Web Application Case Study
Engaging in custom development work since 1995
We provide business analysis, design, usability, development and QA expertise to build custom B2B web applications.
Client situation—A need for reliable and rapid responses
Our client is a manufacturer of hardware systems who needed to improve communication and customer service when resolving emergency support calls where there was zero tolerance of downtime. Ensuring robust and rapid responses for the resolution of emergency scenarios was the critical requirement for Switchman, to support the management and testing of legacy phone switches.
We streamlined their manual testing and troubleshooting process and implemented a solution that allowed for automated testing by developing and deploying a web-based solution that also include provisions for role-based reporting to support the workflow and tracking of issues from incident discovery to resolution. Both time and budget were hard constraints. However, our team managed the project, defined the systems design for the application, as well as deployed the new automated Switchman application in its project timeline in four weeks. To achieve this, PCIS used an aggressive and agile approach to development, focusing on completing tasks and reacting quickly to feedback.
PCIS approach—Timely deliverables within budgets
The manufacturer provided us with a well-defined product functionality as an engineering specification. However, it was the task of PCIS to translate these physical requirements into a workable software model to automate the testing of the Switchman application. Furthermore, our client was providing the hardware system with the new automation of the Switchman application to external parties, who are end-users in another country, limited to their second-generation, legacy phone switches.
Responsible for the overall project management, systems design, and application development, PCIS defined the system blueprint, system hierarchy, database schema, user interface and communications workflow. At the core of Switchman application is the need have an adaptable platform that can execute and perform as series of tests, collect and store the results of the test operations, then push the results to system operators in real-time.
We defined a development environment, which adopted both open source, and standards based tools. This provided the benefits of being able to use existing Java IDEs and test tools, thereby leveraging existing development approaches and skillsets, as well as contain costs.
Key technologies and concepts: Agile, Ajax, dynamic web application, Web 2.0, AJAX push, no browser refresh, dynamic page and data update, role-based application security, open source, J2EE, JPA, JSA, ICEfaces, facelets, xHTML, Sun, GlassFish, mySQL, Java, scalable, web services, localization