2013 to 2015
Exeter India
Vermont's public deadline, met
Oct 2015Exeter India
3
modules planned for October delivery
3 modules planned for October delivery
3 development teams
Anchoring the next-generation platform's first modules
- 1 quote
Jul 2015Exeter India
3.5 / 4
the US delivery lead's rating of the India team I led: "Exceptional"
Team delivery, out of 4
Up to 20 engineers, with their hiring, reviews and mentoring
- 3 quotes
- Performance review
Jun 2015Exeter India
6 months
from my idea for a cross-project knowledge series to a company-wide community
- Jun 2015Named TExeter Thought Leader
- Dec 2014Thanked for six months of leading it
- Jul 2014Started the TExeter Thursday sessions
- Certificate
Jun 2015Exeter India
~20
India engineers on the weekend go-live
Vermont's public deadline, met
Mar 2015Exeter India
~3 s
per page, consistently
Pages under three seconds, with the evidence
Dec 2014Exeter India
6 months
from idea to company-wide community
- Jun 2015Named TExeter Thought Leader
- Dec 2014Thanked for six months of leading it
- Jul 2014Started the TExeter Thursday sessions
Thanked for six months of leading TExeter
- Certificate
- 2 quotes
Dec 2014Exeter India
Leading the plan selection rebuild
“My reaction in one sentence is “it is simply amazing what you guys have done””
US head of software development, Exeter Group, Exeter, 2014 - 2 quotes
Nov 2014Exeter India
2.91
indexed score
Rated for bringing the India team into the re-architecture
- 2 quotes
- Performance review
Oct 2014Exeter India
834
standard enrollment transactions
- 1 weekfrom demo to full end-to-end processing
Proving standard enrollment messaging end to end
- 1 quote
Aug 2014Exeter India
400+
bug fixes shipped in one release, on its planned date, by the India team I led
One square per fix. Hollow: about 80 more queue items closed as not bugs
August 2014, for two US state health exchanges.
- 2 quotes
Jul 2014Exeter India
Bringing every project into one tech community
- Jun 2015Named TExeter Thought Leader
- Dec 2014Thanked for six months of leading it
- Jul 2014Started the TExeter Thursday sessions
- 2 quotes
Apr 2014Exeter India
Owned the My Accounts revamp through release
- Before
- My Accounts kept its slow, portal-bound data access and its open release issues.
- The call
- Move My Accounts onto the shared data layer and fix the slow data access at its source.
- What changed
- Two later reviews recorded a significant performance improvement; the US lead signed off the final issues with 'Awesome!'.
Mar 2014Exeter India
3.19
indexed score
Rated consistently exceeds for initiatives beyond the project
- 2 quotes
- Performance review
Feb 2014Exeter India
3
phases proposed
A clean-up plan from one reopened defect
- 1 quote
Nov 2013Exeter India
3.15
indexed score
First review: taking ownership and spreading knowledge
- 2 quotes
- Performance review
Sep 2013Exeter India
A logging procedure for every layer
“We are getting into frustrating calls with no information and I think this document is something that we should start looking at this.”
Delivery head, Exeter Software India, Exeter, 2013 - 2 quotes
Also at Exeter India: 31 more entries without a card
2015
- NovLinkedIn recommendation from a direct report of nearly three years on leading the team to on-time delivery
- NovLinkedIn recommendation from a direct report of two and a half years on leading calmly through release chaos
- NovLinkedIn recommendation from a US colleague on owning the work and bridging onshore and offshore teams
- NovDeclined UnitedHealth Group's offer to move with the acquisition and chose to find my own next role
- NovExeter Software India closed after UnitedHealth Group acquired the company
- NovTook about four months to choose my next company and joined Amazon in February 2016
- NovLeft Exeter Software India after two years and eight months, as Senior Lead, Software Development
- OctLinkedIn recommendation from an Exeter colleague on managing a 30-plus developer team and company initiatives
- OctDesigned a staged fix to take a clear-text system password off disk and proved its first step
- OctPublished the team's Java, JSP and JavaScript coding standards and asked two engineers to add security rules
- SepPlanned and ran a hotfix release across three workstreams: a branch merge, renewals fixes and open bugs
- JulDesignated Senior Lead, Software Development, and included in a rewards program for merit 'beyond doubt'
- AprCoordinated the FEAT team that ran the day-long fun events at Tarang 2015, from choosing events to prizes
- JanTriaged a hotfix release's open tickets by owner and fix effort so the delivery head and PMO could set scope
2014
- DecJoined the office emergency response team and wrote up its first categories and protocols
- NovSet the India team's ticket rules for measuring quality: due dates, status, deployment links, root cause
- OctVolunteered to interview at a campus drive and first asked HR for the metrics we were hiring against
- OctOrganized a one-day code-a-thon for the new hire training program, recognized by company leadership
- JulLaunched TExeter Times, the company's internal tech newsletter, with the TExeter team
- JulPrepared and taught a three-part design patterns course for colleagues in the Exeter University program
- JunQ2 2014 review (Mar to Jun): consistently exceeds; mentored the support team and joined the redesign team
- MayListed in the exchange product's US development and support structure next to the US product leads
- AprLinkedIn recommendation from my former IBM manager, an executive architect, on reliable delivery
- MarNamed India point of contact for the application intake redesign, which adopted the portal UI I had shown
- MarOrganized the fun events and puzzle contest at Tarang 2014, the company's annual event
- FebCoached about 30 Exeter engineers on adopting agile-like practices in the company training program
- JanLinkedIn recommendation from the department head whose students and staff I taught in a 2012 Java seminar
2013
- DecLinkedIn recommendation from an IBM event co-organizer of four years: a leader, mentor and motivator
- JulCredited by India management for getting employer plan selection onto test with a workaround for QA
- JulThanked by the US delivery lead for taking midnight calls and staying calm through a difficult exchange release
- AprJoined Exeter India on the Hawaii and Vermont health exchanges and grew into leading up to 20 engineers
Role
- Nov 2015Exeter closed after its acquisition; declined the acquirer's offer and left after two years and eight months.
- Oct 2015Anchored the first three modules of the next-generation platform, each with its own development team.
- Jul 2015Designated Senior Lead, Software Development; led a team of up to 20 engineers, including their hiring, reviews and mentoring.
- 2014Became India point of contact for the application intake redesign and earned the India team a place in re-architecting the product with the US architecture team.
- Apr 2013Joined Exeter Software India, Bengaluru, to build Affordable Care Act functionality for the Hawaii and Vermont health insurance exchanges.
Scope and responsibilities
- Delivered Affordable Care Act functionality for the Hawaii and Vermont health insurance exchanges, including releases held to public state deadlines.
- Scoped releases across legal, functional, development and test teams, and triaged release tickets by owner and fix effort so leadership could set scope.
- Led a team of up to 20 engineers, with responsibility for their hiring, performance reviews, mentoring and year-end appraisals.
- Was the India point of contact for the application intake redesign and represented the India team in re-architecting the product with the US architecture team.
- Set quality practice for the India team: ticket rules that made quality measurable, shared coding standards, root-cause analysis before rework and a staged fix for a clear-text password.
- Built capability beyond the project by founding TExeter, a company-wide knowledge-sharing community, and teaching design patterns and agile practices in the company's training programs.
Signature work
- 01
Leading releases on public deadlines
Led the India team through a 400-fix release on its planned date, led the proof of concept that had standard 834 enrollment messaging running end to end in a week, and triaged the release that put Vermont's change function live on its public deadline.
- 02
Building a knowledge-sharing culture
Founded TExeter, which grew from a meeting-room idea into a company-wide community in six months, then prepared the next group of organizers to carry it on.
- 03
Fixing root causes, then re-architecting
Took a reopened defect to a phased clean-up plan, led the plan selection rewrite on the data layer and set the ticket rules that let the India team measure quality.
In numbers
- 2state exchanges (Hawaii, Vermont)
- 400+fixes in one release
- 3consecutive reviews rated consistently exceeds
- 7LinkedIn recommendations
Up to 20 engineers led. TExeter company-wide in 6 months.
What people said
“There is a reason Datta is always involved in those firedrills: he works anything on his plate to completion.”
“TExeter started off as a meeting room discussion and in six months it has grown into the hearts and minds of the employees of Exeter Software India Pvt. Ltd.”
Year by year
- 2015
Designated Senior Lead, Software Development, in July, and anchored the first modules of the next-generation platform in October. Triaged the release that put Vermont's change function live on its public deadline and stood by through the go-live weekend, brought portal pages under about three seconds and was named TExeter Thought Leader. Exeter closed in November after its acquisition; I declined the acquirer's offer and spent four months choosing my next company.
19 events
- 2014
The year I moved from contributor to leading work for the India team: point of contact for the application intake redesign, a phased clean-up plan from a root-cause analysis, My Accounts moved to the data layer and a place for the India team in re-architecting the product. Led the India team through a 400-fix release on its planned date, the standard 834 enrollment messaging proof of concept and the plan selection rewrite. Founded TExeter, a company-wide tech community that leadership formally thanked me for after six months.
22 events
- 2013
Joined Exeter's Bengaluru center in April on the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges for Hawaii and Vermont, and became the first on the team to take ownership across the product's layers. Co-wrote a logging procedure for tracing production failures, which the delivery head took to US leadership. Took midnight calls to help the US team through a difficult release.
6 events
What I took from it
Exeter made me an owner. On state health insurance exchanges the deadline was public and the evidence had to hold, so I learned to find the root cause before touching the code and to propose a phased clean up instead of a rewrite. Starting TExeter taught me that a community can change how a whole company learns, if someone starts it and keeps showing up. Transformation is not about erasing the past but evolving it with purpose, and I still work that way.