Test Code Change Requests

TCCR is a firmware test code change request tracker.

When firmware development engineers at HGST wanted to request changes to Hard Disk Drive firmware during new product development, they used to mainly use a system of whiteboard notes and word-of-mouth (he-said she-said we should do x, y, z in the upcoming release). We tried using some off-the-shelf ticket tracking solutions, but nothing quite fit into the workflow we were using.

Creating a custom system to track the life of a firmware change seemed like the only natural option. I ended up building a system on the web in the company intranet to meet our needs. Using Ruby on Rails, this new system was designed to allow engineers to enter in a new ticket, and it would automatically route to various functional teams throughout the company to gather various levels of approval. At each state of approval, the associated teams would automatically be emailed about the latest status and would be urged to log in and look things over.

TCCR as it ended up being nick-named has been in active use worldwide at HGST for over 5 years.