The rules of the IT industry are set by optimization of the processes, systems, performed tasks, work time... Since 2014 we have been working on how to use our resources and time optimally. Introduction of certain solutions throughout the years has made it possible to significantly reduce the amount of time required to develop and test an application which enabled us to meet the needs of our clients faster and more effectively.
What was key for us was to reduce the time we needed to develop a system while maintaining the same functionality of it and the degree to which we adjust it to a client’s needs. How have we achieved that? Readon to find out.
What has allowed us to sell our applications 4 times cheaper and develop them 5 times faster?
We can point out one main factor: the development and improvement of our internal environment. Not only have we created our own framework but we have also optimized our gems and templates. Throughout the years we have gone the extra mile to reach the place where our programmers can quickly and effectively build high-quality applications. Below we present how we streamlined our workflow in particular years.
2014
We decided to completely ditch PHP programming and start working using solely Ruby. We have noticed straight away that we were programming faster and the code was clearer. While building applications, we were using libraries and gems. These solutions have streamlined our workflow, however, it has also constrained us in the sense that we could not introduce all the changes we wanted. It was not easy to make tables or charts that could be easily edited. The amount of data imported from the server to the browser at that time fell in between 2000 KB and 3000 KB.
As we could see, many elements of the application development process have been optimized and partially automated, however, the time required to build an average application was still reaching about 3000 hours. It seemed to us to be a good result at that time but today we look at it with a little smile.
2016
For the next two years we were working on work optimization and we were testing different solutions. Our goal was to be able to create forms, tables, profiles, and PDFs more flexibly. The work we had committed to building our own framework enabled us to build applications 16% faster. The actions we had taken had a satisfying effect on work optimization.
Our second challenge was to find such technology that would allow us to refresh data faster without reloading the whole page. Since 2016 we had been thinking about implementing a new framework for JavaScript for commercial projects. At that time, we were considering three frameworks, which for us seemed to be the future of web applications. Those were: Vue.JS, React.JS, and Angular.JS. We have made a few test projects using those pieces of technology to see which one will be our choice for commercial projects (in the years 2016 and 2017).
2018
In 2017 we have finally decided to work on our projects using Vue.JS. Along with Ruby, it has given us promising effects in terms of optimizing work time and efficiency. Introducing new technology allowed us to limit the amount of data that we sent to a server to 2-5 KB. It was the beginning of a major improvement in our efficiency in web application development. At that time the average time used to develop an application was lowered to 1800 hours, whereas the increase of efficiency rose to 28%, which we considered to be a great success at that point. The experience we gained in 2017 and 2018 has encouraged us to explore the potential of Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript and Vue.JS even more. Further tests lead us to a solution which we have been using since then.
2019
As much as the new frameworks (ROR, Vue.JS) had let us optimize our workflow, we also knew that only a new internal solution would enable us to get the best results. We started working on Kamee framework in 2018 and we completed it in 2019. Building our own framework took us 6000 hours but the effect exceeded our expectations. The numbers are the best proof: we can develop an average application in 400 hours. This means we are by 80% more efficient than in 2018.
We can see this improvement in our front-end and back-end development, databases, and system testing. It has made our projects competitive in terms of price and delivery time, which means those are now more accessible for clients from both Poland and abroad. Currently, between signing the agreement with us and the final data migration there is usually no more than a month.
We want to make it clear it does not negatively affect the way we tailor the system to the specific requirements, the uniqueness of our solutions, or the potential of integration. The new technology has made our solutions more intuitive and improved their responsiveness. This means we are creating better applications in less time and for a lower cost. We are still exploring further ways of optimizing our efficiency to provide the best experience and satisfaction to our clients.
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