Uniper is a global energy company with around 11,000 employees and active in more than 40 countries. Their activities consist of generating energy, taking care of transport and trade, and realizing client-specific energy solutions. Uniper Benelux has been working with the low-code platform OutSystems for many years. The development and management of their systems is carried out by Uniper themselves. Now, BonCode has been asked to perform a Code Review on one of Uniper’s business-critical systems.
Harry Snier represents the local service- and application management department and is closely involved in the management of the application. Harry is also the initiator of the Code Review. We ask about his experiences.
Fact-based insight into pain points as a basis for improvement.
Reason for code review for Uniper
“We know that we have an old system and wanted to identify the problems and what improvements we could make,” says Harry. “To find this out we contacted BonCode. They have lived up to our expectations. ” The business was also involved in the Code Review. This has been experienced as very positive. Now that the results are known, time is needed to actually improve. “Apart from the final presentation, where the findings and points for improvement are listed, we also received the results in the BonCat dashboards. These results provide Uniper with the opportunity to understand the results in detail and understand where and how to improve.”
Transition to new releases
Harry indicates that the Code Review was partly aimed at smoothening the transition to new releases from OutSystems. “A lot has become clear, some of which we already knew. We can now work more specifically on certain improvements, in particular on the architectural side. ”The implemented architecture is important for the smooth transition to new releases. “We need to put more engineering power on it to process BonCode’s recommendations,” Harry says. “Consultation with the business is crucial in this.”
“BonCode has in particular given insight on the architectural side.”
Approach BonCode
“It was clear that BonCode is knowledgeable,” Harry says when asked how he experienced the BonCode approach. “I am happy with the presentation method used by BonCode specialists. In particular, when the business was present, a good discussion took place. You could notice that the BonCode specialists had in-depth insight into the Uniper system in the way specific questions from Uniper were answered skillfully.”
Business awareness
As the most relevant result of the Code Review, Harry mentions insight into the state of the environment of Uniper. Also, the results of the Code Review provide useful insight to make the business of Uniper aware of the risks of extra work in the event of changes. “We sometimes have to do extra work because it is a legacy system. There is now increased awareness of the business. They now better understand the design of the environment and what the impact is of extra requests. If the business demands a change now, we can go back to the Code Review and get extra budget or time to implement structural improvements.”
“There is now awareness in the business. They understand better how the application is structured and what the impact of additional requests is.”
Measure regularly
BonCode provides a fact-based analysis of the code and the implemented architecture. This gives Uniper insight into the state of the system, the concrete possibilities for improvement and has led to a better awareness of the business.
Uniper will continue to measure in the future to make fact-based improvements and developments over time transparent.
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