worked with the marketing team to develop the release process. A first version was ready in less than a week, with total effort of about two days invested. Iterative improvements were added over the following six weeks to improve user experience. Total effort was about three days. Now, the marketing team is in control of the release process, updates, tests and even restoring backups without any dependence on IT.

Through this project, the marketing team became a big fan of automation and has started to come up with many areas where autoamtion can help:

  • Adding checks for performence (page loading times) in the release process.
  • Integration of newsletter tool with website signup form. Currently, a standard plugin is used with limited flexibility regarding styling of the form.
  • Flexible integration of other forms on the website with other tools, e.g. calendar, ticketing system, and CRM.
  • Automatic cleanup of website: removing unused elements from the media library, flagging private pages and templates that haven’t been used in a long time for deletion etc.
  • Website uptime and performance monitoring.

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