Custom Development Based on .NET For a Global Creative Technology Company

Project management and resource allocation are the core business processes of Technicolor which allow them to deliver business value to their customers.

To streamline these processes, the enterprise owned an in-house custom NET-based Resource Management System.

Years had passed since they built the application when Technicolor reached out to Belitsoft. The current company's requirements grew beyond the capabilities of the Resource Management Software and the IT infrastructure supporting it.

The company didn't have its own in-house developers, so they partnered with a development company to maintain and modernize this system.

At a certain moment, they realized that their current vendor wasn't able to scale up the team of developers quickly to complete the rising number of IT infrastructure and development tasks.

Why did they give these tasks urgency and prevent postponement anymore?

1. Slow web access to the Resource Management Software for mid-level staff to manage particular projects. Every day, hundreds of project and department managers struggled to access their main working tool. It took them about 40 seconds to open each page, which might be translated into 500 hours (!) of business downtime every month for the enterprise. Some managers couldn't connect at all! The IT team didn't expect the need to support hundreds of simultaneous users located around the world, resulting in the issue. With the expanded international workforce, the IT infrastructure could no longer match the needs of the company.


2. The lack of the projects' visibility to prioritize them for top managers. The Resource Management Software failed to transfer the data to the special app that would enable top managers to prioritize the projects. They developed this top-management app recently, that's why they used a new version of the .NET framework. The most cost-effective option in the long-term perspective was to update the version of the .NET framework for the Resource Management Software.

The enterprise decided to extend its team with technologically capable and motivated NET developers from Belitsoft in order to modernize their IT infrastructure faster.

Resolving Slow Web Performance

Resolving the problem of slow web access to the Resource Management Software for mid-level staff to manage particular projects.

It took a series of actions to resolve the issue:

1. Database optimization

The team of .NET developers optimized the database usage through:

• enhancing and changing the database structure;
• query profiling and optimizing;
• streamlining and reducing the use of the stored procedures.

2. Transfer of the business logic to the backend

We realized the core logic through the stored procedures in MS SQL. Our team transferred it from the database into the backend. That led to a significant performance improvement because of unloading the database's side.

3. Automation of complex, time-consuming processes

Our web development team applied such technologies as Quartz and RabbitMQ to automate and transfer complex tasks to another virtual machine in the cloud without loading the main web server.

4. Cloud migration

In short, the undertaken steps include:

• Creating the architecture in the cloud;
• Optimizing components of the company architecture (collateral apps and integrations) for smooth migration;
• Tuning the interaction between on-premise components and Azure;
• Launching the entire architecture in the cloud (SQL + Web + Background Tasks).

Enabling top managers to prioritize projects in real-time

Overcoming the impossibility of transferring data from The Resource Management Software to a special app for top managers to help them in project prioritization.

We tackled the issue from several aspects:

1. Redesigning the classic MVC 4 pattern to REST Web API to increase web server performance and allow usage of more complex UI (SPA).
2. Refactoring of the entire platform for faster code modification and seamless further functionality enhancement.
3. Upgrading .NET Framework for smooth integration of the main app with the newly developed app.

Technologies and tools used for cost-effective .NET development

• Language: C#;
• Framework: .NET;
• Technology: ASP.NET;
• Libraries: RabbitMQ, Quartz, Entity Framework, Entity Framework Core, SignalR;
• Database: MS SQL;
• Development tools: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SSMS, DataGrip, Data Migration Assistant for migrating the SQL database.

Applying Best Practices in NET Development Services

Belitsoft and Technicolor agreed on a Time and Material cooperation model.

This choice relates to the absence of detailed project requests at the start and changing project scope as the Client frequently came up with new ideas throughout the entire development process.

The team also adopted a flexible Agile approach for this project. Turning software development into an iterative process was the best option in terms of budget-saving and fast delivery. We developed every feature, demonstrated it to the Client, made any required changes shortly, and delivered the result.

Most importantly, Belitsoft's team (Business analyst, Project manager, Designer, Frontend & Backend developers, and QA engineers) has taken the responsibility for the full-cycle software development process. We've proactively recommended better options and quickly addressed concerns in order to meet the Client's goals.

Step-by-step .NET development process

Step 1. Extending functionality of the existing software.

When we started working with the legacy Resource Management System, the Client's primary request was to enhance the functionality of the software.

So at this step, we embarked on optimizing and extending the existing functionality of the software written on .Net Framework 4.5 with the use of the ASP.Net MVC 4 technology by:

• adding new features;
• redesigning both the front and back-end of the slowest pages (SPA);
• redesigning the classic MVC 4 pattern to REST Web API;
• refactoring of the entire platform for faster code modification and seamless further functionality enhancement.
• bug fixing for smoother software work.

In addition, Belitsoft's team optimized database usage (query profiling) at this step.

Step 2. Custom development and upgrading the .NET version.

The infrastructure around the core business app was changing to meet the growing company requirements.

To further automate resource management processes in the enterprise, Belitsoft's .NET development team started creating a new application for top managers of the company.

They developed the new app for top managers on the latest version of NET framework and integrated it with the core business app, which was built on the legacy NET version.

At that point, the Client upgraded the core business app so that it could support and use the same libraries to interact with the new app.

Step 3. Migration to the cloud (Azure).

The functionality and database of the Resource Management System were increasing, as well as the infrastructure and workforce of the enterprise.

In the end, the Client faced such issues as slow app performance and access problems from certain countries, particularly India, where over 2,000 employees reside.

Having faced such serious problems, the enterprise evaluated the workable options and opted for migrating to Azure.

We fully cover this process and its results in the case study Azure Cloud Migration for a Global Creative Technology Company.

Step 4. Quality assurance at all stages.

Our team accompanied every stage of the software development and migration with software testing and quality assurance. They applied both manual and automated testing.

QA is a crucial stage that has helped the Client overcome certain challenges. The case study outlines further details on Software Testing of a Resource Management App.

.NET development team

Belitsoft formed a team of experts who came up with a plan to fully develop a .NET application with great logic processing abilities designed for enterprise use.

Technicolor was interested in partnering with a solid, unchanged team of .NET developers, a Project Manager, and a Business Analyst that could become industry knowledge holders and show high performance on all stages of development.

Their second request was a fast and easily scaling team that can be involved in the project on demand. Belitsoft fulfilled the Client's requests by maintaining the core of 8 back-end (including ASP.NET MVC developers, Azure developers, and SignalR developers for real-time dashboards) and 4 front-end .NET developers on the project that showcased high performance and fast delivery of results.

Thanks to involving knowledgeable .NET experts in the project, Belitsoft delivered a Resource Management System with a highly scalable architecture and much faster performance while maintaining a high level of security.

As promised, Belitsoft retained core specialists of the development team on the project, which allowed us to deliver results even faster than expected.

Besides, our development team scaled up and down on demand. We were also proactive in recommending any options that could save the Client's budget whenever it was possible.

Belitsoft and Technicolor continue the partnership to further enhance the Resource Management software functionality while keeping its fast and reliable performance.