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Vimeo’s mission and the role of engineering

Vimeo is on a mission to simplify making, managing, and sharing video—all in a single, easy-to-use platform. Its engineering organization is essential in building the world’s largest private video distribution platform. 

“Our engineering team is at the forefront of capabilities in the video industry, and we continue to strive to maintain that form of excellence. Data is an incredibly important asset for us to operate efficiently,” explains Matt Fisher, VP of Product Engineering.

But with growth comes complexity. Operating at scale with a globally distributed workforce demanded a more disciplined approach to optimizing performance. 

The need for centralized visibility

As Vimeo expanded its reach, the engineering organization faced growing pains. Teams were navigating the challenges of scaling processes, integrating acquisitions, and working in a hybrid post-pandemic world. Workflows had become sluggish, and delivery dates would often slip.

The lack of clear visibility into the root cause of friction and delays added to the complexity. “We wanted to understand what our software development life cycle (SDLC) looked like. We got different answers based on who we spoke to,” recalls Rachna Kamath, Chief of Staff to the CTO. 

The data, however, was spread out across different applications and tools, and manual reporting processes to pull it all together were holding the teams back from achieving their full potential.

“It was very manual,” says Nathan Brudnik, Director of Engineering. To extract and compile the data into spreadsheets, “we had to do a lot of time-consuming work. There was no baseline, no comparison, and no trust in the numbers.”

The lack of a single source of truth led to decisions being driven by gut instinct rather than data. 

Finding the right solution

“The solution we were looking for was a centralized hub where we could visualize our velocity, quality, PR cycle time, and ability to deliver on our roadmap,” says Rachna.

Ease of implementation and adaptability were key considerations. Vimeo was not looking to overhaul its workflows but rather to enhance them with data-driven insights. Faros AI emerged as the clear choice.

“Faros is a data aggregation platform,” shares Matt. “And with that aggregation comes a lot of flexibility to surface data in a meaningful, concise way.”

Within weeks, Vimeo’s teams were up and running with Faros. The platform’s ability to integrate seamlessly with Vimeo’s existing tools, processes, and workflows ensured minimal disruption.

“What stood out to us was Faros’s ability to customize metrics based on our needs,” explains Rachna. “Unlike other solutions, Faros AI allowed us to adapt as our operating model evolved. We were able to see value within a couple of weeks. The proof of concept (POC) helped us build our confidence with the product.”

Unlocking insights and efficiency with Faros

Faros has become an essential part of Vimeo’s engineering operations. The platform provides intuitive dashboards that empower teams to track performance metrics, compare goals across quarters, and identify areas of improvement. 

“In our engineering teams, we review our data every week,” describes Rachna. “We look at our PR cycle times, our velocity, as well as our delivery metrics by team and by product area, which has helped to unify our teams towards a singular goal.” 

As Vimeo embedded Faros into their daily workflows, it sparked a cultural shift. Engineers and managers began engaging deeply with metrics, using them to optimize processes and allocate resources effectively. Visibility quickly expanded from DORA metrics to quarterly commitment tracking, security metrics, and Copilot impact insights. 

“When we got Faros, everything became very easy,” Nathan reflects. “We could just click a button and see all the metrics from all the teams. It helps me understand if we have resource allocation problems or process bottlenecks. It gives me a better look at what’s going on day-to-day.”

With reliable, real-time data at their fingertips, meetings became more productive, and decisions were grounded in data rather than anecdotes. For senior leadership, Faros has transformed quarterly planning. “Faros helps us convey what we’re capable of doing to our key stakeholders in product, marketing, and the executive team,” says Matt.

Business impact and beyond

Since adopting Faros, Vimeo has seen measurable improvements in lead times, delivery metrics, and adoption of key cutting-edge AI tools like GitHub Copilot. “Faros has helped us correlate Copilot utilization to performance,” notes Matt. “It’s not just about using a tool but understanding its value and outcomes.” 

By empowering teams with accurate, actionable data, Faros has helped Vimeo’s engineering organization move from reactive decision-making to proactive planning, enabling them to deliver more value to customers.

“The delivery metrics analyzing each sprint have been a game changer for me,” gushes Nathan. “Faros increases the motivation for every team to deliver what it's committed to.” 

Beyond the out-of-the-box dashboards, Faros provides Vimeo with the toolkit to build any metric they need. “Faros is more than just software to us,” says Rachna. “They’ve been a trusted partner, and we’re excited to continue this journey together.”

Hear more from Matt, Rachna, and Nathan at Vimeo

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