Client requirements

Client envisioned building an online courier service application.

Strategic Intent:

To provide users with an online platform for courier, in which the client does the booking online and the company provides a door to door service.

Client requirements:

Client Owns 2 kind of business:

1> Packaging
2> Courier

Client need customer relationship management system combine of above business. That includes:

Customer information along with their personal info + business they do with Smart courier WRT finances, quantity.

Dashboard: Important requirement of client to generate reports in terms of internal aspect and external to client. These are categories on: a) Monthly b) Quarterly c) Half yearly d) Yearly e) Overall. This is will contain Excel and Graphical reports.

Ordering process: In this process client want injection of many offers according to region (may be state+ country) + Tax according to states and country + Payment options (paypal, HSBC, google checkout) + Price of parcel OR object that has to pack will depend of the dimensions of object.

Quick quote: In this feature client want to provide quick quotation of his object according to state and country and dimensions vague prediction.

Finding address: In this feature when customer will put his parcel for courier he can able to mention the exact address of his and parcel destination with the help of postcode and house no. - this is provided from database of ours.

Other feature of application includes: Easy user search Simple and easy ordering system and payment options Single database for both application

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) Sugar CRM system study this is first time we are using this so study time and framework understanding take long time

3) Despite having complex structure and system, ensuring the easy navigation through the implementation of Web Usability principles in the website design.

4) Enabling the site to operate at top speed even in peak traffic hours and maintaining good load balance. Ensuring safe and secure transfer of data.

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 Sugar CRM is an Open source CRM system. 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.