In this episode of Smooth Scaling, Jose is joined by Praveen Thakur, Queue-it’s Head of Technical Engagement, APAC who shares what it takes to prepare for and succeed during high-traffic online events. From coordinating mission control rooms to navigating bot threats and post-event analysis, Praveen shares lessons learned from years of hands-on experience with retailers, ticketing providers, and government organizations. The discussion offers a behind-the-scenes look at the technical and organizational decisions that shape successful peak traffic events.

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Praveen Thakur is Head of Technical Engagement, APAC at Queue-it, where he works closely with teams across the region on technical integration, performance readiness, and post-event analysis. With over 13 years of experience spanning product engineering, consulting, and in-house IT roles, he brings deep expertise in cloud, DevOps, and distributed systems. He’s particularly focused on aligning technology decisions with business goals and building resilient, outcome-oriented teams.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Welcome to the Smooth Scaling Podcast
• (01:00) - What is technical engagement at Queue-it?
• (04:03) - How Praveen became head of technical engagement
• (07:09) - Preparing retailers for peak traffic events
• (15:11) - Scheduled events vs. 24/7 peak protection
• (18:21) - Why you might restrict traffic intentionally
• (20:48) - Inside a mission control “war room”
• (26:50) - Post-event evaluation & common mistakes
• (28:14) - Covering the full user journey
• (30:10) - How the bot landscape has changed
• (32:22) - There are no bullet proof solutions against bots
• (34:07) - Rapid-fire questions with Praveen Thakur
• (37:42) - Wrapping up the episode

In this episode, Barnaby Clark, CEO of Line-Up, reveals the engineering practices behind resilient ticketing systems that handle real-world demand. Barnaby explains how Line-Up rebuilt their platform from the ground up to meet the complex needs of live events, from unique inventory structures and API scaling to predictive load handling and third-party integrations. Barnaby dives into the evolving threat of bots, the nuances of asynchronous payments, and how to design for bursts in traffic without breaking the customer experience. It’s a practical look at infrastructure, performance, and the unpredictable nature of ticketing at scale.

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Barnaby Clark is CEO and Co-Founder at Line-Up. He has 12 years of experience designing innovative software products across diverse stacks, scaling and guiding cross-functional teams, building high-growth e-commerce platforms, and overcoming complex software challenges. Line-Up was shortlisted for Best Technology Provider at the British Media Awards, won Seedcamp London and has secured multiple funding rounds from angel investors, institutional backers, and corporate entities. Prior to Line-Up, Barnaby spent 5 years working on Mergers & Acquisitions and private capital fundraising efforts within the technology sector.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Introduction: Designing Scalable Ticketing Systems
• (00:45) - Barnaby’s Journey to Founding Line-Up
• (02:15) - Unique Scaling Challenges in Ticket Sales
• (05:08) - Breaking Down the Ticket Purchase Journey
• (06:41) - Read vs. Write Operations in Scalability
• (09:53) - Handling Sudden Traffic Spikes
• (12:11) - Predictive Scaling and Early User Signals
• (17:26) - Integrating Third-Party Ticket Sales APIs
• (20:02) - Payment Providers and Asynchronous Challenges
• (26:09) - Disaster Recovery and System Protection
• (30:35) - Tackling Bots and Fraud in Ticketing
• (35:04) - Rapid-Fire Insights & Recommendations

In this episode, Usman Mir, Senior Engineering Manager at Queue-it, shares insights into how to evaluate and implement hybrid and multi-cloud strategies. Usman draws on his 10+ years experience in automation and cloud infrastructure, diving into real-world definitions, legal and cost considerations, vendor lock-in risks, and the growing need for cloud-native, containerized setups. From hot-hot setups to data sovereignty, Usman breaks down the trade-offs and the practical steps for moving toward a modern cloud setup.

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Usman Mir is an experienced IT leader with 15+ years across software development, DevOps, and cloud architecture. Now Senior Engineering Manager at Queue-it, he’s led teams and delivered solutions in industries from retail to telecom. Usman has built ecommerce platforms, managed hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and advised on automation and governance—always bridging the gap between business and tech. Host Jose Quaresma is the VP of Technical Engagement at Queue-it, working on the frontlines with some of the world’s biggest businesses on their busiest days, from Ticketmaster to Zalando to Home Office U.K. Each week, he’ll be joined by experts across industries, uncovering how major organizations design, build, and deploy systems that perform at scale.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Smooth Scaling with Usman Mir
• (01:52) - From Commodore 64 to Cloud Architect
• (02:56) - Public, Private, Hybrid & Multi‑Cloud Explained
• (06:37) - The Latest Multi‑Cloud Trends
• (10:29) - Choosing Between Cold & Hot‑Hot Strategies
• (14:03) - Why Portability Matters in Multi‑Cloud
• (19:18) - Do You Need DevOps for Multi‑Cloud?
• (21:49) - How to Plan Your Multi‑Cloud Migration
• (24:32) - Avoiding Vendor Lock‑In in the Cloud
• (27:50) - Migration Stories & Key Takeaways