September 2023 DocOps and automation in Fintech: a tech writer's perspective Kateryna Osadchenko Technical writer, content designer 

Document Operations aka DocOps is a set of practices that works to automate and integrate the process of developing documentation across engineering, product, support, and technical writing teams. 

BIGGER STRUCTURE BIGGER DOCS BIGGER NEED FOR AUTOMATION 

We’ve got docs. What now? We need tech writers on board to create a link between engineering, product, and support teams. Tech writers make sure that docs are treated as an integral part of the fi nal product/service and follow some key principles. 

Accuracy and Compliance: You must align with your industry regulatory requirements. Agility: Keep pace with SDLC and API integrations. User-Centricity: Prioritize ease of use and application. Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams. 

Adopting DocOps 

Identify the main pain points: • How do we align more with our engineering roadmap and SDLC? • How do we track updates and collaborate across teams more e ff i ciently? • What is consuming excessive resources in delivering and updating API docs? • Frequently broken docs? Seek feedback from teams closest to user issues. 

Deciding what to automate 

Consider factors Initial Need: Assess the urgency and frequency of tasks > docs and code samples reviews, editing, testing. Impact of Automation: Weigh the bene fi ts of automation versus manual e ff orts. Available Resources: Collaborate with developers, SMEs, and business owners. Budget and Long-Term Planning: Allocate resources > tech writer + Dev/QA/ PO… 

Automation in action 

What kicked things o f Streamline documentation deployment with version control tools in a fi tting format (markdown, json) to ensure real-time updates. Link code snippets in docs directly to the codebase, re fl ecting real-time changes Linters to fl ag broken links, errors, stylistic errors or questionable constructs. Get a developer or a tech-savvy writer on board to drive and advocate for adopting a version of DocOps fi tting your needs, resources, and ambitions. 

Is there a bare minimum for DocOps? 

• Depends on the size of the documentation set, how many docs you have. • Industry are you in. • There is no one-size- fi ts-all solution. • Your use case and what your docs actually need to do. • Tech sassy writer/writer-developer on board to advocate for DocOps. • Less theory, more practice. 

What did we learn 

Embracing DocOps and automation in fi ntech documentation is about adapting to your dev environment. Fostering collaboration and empathy, seeking feedback, and making strategic decisions on what to automate. Your need and ability to automate directly correlates with your structure, available resources and collaboration level between teams. 

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