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Sketch Development Services facilitated product improvements for an IT Security Firm that outgrew their low-code solution. By starting from scratch, the Sketch developers built an MVP quickly with the features and capabilities users actually needed and wanted. Sketch also selected a framework that enabled the firm to improve and maintain the app down the line, without hiring a large internal software team.
Our client didn’t have full-time software developers on staff, but rather, technically-minded individuals very capable of leveraging a no-code/low-code solution. They used this solution to build their application in a cost-effective manner and begin scaling their business. Unfortunately, as they scaled, they realized their needs surpassed the inherent limitations of a no-code/low-code solution.
Page load times were becoming an issue for their clients, with even simple things such as logins taking five to ten seconds to process. Our client needed a modern application that followed best practice coding principles. They also needed software that ran on a platform they could better control and felt comfortable being responsible for.
Here's the rub: during this period of transition from a no-code/low-code solution to custom software, the client could not experience downtime or any other interruptions to the user experience their users expected.
Without dedicated software development, network operations, or system admin staff on the client's internal team, the solution had to be relatively hands-off. Of course, it also had to be inexpensive, scalable, and performant.
AWS Lambda is the perfect choice to meet these needs. As a serverless solution, Lambda offers cost-effective pricing where you only pay per execution request, plus an operations-free model where no server patching, updates, nor maintenance are required. It also boasts theoretical infinite scaling to accommodate a growing user base.
We also leveraged AWS Cognito and RDS, managed services that offer redundancy, fail-over, and security to further enhance the application’s production capabilities. All of this was implemented using Infrastructure-as-Code concepts and tools to expand the platform to multiple environments at the push of a button. Lastly, by taking advantage of AWS’ CodeBuild and CodePipeline CI/CD solutions, we were able to achieve faster deployment cycles while developing the software, getting optimal client feedback along the way, and building the exact solution they needed.
Following Agile software development practices, we created the ideal minimum viable product to meet the client's needs and their users' expecations. This approach, coupled with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices, helped get the initial product deployed to production two months ahead of schedule.
Also, by leveraging the Lambda serverless solution, we exceeded expectations on the hosting cost for this new product when compared to a more standard server-based hosting alternative. Switching from the low-code/no-code solution ultimately helped this client save money while delivering a superior product to their users.
We hope these are the kinds of outcomes you were looking for. If you want to learn more about the work that went into this project, we're happy to answer your questions.
Better yet, let's talk about whichever project you were mulling over that brought you here. We love to talk shop, and the first few conversations are always free.
