About Traeger
Traeger is a globally recognized leader in wood pellet grills that has redefined outdoor cooking through a perfect fusion of age-old grilling traditions and cutting-edge technology. By seamlessly integrating an innovative Internet of Things (IoT) system into their wood pellet grills, Traeger has created a culinary experience like no other. This IoT system connects users to a dedicated mobile app, granting grilling enthusiasts unprecedented control, real-time monitoring, and access to a treasure trove of recipes that elevate the art of grilling.
With a strong presence in the market, Traeger's stature is undeniable. As a publicly traded entity boasting a market capitalization surpassing half a billion, the company employs a workforce of 600-700 individuals, solidifying its position as an industry leader at the forefront of grilling innovation.
Problem: Challenges in User Experience and Technical Issues
Traeger's journey hasn't been without hurdles. Peaks in demand, particularly during holidays like Thanksgiving, result in strained services that hinder the seamless user experience Traeger aimed to provide.
Recognizing the importance of ensuring a flawless connection between grilling enthusiasts and their appliances, Traeger sought to address pain points in their cloud infrastructure and deliver an unparalleled grilling experience to their customers including:
- Lack of Visibility: Absence of visibility into large distributed system components made it difficult to identify outage causes.
- Inadequate Documentation: Relying on limited institutional knowledge due to inadequate documentation posed difficulties.
- Accumulated Technical Debt: Vestigial systems and deprecated features led to technical debt.
- Inherited Complexity: Previous solution providers introduced complexity, complicating architecture understanding.
Solution: StratusGrid's Architectural Enhancement and Documentation
Traeger partnered with StratusGrid, a company specializing in architectural enhancement and transformative solutions. With StratusGrid's expert guidance, Traeger embarked on a strategic journey to enhance their architectural framework and documentation processes.
A pivotal focus area was Traeger's mobile application backend, a critical component of their ecosystem. Stratus Grid's engagement helped Traeger identify key areas in their infrastructure that benefited from additional instrumentation and optimizations to ensure stability and reliability.
- Simplifying Architecture: StratusGrid sought to simplify the system architecture, alleviating complexities.
- Thorough Documentation: Comprehensive documentation illuminated the system's intricacies, aiding in troubleshooting.
- Technical Debt Removal: StratusGrid identified areas for technical debt removal, streamlining the backend infrastructure.
- Adoption of Modern Features: Guided Traeger in adopting modern features and managed services
Results: Streamlined Troubleshooting and Future Modernization
The collaboration between Traeger and StratusGrid immediately yielded tangible results; with the verbose documentation and architectural diagrams proved by StratusGrid, Traeger team was able to swiftly troubleshoot and resolve the issue without any degradation in customer experience. This seamless troubleshooting experience demonstrated the immediate impact of their collaboration and prompted Traeger's leadership to reevaluate their approach to future challenges.
- Improved Understanding: Multi-modal documentation enhanced Traeger's understanding of their architecture.
- Efficient Troubleshooting: During an outage, enhanced documentation facilitated rapid issue resolution.
- Leadership Commitment: Recognition of architectural improvements drove Traeger's commitment to ongoing enhancement.
- Future Modernization: Traeger's aspirations include simplifying architecture, eliminating unnecessary features, and leveraging StratusGrid's expertise for technological modernization.
Traeger's partnership with StratusGrid stands as a testament to their commitment to delivering excellence in the cutting edge cooking experience. By tackling challenges head-on, Traeger has improved their technical infrastructure and solidified their position as a pioneer in the fusion of tradition and technology. This collaboration has allowed Traeger to amplify the joy of cooking for both casual users and passionate grill aficionados, embodying their dedication to enriching culinary experiences.
“Stratusgrid has been an incredible partner and dived head first into incredibly daunting tasks with fantastic results. At no point did they hesitate with the challenge presented and fully understood the size, scope, and obstacles ahead. They have been incredibly receptive to our needs and continue to be an excellent steward in our cloud optimization journey.” Mitchell Karchemsky, Lead IoT Engineer
What’s Next For Traeger
Looking ahead, Traeger's transformational journey is far from over. With a newfound clarity on its architectural framework, Traeger is poised to embark on a journey of scaling and simplification. They plan to decimate technical debt, simplify existing systems and scale to support a more flavorful outdoors. This strategic move will not only enhance Traeger's operational efficiency but also pave the way for even more innovation in their culinary technology.
