Computer Science and Software Engineering Capstone Presentations
Fall Quarter
December 18, 2020
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Behnam Khabazan "Power
of Automation" (Avanade) Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robert Dimpsey |
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Abstract Avanade - a joint venture between Accenture and
Microsoft - is the leading provider of design-led experiences, business
solutions, and innovative digital and cloud services. Founded in 2000,
Avanade's fast-growing community is filled with 38,000 digitally connected
people across 25 countries. They bring their clients high quality solutions
through a collaborative culture that honors diversity and integrity.
Throughout thousands of projects, Avanade has won countless awards for their
unrivalled technical expertise on the Microsoft platform. In fact, this year
they were awarded Microsoft's Global Partner of the Year for the 15th time in
a row, reflecting their mission of making a genuine human impact on their
clients and employees. I was able to join Avanade in late August of 2020 as
a Senior Software developer by the courtesy of an internship I had completed
in the summer of 2019. During my short time here, I have been a part of two
projects involving different clients, both focusing on various aspects of
automation. While I am not able to disclose any information with regards to
the specifics of the projects, I am able to walk you through the overall
requirements as well as the skills and achievements I have accomplished. The first project I worked on automated
infrastructure deployment and articulated cloud resources to satisfy the
client's needs. This was achieved using ARM templates that are built using
JavaScript Object Notation, otherwise known as JSON, none of which I had any
prior experience with. I was able to take advantage of online and school
resources that helped me gather the knowledge required to securely configure
and connect more than 13 Azure resources. But I did not stop there. After
meeting with the client and my team leads, I was able to suggest different
approaches and services that would increase the overall efficiency and
usability of what the client needed, thus creating a better overall
environment for them. The second and current project that I am staffed on
requires me to automate routine client-relation processes handling for the
CEO of a fortune 500 company, as they currently complete every task manually.
The approach that my team and I took to resolve this included a short term as
well as a long-term solution that would remedy their problems. As the only
developer tasked to complete the short-term solutions, I was able to design,
create, and deploy a working power automate flow that connected multiple
services including Outlook, SharePoint, and MS Teams. Both projects, just like many more within a
consulting environment, followed the agile methodology with daily stand ups
and weekly sprints. This allowed for a coordinated team to achieve the end
goal in a short amount of time while having the flexibility to change and
bend depending on the clients' needs. While working at Avanade, I was able to
practice technical aspects taught in my classes such as working with Azure
and leveraging different APIs taught in CSS346, a cloud computing course
taught by Dr. Dimpsey. I was also able to take advantage of skills learned in
my database courses (CSS343 and 343), and technical writing (CSS310) to
develop suitable solutions. My learning, however, did not end there. Unlike
in school, I learned to set my own guidelines for projects, manage my time
appropriately, and effectively network with the people surrounding me. Also,
soon after joining Avanade, I realized that becoming a consultant means that
one's functional skills have to match their technical skills. Some functional
skills that I was able pick up include collaborating, analyzing, strategizing,
and adapting, which will help me continue my path and career in this
industry. |
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Updated December 16, 2020