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Shane Campbell on Navigating the Cloud and the Script for Success

October 9, 2023

Kathy Banach

Step behind the screen with Shane Campbell, our latest Star of the Month. From daily dances with code to detecting digital anomalies, Shane lets us in on the ups and downs of ensuring OnTheGoSystems’ infrastructures stay strong and resilient.

Congratulations, Shane. How does it feel to be the Star of the Month?

It’s truly an honor, especially since I’ve only been in my current position for a year. It’s rewarding to know I’m already making a big impact on our infrastructure and helping people internally with whatever issues or tasks they may have.

Shane and his wife visiting Niagra Falls in Canada

Can you tell us about your current position at OTGS?

As a SysOps Engineer in the Systems team, my role involves:

  • Monitoring instances running on EC2 using AWS CloudWatch. Essentially, this means I monitor our virtual servers hosted on Amazon’s cloud platform. It also involves creating alarms and sending notifications to users via SNS (Simple Notification Service) or on our internal Mattermost channels. The dashboards and alerts have significantly improved the team’s response time and allows us to be ahead of any anomalies.
  • Documenting all incident responses and making sure the right actions are taken to improve our alerts and automate responses when needed. 
  • Maintaining firewall security policies and WAF (web application firewall) rules. This includes block and unblocking sites as well as monitoring the type of traffic hitting our system.

My position also comes with a healthy dose of coding, as I do write code almost everyday. 

What do you enjoy most about your job and why?

I enjoy the dynamic nature of my job. It’s ever-changing, and no two days are ever the same. Each day brings something new, keeping tasks fresh and interesting. Even with my limited (but growing!) knowledge, I’m able to contribute to the infrastructural development of the company.

For example, I created a script in Python that cleans up orphaned databases on our AWS (Amazon Web Services) accounts. This might sound simple, but when I created the script, I was at the very beginning of my AWS learning curve. 

Situations like this one bring me great joy and fulfilment.

Shane hanging out with friends in Toronto

What’s the most challenging part of your job, and how do you overcome it?

The role itself is a challenge. My teammates all have far more experience, and I’ve learned 90% of what I know now on the job. 

During meetings, I sometimes write down unfamiliar terms so I can research them later.  This helps me understand what everyone is talking about and keep pace with the discussions. 

What’s a typical day like, and how do you unwind at the end of a busy day?

A typical day starts with logging in and checking Youtrack (our project management software) for new assigned tasks and updates to pre-existing tasks. Then, I review dashboards monitoring our site health before diving into my tasks. 

To unwind, I play video games and spend about an hour playing on my bass guitar or drums.

Separating work and personal time can be difficult. How do you manage the boundary between life and home?

I’ve worked from home since university days, so drawing the line between professional and personal time hasn’t been a huge challenge. I simply do my best to stay focused on work during work hours and make time for personal activities afterwards.

Shane trying his hand at Sip & Paint

In your experience, what are the best and most challenging things about working remotely?

The best thing about working from home is definitely the convenience. You don’t have to leave your home and endure rush hour traffic to get to an office – how great is that? 

But, this convenience makes it easy to become a bit too comfortable. To mitigate this, you need to structure and organize your days.  

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