A Case Study in Modernization for In-House Software
Upgrading software to support an improved web portal created immediate improvements in customer satisfaction.
The Client
Our client is a leading Fortune 500 company that provides rental equipment to construction and industrial sites in the U.S. and Canada.
The Problem
The client used an outdated proprietary software application to make rental requests, manage inventory, and initiate service requests. The same application was also used internally for reporting and invoicing purposes.
Data integration and an outdated codebase were two big concerns for the client. The system was also often down due to consistent and overwhelming debugging needs.
The client also wanted to add improvements and new features to the system that were not possible without some sort of software modernization. In particular, the team wanted a more streamlined approach to ordering as well as more visibility into what was currently on rent. Finally, the client needed to be able to filter information intelligently for items requiring action, i.e. late equipment or pending pick-up.
The Solution
After examining the codebase, Entrance determined that the best solution was to re-write the application with the same functionality, but with an eye to growth, better usability, and the additional feature-set they were looking for.
The client needed to have a functional product for an external event in six months’ time. In order to meet this deadline, we created an architectural plan for efficiently updating the most important parts of the application first.
After this was completed, Entrance created a new user interface and cleaned up the code and database to improve performance. Key to this project was solving the integration and communication breakdown between their accounting, tracking and ordering systems.
One addition to the modernized application was to create a dashboard that gives our customer’s clients a better view into equipment status across multiple job sites. The benefit for customer is that they can then determine the most efficient way to rent equipment and share it across job sites for maximum cost savings.
For our client, an improved web portal and streamlined order entry process means that less equipment sits idle, which has resulted in a direct improvement to their bottom line. As a result of the huge impact on customer satisfaction, the client was bought by their largest competitor within a year. The improved software product was one of the key reasons for the merger in their press release.