Sentinel: security data that guides decisions
My role: Technical product manager. I managed Sentinel's development end to end: turning the security team's needs and regulatory requirements into product requirements, prioritising the backlog for my engineering team, and testing each release.
- Role
- Technical product manager
- Team
- My engineering team, with the security team
- Timeline
- Six months to delivery
- Platform
- Progressive web app
- Outcome
- Security brought in-house
The problem
As part of its digital transformation, the Port decided to bring security in-house. Some security work was handled by an external provider, and parts of the process were still manual. The security team needed a system ready for the handover, one that would make security operations more efficient, not just replace what was there.
What we set out to do
- Replace manual processes with digital ones.
- Give the Port its own system for recording security activity.
- Give leaders a live dashboard and reporting.
- Automate notifications that were previously handled by hand.
- Support better forward planning.
Key decisions
Core features first. I prioritised the features officers needed from day one and treated integration with other Port systems as a later priority, so the core system could be ready for the handover.
A progressive web app. We built Sentinel as a progressive web app, so officers can use it on the move from any device without installing anything.
Compliance by design. Before launch we reviewed the relevant terms and conditions, checked GDPR requirements and agreed a lawful basis for how long data is kept.
| Feature | Priority |
|---|---|
| Record and categorise security activity | Must have |
| Live dashboard of performance against targets | Must have |
| Reporting, exportable for analysis | Must have |
| Digital records with automatic notifications | Must have |
| Digital logging for officers on the move | Must have |
| Integration with other Port systems | Later |
What I did
- Wrote the product requirements, turning the security team's needs into objectives and prioritised features.
- Managed development end to end with my engineering team, delivering in six months.
- Prepared for launch with user acceptance test scripts and testing, release notes and user guides.
- Presented Sentinel to the executive team and the board.
The result
Security moved in-house with its own system, and leaders gained data they could act on. The dashboards reveal patterns in how officers work, so training and confidence gaps surface early rather than at audit or inspection, helping the security team become more consistent and accountable.
The Port's Business Transformation Director recognised Sentinel as a strong example of the Security and IT Development teams working together to deliver genuine digital innovation.
What I'd do differently
Design around the live-data API from the start. Integration with the API that supplies live data was left until late. We found a workaround, but building around it from the beginning would have avoided a problem we later had to fix, and taken the pressure off at the end.
Plan a longer hypercare period. More time supporting the product after launch would have let us improve it iteratively, based on how officers actually used it, before moving on to new features.