The technology team were original approached to build a mobile application to showcase what at the time was in excess of 9,000+ custom fire protection systems via an easy to use mobile app. This was a completely new industry to us and required understanding a huge amount of amount of industry and domain specific knowledge. We were happy to start working on a defining an approach and solution that would ultimately support the client and their team of sales and technical experts. Throughout the lifecycle we received insights and advice from the team at Firefly. This was essential to ensure the platform supported an industry specific need, only achievable through collaboration. Together we have been able to provide a unique and niche industry market leading platform and service.
The platform is actively used by thousands of experts. It has a complete administration content management system, corporate website, my account portal and sleek and easy to use native mobile apps on both iOS & Android. The journey to date has consisted of significant statements of works, maintenance and more recently a leap forward in how products are delivered to customers. The total number of TBA Firefly products is currently +20,000 with a planned 7x increase to be available as a direct result of a new solution that provides a far easier way to manage products in fire protection and reporting.
THE CHALLENGE
Initially the customer had an idea and direction to deliver products and information digitally. The goal was to alleviate large catalogues and ensure that new systems and services could be added at any time and available for customers. The delivery mechanism was to be digital and on the go. The real challenge resided in defining the user experience and business rules. These were critical in ensuring a unified users journey accessible on small devices while being able to convey important fire safety information. The method on how these are managed and traversed is completely bespoke and only a ground up build was able to provide this platform.
It is an engaging product from a technology point of view and we did not see the difficult requirements as a problem. At the start we took several deep dives to investigate and extract the desired end state. The teams worked closely together to forge ahead and make the customers digital technology initiative a reality. We liaised with their team of experts to ideate and generate approaches to system design that would meet the initial brief, plus provide room to grow.
DEVELOPMENT
After the initial inception and consultation a team was established that consisted of talented designers, mobile engineers, full stack developers and quality assurance. The team worked on an initial build for the platform foundations and released initially a working app and platform. We then worked with the client to incorporate features and updates via an innovation stream that focused on listening to their end customers.
The application is developed using native iOS (Swift) and Android (Kotlin). Web applications are delivered in Angular and backend services harness Node containers & Lambda functions. All services are managed and deployed using CI/CD in AWS.
We have seen the app grow substantially and our proud of the work to date. The technical challenge has been immense but it is rewarding to play a role in supporting local businesses with their application of technologies to streamline business processes and delight customers.
OUTCOME & DELIVERY
The outcome on the first release was an enormous large body of work and our team and experts worked tirelessly to deliver a smooth and easy to use app that operates in an important niche industry. Users on the platform have a wealth of choice to make the process of selecting the right product in fire compliance a breeze. We continue to support TBA Firefly they grow and look forward to helping them continue leading the market.
In summary the following key outcomes were delivered to date:
- iOS Mobile and Tablet App
- Android Mobile & Tablet App
- Full API and Administrative Tools
- Complete Web Application for My Account functionalities and product browsing.
- Full Application & Solution Design.
