Associate of the Month — September

Amukta Jambula

Amukta Jambula, a senior business systems analyst for the eCommerce Web Applications Department, is recognized for her outstanding contributions. During a challenging period, she managed team activities, maintained high customer service standards, mentored new employees, and handled multiple projects efficiently. Amukta stepped up when key members were out, running meetings and prioritizing work. She met with customers, gathered requirements and managed stakeholder expectations. She also led a project to implement a new password reset feature, significantly improving efficiency. Amukta's professionalism, positive attitude, and attention to detail are highly respected. She often mentors new employees and assists with testing. Her ability to manage multiple projects and her meticulous organizational skills are exceptional.

Coach of the Quarter

Ray Dailey

Ray Dailey, a Senior Java Developer in the eCommerce Department, has been named Coach of the Quarter for his outstanding support and guidance to his team. He has successfully led his team through important changes, such as moving applications to new servers and updating software. Ray is a hands-on mentor who helps his teammates with everything from setting up their work tools to understanding complex coding tasks. He works closely with his team and other departments to ensure everyone knows how to use the software properly. Ray is always ready to help and share his knowledge, making a big difference in his team's performance.

Ray recently solved a security issue by finding a new coding solution that he then shared with others. He also led a major project to improve financial software, which saved money and made the system more efficient. His detailed approach and coaching were key to the project's success. Ray's dedication, expertise and willingness to help others have made him an exceptional coach and a valuable team member.

Team of the Quarter

Debt Management Systems

Team members: Vishnu Boochireddy, Ray Dailey, Carol Harper, Reetu Joshi, Carl Lang, Derek Roberts, Danian Taylor

The Debt Management Systems team is the Q3 Team of the Quarter for their successful efforts that won them the Q3 Process Improvement of the Quarter award—a process that let two incompatible software programs communicate and share data. The team created and tested the APIs in collaboration with outside agencies. They not only met their October deadline for the APIs, the DMS team also reviewed and made changes to other areas of the operation. These improvements increased accuracy and efficiency for the Finance and Accounting Department and allowed them to retire old software and servers, which reduced costs. The DMS team was successful because it values high-quality solutions, effective communication and strong collaboration.

“Through the many calls, meetings, testing efforts and production maintenance, the DMS team listened and delivered. Working side by side with the DMS team has been productive, gratifying and valuable in producing the best system possible for Finance,” said Melissa D. Cash, an accounting manager in Finance and Accounting.

Process Improvement of the Quarter

Update Software APIs for Finance and Accounting Processes

Team members: Vishnu Boochireddy, Ray Dailey, Carol Harper, Reetu Joshi, Carl Lang, Derek Roberts, Marco Robledo, Danian Taylor

The Debt Management System (DMS) team needed to update their software with Application Program Interfaces (APIs)—rules and protocols that let software programs communicate—to enter financial data into another system called HIGLAS, Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System. The DMS team then made changes to the Finance and Accounting forms so they would work with the new APIs. This process improvement created efficiencies for the Finance and Accounting Department, increased accuracy and reduced costs by eliminating the need for old software and servers.