Driving Business Growth and Program Excellence
Introduction:
I am Sai Naidu, VP of Software Development at Clearwater Analytics (CWAN), overseeing the Compute Org responsible for Recon, ABOR, IBOR, Regulator computations, ETLs, and services. We have been on quite a journey since 2022, witnessing major changes in the industry and embracing GenAI. While other tech companies were hitting pause or shifting gears, CWAN took a different approach. We seized market growth opportunities while also diving headfirst into GenAI to boost productivity. In today’s rapidly evolving business world, achieving growth and excellence is a must. At CWAN, our teams are singularly focused on growth. Our initiatives are prioritized to drive tangible growth. So, let me take you on our journey of fostering growth at CWAN, alongside our amazing leaders, engineers, and my fellow CWANians.
Creating Our Future (COF):
The call for growth is loud and clear at CWAN, from our top leaders all the way to each employee. We rally behind the idea of “Creating Our Future (COF).” This collaborative effort brought together insights from subject matter experts (SME), long-tenured staff, and new recruits from Big-Tech and Finance sectors. We use Opportunity Assessment Templates (OATs) to rigorously assess our ideas and align our efforts. Failure? We embrace it. We encourage leaders to define their own metrics, knowing when to shut down initiatives and reallocate resources.
The Role of OATs and OKRs:
At CWAN, we rely on OATs as a powerful tool to identify high-ROI ideas through collaboration across departments. Picture a dynamic set of individuals from Sales, Delivery, Client/Customer Services, and Engineering, coming together to evaluate market opportunities (TAM, SAM, and SOM), competition, and cost of ownership (build + operation) and produce an ROI document.
We pitch our OATs to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), just like Shark Tank! The Sharks fund the initiatives based on multiple factors, such as ROI, long-term growth, multi-product enablement, and multi-market-multi-region enabler, among others. These initiatives are then transformed into measurable goals and results through OKRs — A Start-Up is born.
By aligning our efforts with clear success metrics such as Bookings, Revenue, NPS, and Adoption, we ensure that our goals are measurable and achievable with a clear, well-defined Scorecard for the leaders. The entire life cycle is called the “GO” (Growth Opportunities).
Programs as Execution Engines:
Setting goals is just the beginning. To bring our OKRs to life, we rely on cross-functional programs that act as the engines driving our execution. We assemble teams from engineering, product management, platform engineering, and even sales, marketing, and client/customer service. With each team member contributing their diverse expertise, we turn ambitious goals into tangible results.
Streamlined Teams for Excellence:
Agile methodology is fundamental to our pursuit of program excellence. It empowers our teams to operate autonomously, sprint after sprint and quarter after quarter, to meet program and OKR objectives. Cross-functional dependencies? Evolving requirements? No problem. Our teams adapt and ensure commitments are met.
Transparent Communication and Collaboration:
Transparent communication is key to ensuring program success. We maintain Weekly Program Reviews (WPR) and regular feedback sessions. Tools like weekly “2-rows X 2-cols” status reports (4BOX) help us showcase progress, identify obstacles, and plan ahead. By fostering a culture of open communication and collaboration, we create an environment where everyone is aligned and working towards a common goal.
The Away Team On-Call Model (ATOM):
When executing cross-functional programs, we often adopt an “Away Team” model, where engineers temporarily join other teams to fulfill program commitments. But the Away Team engineers still support their Home Team’s on-call through ATOM. This model helps us manage on-call responsibilities and maintain close ties with the Home Team. By participating in their Home Team’s on-call rotation, Away Team engineers help avoid on-call burdens, preserve domain knowledge, and facilitate knowledge sharing. This model also allows us to share the load and make on-call and production support a lighter activity, enabling us to focus on initiatives that reduce on-call burdens. These steps make Weekly Ops Review (WOR) effective and promote CSAT improvement.
Long-Term Resource Planning and Ownership:
For successful programs and multi-year GO initiatives, proactive planning for resource changes, onboarding, and off-boarding is vital. Core Teams, the permanent drivers of the programs they run, set the strategic direction. They ensure smooth transitions and resource allocation throughout the program’s lifecycle. e.g., A multi-year GO initiative starts with a core team of 10, but the program may require 15 to 20 people over time. The Core Team manages the onboarding and offboarding of team members each year. The Core Team decides whether to own or transition new services created during program execution, considering factors like long-term sustainability and team capacity.
Performance Management Calibration (PMC) and Continuous Improvement:
In cross-functional programs, employee performance management is a shared responsibility between the Away Team and Home Team Engineering Managers. Clear goals and regular feedback sessions ensure keep everyone aligned and focused on continuous improvement and growth.
Conclusion:
Collaboration, transparency, and a focus on growth are essential for achieving program excellence. At CWAN, we leverage mechanisms like OATs, OKRs, WPR, 4BOX, and Agile methodology, and adopting models like the ATOM, to guide our approach. With the support of our amazing engineering teams, we drive the growth of our company. At CWAN, these principles guide our approach to growth and help us achieve our strategic goals. Every company has its own journey of growth and challenges. I would love to hear how you tackle it in your start-up, company or enterprise.
About the Author
Sai Naidu, VP of Software Development at Clearwater Analytics (CWAN), brings over 25 years of strategic leadership experience. With a diverse background at leading tech companies like Amazon and eBay, Sai has a demonstrated history of driving innovation and delivering impactful solutions. At Amazon, Sai led significant initiatives both in retail and at AWS, contributing to the development of the next-gen Cloud Cost Management and Optimization Platform, including the AWS Cost Management Console, Cost Explorer, and Savings Plan. Additionally, Sai played a pivotal role at eBay, where he built and launched real-time shipping tracking systems. At CWAN, Sai leads the Compute Org, which is at the forefront of driving innovation, technology transformations, and business growth.
