Yaana Technologies
Project highlights
About the client
About the client
Yaana Technologies is a leading global provider of a wide range of intelligent compliance and national security solutions. Specializing in cyber security and solutions for telecom operators, Yaana offers innovative software and services to optimize network performance and enhance customer experiences.
Based in California, Yaana was founded in 2007 and quickly became one of the leading enterprises in the American market. But there was more to come: the company decided to expand its services to other continents. With an ambitious goal to enter the European market, Yaana Tech acquired NeuString – a telecom startup that offers BI systems for roaming analytics to mobile operators.
A desktop solution with numerous subsystems, NeuString needed complete software modernization to comply with the industry standards and keep up with changing customer demands. Seeing the need for structural changes, Yaana Tech reached out to Flyaps to replace the desktop system of NeuString with a web-based solution built using a cloud-native approach.
CLIENT REQUEST
Yaana Technologies addressed Flyaps to migrate their legacy NeuString Analytics system from a desktop solution to a cloud-based tool and enhance the existing functionality.
Yaana Technologies had the possibility to become a leader in the European market, but their newly acquired legacy system didn't let the company meet its ambitious goal. The desktop solution had some important limitations that prevented the company’s growth. For example, it was impossible to create deals, compare several budgets or work in parallel. Rigid architecture and the lack of functionality blocked Yaana from attracting global clients such as Orange Group, a multinational telecom corporation.
To acquire the world’s leading enterprises, Yaana needed to switch from the desktop NeuString system to a web-based solution and enhance the existing functionality specifically for mobile operator groups. To achieve it, they reached out to Flyaps.
problem
Flyaps had to solve two major challenges
To build telecom solutions – or any tech-driven products – you need two things: implementing the features that fully respond to the clients’ needs and creating an interface that would deliver a seamless experience. At Flyaps, we do both: with a focus on user-centered interfaces and advanced functionality, we are able to implement the most complex algorithms and wrap them in a sleek design that even non-tech users can understand.
approach
To seamlessly replace a desktop system with a new solution, we opted for the evolutionary approach. We introduced a new tool to users by gradually adding new features while keeping the old system operational until we finished the development process.
Entirely replacing the legacy system means that all business processes will be disrupted. For the existing clients, it translates into inconveniences and delays that would impact their workflows. That’s why we suggested the evolutionary approach – instead of instantly switching off the old system, we decided to keep it while building a new solution and enabling access to both systems. Gradually replacing an old system with a new one, we avoided radical changes and disrupting the ongoing processes.
solution
The deadline was tight and the first version of the system had to be delivered in 4 months. To build a robust solution from scratch in such a short term, we started with API integration with the legacy system to export the existing data. The sudden change of the system would have affected the NeuString clients’ workflows so instead we developed a new solution in parallel, exporting the data from the legacy system to a new tool. Then, we started implementing new features such as interactive dashboards and algorithms for calculations. As new requirements were added during the development process, we added new functions and scaled the already existing ones.
To facilitate the transition between the two systems, we connected the database of the legacy app, allowing the export of the desktop's reporting base. Through API integration, we implemented the key feature that was missing in the desktop app: intuitive dashboards. Here’s how it works. Users set forecasts and agreement parameters in the legacy system. Then the results are exported to the new system to be displayed on the dashboards, making the decision-making process more efficient and straightforward.
Such a seamless data transition allowed clients to work in both systems in parallel, gradually getting used to a new product and using the missing features of the legacy system.
The telecom business processes involve working with complex data sets, such as traffic volume, inter-operator tariff rates, statistics by countries, discount agreements, and so on. To let NeuString users easily handle all this data, we designed several modules with different dashboards, each displaying three essential metrics such as volume, charge, and rate.
Each module – Deals, Traffic, Budget, Finance, and Reports – provides functionality and insights for a specific part of the roaming business. For example, in the Budget module, we added the possibility to create several budgets with different parameters and compare them to identify the most profitable option.
Every block and page are made in the same consistent style. We unified the design to make it easily recognizable by the user. All the fonts, icons, and diagrams have a similar look and feel, making the user experience seamless.
To make data analysis as effortless as possible, we displayed all the data on one screen, excluding unnecessary transitions between pages. We also made sure the dashboards are scalable – as requirements constantly grow, there will be new parameters and metrics to add, so we made sure every dashboard could fit even more data.
With a thought-out UI we achieved the optimal design that includes every essential element and at the same time isn’t oversaturated. Scalable and flexible, the dashboards became one of the key features of the solution, greatly facilitating the analytics for mobile operators. To discover more details on the system’s UI, visit our Behance.
Once the dashboard design was implemented, we needed to ensure that the calculations were accurate. For that, we had to take two steps:
It was essential to provide calculation models not only for operators but for telecom hubs as well. To acquire such a global client as Orange Group, a leading telecom company that operates in 26 countries, we needed to implement the most complex algorithms in the industry. To meet Yaana's needs, we added top-level discount models such as Bundle Commitment, Bearer Mix Commitment, Incremental Charge Commitment, and Incremental Volume Commitment.
In addition to the advanced calculations, we needed to implement forecasting models to predict the possible traffic usage. This posed a particular challenge as forecast calculations can have many hidden traps. For instance, if there's been no traffic between two operators during a month, the calculations will involve division by zero which we had to account for.
To enable precise forecasting calculations, we adopted the most essential models in the telecom industry – Manual Volume, Manual Percentage, Rolling, Year-to-Date, and Ratio – and, based on them, built algorithms to calculate possible traffic and charges.
After implementing the needed algorithms, the last challenge to tackle was performance issues. Because calculations are made during real-life meetings, when companies’ representatives negotiate future agreements, the system has to be as fast as possible.
To assure it, we used a complex caching model. Since the combinations for calculations often repeat, to avoid resource-heavy computations on the same data, the system identifies already available parameters and takes them from the cache. To enable this capability, we tracked the changes in data and used the cache only if the parameters remained the same.
A similar approach was used to speed up dashboard reloading. Whenever the changes were applied and a new table was generated, the system computed only new parameters, retrieving all the other data from the cache.
As a result, we managed to reduce the time for calculations to several seconds for regular telecom operators. And in the case of groups with numerous operators and billions of call records, calculations can take up to a minute.
The solution went live in 4 months and the full development was finished in 3 years. The system we built can be fairly named unique as it doesn’t have competitors on the market in terms of functionality. A versatile platform for telecom enterprises of any scale, it can be used by both operators and groups of affiliates.
With a new system, Yaana Technologies became a leader in the European market, acquiring such global clients like Orange Group, a French multinational telecom corporation, Hutchison 3G, a British service provider, and VEON Ltd., multinational telecom based in the Netherlands, while enhancing the support of existing clients.
Result
The new system allowed Yaana Technologies to gain a key position in the market, expanding their client base with the world’s leading telecom enterprises.
The desktop solution was fully replaced with a scalable web cloud-based system, by migrating all the existing features and preserving ongoing processes.
The BI system we built doesn’t have competitors in the market, offering advanced market analysis, agreement insights and improved decision-making.
Flyaps go beyond our requirements, and they put a lot of thought and creativity into their work. They leverage their experience and knowledge, and their design and UX skills are stronger than many of their competitors. Their math skills are also exemplary, which is particularly beneficial for us in this type of solution.
We will be glad to help you improve your current system or seamlessly migrate to a modern solution. Contact us and we’ll get back to you with more details.
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