  The COVID-19 pandemic presented itself as a challenge for separate societal
sectors. On the information technology (IT) standpoint, it does include the
maintenance of the infrastructure required to hold collaborative activities
that went to happen online; the implementation of projects in a scenario of
uncertainty; and keep the software engineering and information security best
practices in place. This article presents the context of a data science team
organized as a skunk works group composed of professionals with experience in
both the industry and academia, located in an IT department working with a team
of seasoned data engineers. At the time the pandemic started, the relatively
new data science team was positioning itself as a Center of Excellence in
Advanced Analytics. With the pandemic, it had to keep up with the expectations
from the stakeholders; manage current and upcoming data science projects within
the methodology practiced in IT; and maintain a high level in the quality of
service delivered. This article discusses how did the COVID-19 pandemic
affected the team productivity and its practices as well as the lessons learned
with it.
