Setting the Scene
The turn of the millennium saw a surge in technological innovation and development across the globe. Nestled in the buzzing tech landscape of the United Kingdom, a pioneer in the world of IoT and Telecommunications emerged in 1999. Its name? Mobile Tornado. A testament to their innovative spirit and dedication to excellence, Mobile Tornado had carved out a niche for itself in the telecom sector. With over 20 years of experience under its belt, the company emerged as a reliable provider of instantaneous communication and resource management solutions, transforming the realm of enterprise workforce management, first responders, and consumer markets.
Their push-to-talk (PoC) and resource management solutions were designed to optimize operational costs, augment productivity, and streamline efficiencies. Mobile Tornado’s features, such as secured individual and group voice calls, video, picture, file and text messaging communications, voice recording, messaging, and data transfers, as well as SOS alerting, set the company apart from its competition.
However, with the rapid pace of technological advancement and the evolution of consumer demands, Mobile Tornado was faced with a critical decision – to adapt and modernize its existing system or risk becoming obsolete. Enter Temy, an experienced technology partner with a proven track record of bringing legacy systems into the modern era. This case study explores the transformative journey of Temy and Mobile Tornado’s collaboration, navigating the trials and tribulations to achieve a shared vision.
The Legacy System and the Need for Change
A system that had once been at the forefront of IoT and telecommunications innovation was now falling behind the times. Mobile Tornado’s legacy system, although functional, was starting to show its age. Coupled with the company’s reluctance to embrace change and less-than-ideal support from certain divisions, the system’s performance and capabilities were being outpaced by contemporary technologies and industry standards.
Mobile Tornado’s multinational team added another layer of complexity to the equation. Developers in Israel and Ukraine struggled to find common ground with their QA and support counterparts in India, leading to communication difficulties and collaboration issues.
Despite the complexity of the situation, which called for the expertise of Full-stack and Android Engineers well-versed in Java, C++, Objective-C, Android, iOS, MongoDB, Node.js, Angular, and JavaScript, Temy saw the potential in Mobile Tornado’s vision and took on the challenge of transforming their legacy system.
The Agile Way, Risks, and Learning
Determined to tackle the project head-on, Temy adopted Agile methodologies to revamp Mobile Tornado’s system. The legacy system was methodically deconstructed and rebuilt, one sprint at a time. This iterative approach allowed for a greater understanding of the system’s intricacies, as well as the challenges that lay ahead.
These challenges were multifold. An underlying dependency on legacy hybrid code and frequent project changes led to a significant portion of developed code being discarded. Such instances often resulted in weeks of hard work being deemed unnecessary, a frustrating experience that was mitigated by the team’s unwavering commitment to the project.
The QA process was fraught with its own set of unique hurdles. Given the elusive list of potential issues and the need for meticulous self-checks by the team, navigating the QA stage was often a game of cat and mouse. It was a trial by fire, but one that would ultimately serve as a valuable learning experience, providing the Temy team with important insights into risk management and effective cross-team collaboration.