Case Study - ByTonight - Agile Technosys

Client requirements

Client required a methodically developed online Business-Users portal having intended towards providing an online application for Business Starters and Job Seekers in order to get the access to the vast pool of Resume Improvement Kit and Business Start Up Kit. The site would be a membership site wherein members get access to the required Ready to Use material for their businesses. The site would be targeted towards various segments viz. Job Seekers, Business Starters, Church Improvement and Retailers.

Strategic Intent:

To provide a common platform for business, Job Seekers to come online and get access to the most relevant and ready to use information

Target Audience:

The site was primarily targeted towards three different genres viz. 1) Job Seekers
2) Start Up Businessmen
3) Retailers

Extensive study of these variedly characterized categories of stakeholders enabled us to design and develop the site that will provide vigorous working conditions for diverse business all around the globe.

Challenges

Development of every web based portal had myriad inherent challenges and constraints. The most critical problem that our team had faced was to understand the needs and requirements of all the stakeholders to make the site as per their expectations. At the same time it became imperative for us to study the psyche of clusters of target customers, their need, their taste, choice etc. Besides this, we had many other constraints like-
1) Developing a Robust framework for the site which is capable of managing millions of users at a time without buckling down the system and site.

2) Developing an invoice generation module along with integration of Payment Gateway.

3) Despite having complex structure and system, ensuring the easy navigation through the implementation Web Usability Functions.

4) Having trade of vital information about the business, ensuring safe and secure transfer of data became imperative

To overcome the aforementioned challenges and provide a robust web application to the client as per his requirements we used various technological approaches that are discussed in the next part.

Tools and technologies used

	Probably the most popular language on the Internet used for web based scripting. Very fast interaction with databases. Read more
	Free, highly customizable low maintenance database management system. Consistently stable in high volume data environment with a wide range of support available for free over various forums and support portals. The preferred database used with PHP as a scripting language. Read more
	JavaScript and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML used for Crossover browser support, quick data updates. Scalable JavaScript used to provide enhanced user experience and validation.
	Open source and license free, sturdy platform with powerful capabilities used as Server.

Resources

Project manager	1
Business analyst	1
Designer(s)	1
Programmer(s)	3
Testing & QA stuff	1
Total manpower	7

Planning

With the prior experience in developing web based applications, Agile Technosys followed a Multi-tire approach towards the development starting from:
The Database layer containing MY SQL Server Database, Tables, Stored procedures and so on and the Data Access layer containing the libraries responsible for accessing data from database.
The Business Logic layer consisting of all business logic procedures for modules like User Profiles and Report generations, Invoice generation etc
The User Interface Layer which forms the Graphical User Interface of the website.

Architecture

PHP and MySQL formed the basis of development as the site has a program of Social Networking portal with extensive features.
Company Profiles, Inquiries, Membership Forms, Invoice generation, Members Profile, Messaging, Search and Advanced Search and other modules were developed in PHP such that they can be executed directly from the UI layer.

These PHP files consisted of all Business logics used for respective modules like Save (Add/Update), Delete, Get single object, get multiple objects for listing and were designed to be capable of handling many more logics which were not related to the database.

The Data Access layer contained the libraries responsible for accessing data from database and built a generic query for insert, update, delete and select, depending on the business class.

All business layer components were coded to use this library for data accessing process from database. The UI layer was kept free of any business logic with images, applications and data being called from their respective servers. Sub-domains were used for the different areas of the website to guarantee scalability.

The site also included the payment gateway. Payment Gateway enabled users to pay for premium membership (Free, Silver and Gold). Users can upgrade the membership by paying through the gateway.

Client feedback

The AgTech team is wonderful. They are comprised of many great, good hearted people. I would highly recommend them to anyone that needs quality work done.

Posted by Nancy Pressa