Engineering Team Technical Roadmap

ROADMAP PRESENTATION CONTENT
Q2 Engineering Roadmap
(Copy each slide’s content into your presentation tool)

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SLIDE 1: TITLE
Q2 2025 Engineering Roadmap
Technical Infrastructure & Architecture Modernization

Talking points:

• Today’s goal: Get your buy-in on Q2 technical priorities and address architecture concerns
• Three major infrastructure initiatives that strengthen our technical foundation
• Each project addresses real pain points we’re experiencing daily
• Your input is critical—these projects succeed only with team alignment

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SLIDE 2: TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

Q2 Focus: Building Technical Foundation for Scale

The Problem:

• Database performance degrading under load
• API architecture showing cracks (v1 tech debt accumulating)
• Limited observability into production issues

The Solution:
Three strategic infrastructure projects:

• Database optimization (query performance, scaling strategy)
• API v2 refactor (modern architecture, GraphQL layer)
• Monitoring system (observability, alerting, SLO tracking)

Expected Outcomes:

• 60-70% improvement in database query times
• Clean API architecture that scales for 2+ years
• 10x faster incident detection and resolution
• Better on-call experience through observability

Talking points:

• These aren’t arbitrary tech initiatives—each solves specific pain you’ve reported
• Technical debt paydown while enabling future product capabilities
• Q2 is the right time: product roadmap has lighter feature load, giving us runway

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SLIDE 3: PROJECT 1 - DATABASE OPTIMIZATION

Database Performance & Scaling Strategy

What We’re Building:

• Query optimization audit and refactor
• Index strategy overhaul
• Connection pooling improvements
• Read replica architecture
• PostgreSQL tuning for our workload patterns

Why This Matters:

• Current state: P95 query latency 800ms (was 300ms 6 months ago)
• Slowest queries: user dashboard (2.1s), analytics reports (4.5s), search (1.8s)
• Database CPU hitting 80% during peak hours
• Blocking product team from shipping features due to performance concerns

Timeline: 13 weeks (Apr 1 - Jun 30)

• Weeks 1-2: Performance audit, identify top 20 slow queries
• Weeks 3-5: Index optimization and query refactoring
• Weeks 6-8: Connection pooling and PostgreSQL tuning
• Weeks 9-11: Read replica setup and traffic splitting
• Weeks 12-13: Load testing, validation, production rollout

Team Assignment: Database team (2 engineers)

Talking points:

• Every developer has hit “query too slow” wall in past 2 months
• We’re not just tuning—building sustainable scaling strategy
• Read replicas give us headroom for next 18 months of growth
• Quick wins in weeks 3-5 (index optimization) show immediate improvement

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SLIDE 4: PROJECT 2 - API V2 REFACTOR

API Architecture Modernization

What We’re Building:

• Service-oriented API architecture (modular design)
• GraphQL layer alongside REST (additive, not replacement)
• API versioning and deprecation strategy
• Shared authentication/authorization middleware
• Auto-generated API documentation (OpenAPI 3.1)

Why This Matters:

• Current v1 API: 280+ endpoints in monolithic structure
• Adding features requires touching 6-10 files
• No consistent error handling or validation patterns
• 35% of engineering time spent navigating API complexity
• Mobile team blocked on flexible data fetching (over-fetching problem)

Timeline: 13 weeks (Apr 1 - Jun 30)

• Weeks 1-3: Architecture RFC, team review, consensus building
• Weeks 4-6: Core module structure, auth middleware, tooling
• Weeks 7-10: Migrate critical endpoints (user, auth, analytics)
• Week 11: GraphQL schema and resolver layer
• Weeks 12-13: Testing, documentation, production rollout

Team Assignment: API team (3 engineers)

Talking points:

• Addresses #1 complaint in last developer satisfaction survey
• NOT a big-bang rewrite—incremental migration with dual support
• GraphQL solves mobile team’s over-fetching pain
• RFC in weeks 1-3 means your architecture concerns get addressed upfront

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SLIDE 5: PROJECT 3 - MONITORING SYSTEM

Production Observability & Alerting Platform

What We’re Building:

• Distributed tracing (Jaeger or Tempo)
• Structured logging aggregation (Loki or DataDog)
• Metrics dashboards (request rates, error rates, latency percentiles)
• SLO/SLI tracking and alerting
• On-call runbooks integrated with alerts

Why This Matters:

• Current state: limited visibility into production issues
• Average time to detect incidents: 12 minutes (should be <2 min)
• Debugging requires SSH into servers, grep through logs
• On-call is stressful due to poor tooling

Timeline: 13 weeks (Apr 1 - Jun 30)

• Weeks 1-2: Platform evaluation and selection
• Weeks 3-5: Infrastructure setup, instrumentation SDK
• Weeks 6-9: Instrument API, database, background jobs
• Weeks 10-11: Dashboards, SLO definitions, alerting rules
• Weeks 12-13: On-call runbooks, training, production validation

Team Assignment: Platform team (2 engineers)

Talking points:

• Directly improves on-call quality of life
• Shift from reactive firefighting to proactive issue detection
• Distributed tracing answers “why is this request slow?” in 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes

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SLIDE 6: ARCHITECTURE & DEPENDENCIES

How Projects Interconnect

Dependency Flow:

• Week 1-3: All projects start in parallel
• Week 6: Monitoring instrumentation enables database metrics
• Week 8: Database optimizations inform API query patterns
• Week 11: API v2 benefits from optimized database layer
• Week 13: Monitoring validates all improvements

Shared Infrastructure:

• All three projects use new monitoring platform
• API v2 leverages database optimization work
• Connection pooling benefits both API and background jobs

Talking points:

• Projects are sequenced to maximize learning and reduce risk
• Early monitoring instrumentation gives us data to validate other projects
• Parallel start, coordinated integration points

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SLIDE 7: TIMELINE WITH TECHNICAL MILESTONES

Q2 Week-by-Week Roadmap

April (Weeks 1-4):

• Week 1: All projects kick off, RFC review begins
• Week 2: Database audit complete, monitoring platform selected
• Week 3: API architecture RFC finalized
• Week 4: First database optimizations deployed

May (Weeks 5-9):

• Week 5: Index optimizations showing 30-40% improvement
• Week 6: Monitoring instrumentation SDK ready
• Week 7: API core modules implemented
• Week 8: Read replica infrastructure live
• Week 9: Background job instrumentation complete

June (Weeks 10-13):

• Week 10: API migration 50% complete, dashboards live
• Week 11: GraphQL layer beta launch
• Week 12: Full system load testing
• Week 13: Production rollout, team retrospective

Talking points:

• 13-week timeline with 2-week buffer built in
• Early wins (Week 4 database improvements) build momentum
• Beta launches in Week 11 give us 2 weeks to stabilize

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SLIDE 8: RESOURCE ALLOCATION & TEAM ASSIGNMENTS

Team Structure

Database Optimization Team (2 engineers):

• Focus: Query optimization, read replicas, scaling strategy
• Time commitment: 80% (some support work continues)

API Refactor Team (3 engineers):

• Focus: Modular architecture, GraphQL, migration tooling
• Time commitment: 90% (minimal support rotation)

Monitoring Team (2 engineers):

• Focus: Infrastructure, instrumentation, alerting
• Time commitment: 80%

Cross-Team Collaboration:

• Weekly sync: All teams (30 min status update)
• Bi-weekly architecture review: Technical decisions, RFC approval

Talking points:

• Team assignments play to individual strengths
• Not locked in—if you want different project for growth, speak up by Friday
• PostgreSQL expertise is constraint for database team (need that skill)

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SLIDE 9: TECHNICAL RISKS & MITIGATION

RISK 1: Database Migration Downtime

• Probability: Medium | Impact: High
• Mitigation: Blue-green deployment, maintenance window Sunday 2-4 AM, rollback tested

RISK 2: API v2 Breaking Changes

• Probability: Medium | Impact: Medium
• Mitigation: 95% test coverage, v1 stays operational, canary deployment (5% → 25% → 100%)

RISK 3: Monitoring Platform Learning Curve

• Probability: Low | Impact: Medium
• Mitigation: 2-week training period, external consultant for 3-day workshop

RISK 4: Timeline Slips Due to Complexity

• Probability: Medium | Impact: Medium
• Mitigation: 2-week buffer, must-have vs nice-to-have scope, weekly check-ins

Talking points:

• Every project has risks—we’re being transparent, not pessimistic
• Mitigation plans are concrete, not “we’ll figure it out”
• 2-week buffer handles typical slips without impacting delivery

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SLIDE 10: SUCCESS METRICS

How We’ll Measure Success

Database Optimization:

• ✅ P95 query latency: <400ms (currently 800ms) = 50% improvement
• ✅ Dashboard load time: <800ms (currently 2.1s) = 60% improvement
• ✅ Database CPU utilization: <60% at peak (currently 80%)

API v2 Refactor:

• ✅ API endpoint migration: 80%+ of traffic on v2 by end of Q2
• ✅ Developer velocity: 20% faster feature development (measured by PR cycle time)
• ✅ Mobile app data fetching: 50% reduction in over-fetched data

Monitoring System:

• ✅ Mean time to detection (MTTD): <2 minutes (currently 12 min)
• ✅ Mean time to resolution (MTTR): 30% improvement
• ✅ On-call satisfaction score: 7/10 or higher (currently 4/10)

Talking points:

• Every metric is measurable and tracked weekly
• Developer experience metrics matter as much as technical metrics
• Transparent dashboard shared with entire eng team weekly

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SLIDE 11: INPUT NEEDED FROM TEAM

Your Voice Matters

Architecture Decisions (Due: This Week):

• Review API v2 RFC document (link in Slack)
• Provide feedback on proposed module structure
• Vote on GraphQL vs REST-only approach

Team Assignment Preferences (Due: Friday):

• Submit preferred project assignment
• Indicate skill development goals
• Only constraint: need PostgreSQL expert on database team

Tooling Selection (Due: Week 2):

• Vote on monitoring platform (Jaeger vs Tempo, DataDog vs Loki)
• Input on API documentation tools (Swagger vs Redoc)

Ongoing Feedback:

• Weekly retros: What’s working, what’s not
• Anonymous feedback form (link in Slack)

Talking points:

• This roadmap succeeds only with your buy-in and input
• Architecture concerns need to surface NOW, not in Week 8
• Team assignments are preferences, not mandates (within constraints)

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SLIDE 12: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Next Steps & Timeline

This Week:

• Today: Discuss concerns, questions, initial reactions
• Wednesday: RFC review session (2-hour workshop)
• Friday: Submit team assignment preferences

Week 1 (Starting Apr 1):

• Monday: Finalized team assignments announced
• Monday: All projects kick off
• Friday: Week 1 status update, baseline metrics captured

Ongoing:

• Weekly all-hands sync (Fridays, 30 min)
• Bi-weekly architecture reviews
• Monthly retrospectives

End of Q2 (Late June):

• Full production rollout
• Success metrics validation
• Team retrospective and lessons learned
• Celebration of wins (team dinner budgeted)

Talking points:

• Timeline starts April 1, but feedback starts today
• Your input this week shapes the next 3 months
• Celebration matters—we’ll recognize wins at the end

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Q&A PREP - Anticipated Questions

Q: “Why now? Can’t we keep patching the current system for another quarter?”

A: “We’ve been patching for 6 months and it’s not sustainable. Database query times have degraded 166% in that period. API complexity is slowing every feature by an estimated 35% of dev time. We’re at the inflection point where NOT investing costs us more in velocity and reliability than these projects do. Q2 is the window—product team has lighter feature load then.”

Q: “What if we hit major blockers and the timeline slips significantly?”

A: “We’ve built in 2-week buffer in the 13-week timeline. Weekly check-ins surface risks 4+ weeks early. Each project has must-have vs nice-to-have components. For API v2, core modular architecture is must-have, GraphQL is nice-to-have. We can defer lower-priority items without losing 80% of value.”

Q: “This seems really ambitious. Are we spreading ourselves too thin?”

A: “Valid concern. We’re allocating 7 engineers across 3 projects for 13 weeks—that’s focused, not spread thin. Each team has 2-3 people with clear ownership. The 80-90% time allocation protects support needs. If it feels overwhelming, let’s discuss scope reductions—I’d rather cut scope than burn out the team.”

Q: “What about the bug backlog and ongoing product feature requests?”

A: “Support rotation continues with 1 dedicated support engineer. The 20% time reserved for each infrastructure engineer handles critical bugs and escalations. Non-critical bugs are backlogged until Q3. Product team knows Q2 is infrastructure-focused—VP Product has aligned on lighter feature load.”

Q: “How much say do we have in technical approach? What if I disagree with the architecture decisions?”

A: “Significant say. The RFC process in weeks 1-3 is designed for exactly this. Decisions are consensus-driven, not top-down. If there’s strong disagreement, we pause and workshop alternatives. Only non-negotiable: we MUST address database performance and API complexity—HOW we do it is up for discussion.”