A Day In The Life Of …
our Perfomance Engineer Dylan
Meet Dylan! He started at Evolane five years ago as a newbie, as part of an internship… Today, Dylan is a permanent member of the Performance Monitoring Team. And what a member! As a Dynatrace performance engineer, he plays a critical role in optimizing the performance of the organization’s software applications and systems.
A Dynatrace performance engineer? They use Dynatrace’s industry-leading monitoring and analytics tools to find, diagnose, and resolve performance issues, ensuring our customers’ and their visitors’ digital experiences are fast, reliable, and easy to use. But what does a typical working day for Dylan look like? He tags you along!
First things first
At 8:30 am Dylan arrives at the Evolane Hub in Stekene and, as usual, pours himself a cup of chocolate milk. He will find an accompanying snack in the richly filled “sweets drawer”. He logs into the Dynatrace environment and checks the dashboard to see if there are any performance warnings or issues that require immediate attention. After that, he also checks his mailbox throughout the day for any urgent requests or messages from the team or other stakeholders.
On to the daily schedule!
“We attend a daily stand-up meeting with our team to discuss the status of ongoing projects and new issues that have arisen. This meeting helps us prioritize our work for the day and makes sure everyone is aware of what’s going on across the team,” he says. “At that point, any roadblocks or challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the success of the team are discussed. Talking to your colleagues every day, despite all the remote working, is a nice bonus!”
“As a Dynatrace performance engineer, he plays a critical role in optimizing the performance of the organization’s software applications and systems.”
Customer first
It’s a cliché, but “customer is king”. Or rather: priority. That is why we start every day by tackling any urgent issues. This may include investigating a performance issue reported by a customer or detected by our monitoring tools. We use Dynatrace’s analytics to identify the root cause of the problem and work with other teams, such as developers or infrastructure engineers, to implement a solution and identify opportunities to optimize customer performance. Teamwork!
Lunchbreak
All that problem-solving thinking makes you hungry. It’s time for lunch! We take a break from work and chat with our colleagues over a meal. Close to the Evolane hub, where we meet with the team at least once a week, there are plenty of shops and places to eat. Fun fact: every week, all colleagues are treated to a fresh lunch. Delicious!
“At least once a week we have a nice chat during a meal in the Evolane hub. Every week, all colleagues are treated to a fresh lunch. Delicious!”
A dynamic working day
After lunch, Dylan continues to investigate pending cases. Besides specific issues, he regularly works on projects to improve the overall performance of our applications, such as optimizing database queries or improving application code. “As a Performance Engineer, you work closely with developers to give them insight into performance issues and advise on optimizing code and configuration settings. You use Dynatrace to show them the root cause of problems and work together to develop solutions. ” In addition, the monitoring team works with Akamai to implement solutions that optimize web content delivery and improve the user experience. “Enough variation in the work contributes to a dynamic working atmosphere!”
Lifelong learning
Evolaners are free, and even motivated, to attend relevant training sessions or webinars to keep up with the latest trends and techniques in their own field or specialization. “For example, I recently obtained the Dynatrace Professional Certification, a certificate that validates your knowledge of the Dynatrace infrastructure, data collection, analysis, integration points and visualization concepts.”
Completing and preparing
Starting at 4 p.m., the remaining tasks of that day are completed. A brief preparation for the next day, makes the course of the work week even more efficient. “That may involve going through documentation or making a summary of work. And voila, we’re ready to start tomorrow’s workday again.” Thus, a day in the life of Dylan is over and he can return home.
Work at Evolane? Dynamic and satisfying!
In summary, the work of a Dynatrace Performance Engineer consists of a mix of problem solving and project related work. The Performance Engineers team works closely with developers and leverages the insights provided by Dynatrace’s monitoring and analysis tools to identify performance issues. “By working together, we can ensure that our applications perform at their best and provide our customers with the best possible experience. It is a dynamic and fulfilling role that requires a lot of teamwork and coordination with both internal and external stakeholders. All this in a collegial atmosphere that stimulates ‘learning’, is the ideal working environment for me “, concludes Dylan.
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