Remote R&D Team for Optimizing Tariff Plans System for Mobile Operators

Duration: 3 years
Industries: Telecom Industry
Services: Backend Development; Custom Software Development; Frontend Development; Test Automation Services; Manual Testing Services; Software Reengineering, Refactoring and Modernization. Cloud Migration; Software Maintenance and Support Services
Software Categories and Types: Workflow Management & Business Process Automation; Payment & Billing Systems
IT Architecture Paradigms and Approaches: Data Driven Testing (DDT); Enterprise Integration Patterns; Architectural Patterns
Technical Expertise: Java Server Side Development; Web Development; Test Automation; Databases
DevOps Expertise: Advanced build organization; CI/CD Advanced
Technologies: Git; Apache Maven; Data Bases; Apache Tomcat; Project Management, Collaboration and Bug Tracking; Jira; Java Persistence API (JPA); CI/CD Automation Servers; Hibernate; pgAdmin; Google Web Toolkit (GWT); JUnit / TestNG; Selenium WebDriver; Java; Java Enterprise Edition (EE); FlyWay; DBUnit; Build and Dependency Platforms and Tools; Backend; Oracle DB; Bamboo; PostgreSQL; Test Automation; Source Code Management (SCM); Web Frameworks; CI/CD and DevOps; Software Engineering and Management Tools; Vaadin; ORM & Persistence; Confluence; Web and J2EE Servers, Java Runtimes; DB Tools

Team size (6):
1 Project Manager
1 QA Manual
1 QA Automation
3 Backend

Client

The established BSS (Business Support System) provider with a strong global presence and over 30 years of experience, dedicated to assisting prominent telecom and technology enterprises.

Product

The client’s initial system client consisted of two major components:

A web application for managing mobile operator data, such as tariff plans, discounts, bonuses, promotions, service types and cost. The system allows the mobile operator to link information to different regions, historical data, and virtual projects. This enables quick adaptation and implementation of changes in services and tariffs for different market segments. The system featured an interactive interface based on the Single Page Application (SPA) principle. This provided convenience and efficiency in working with data, eliminating the need for page reloading and enhancing the user experience.
A dedicated component to ensure seamless data integration into the external billing system, based on predefined business rules. This component serves its purpose when telecom operator employees input all required information. Once entered, the system initiates downloading the data into the external billing system. As a result, subscribers gain access to new tariff plans, services, and discounts, enhancing their overall experience.

All editable information in the system is tied to:

There are multiple regions to support region-specific cost and connection conditions for accurate data management.
Historicity: data cannot be deleted. There is a historical data tracking system, allowing rollback to previous versions and cancellation of changes.
Projects: the user makes the data changes within the virtual project. Virtual projects are utilized to accumulate and group data changes for improved efficiency and organization.

Challenge

As the telecom industry landscape evolved, the client company faced large volumes of legacy code, lagging system stability, and a need for new functionality all across its vast variety of technological assets. The existing system used for sales and billing operations had accumulated many issues over the years, resulting in an unstable product plagued with numerous bugs. There was a clear need for a comprehensive overhaul. Therefore, the company sought a software delivery partner to not only address its technical challenges, but to propel its solution to a new architectural level. The list of accumulating tech needs included:

implementing new features;
performing refactoring;
bug fixing;
writing unit/integration tests and documentation;
consulting to enhance code and processes’ quality.

Considering the significant workload ahead, the business stakeholders opted for a competent solution provider capable of building development processes, improving the product, offering consultancy, and providing solution management support. JazzTeam successfully met the criteria. The key objectives of modernization efforts were:

Implement CI/CD and instill the best development practices and processes as a foundation for future growth.
Introduce Agile methodology to foster collaboration and deliver value.
Help define and develop new product lines to meet the evolving needs of the market.

Business-wise, the client aimed to enhance their overall service offering, improve customer satisfaction, and stay competitive in the dynamic telecom market.

Project Context

Distributed team: 2 countries, 3 cities.
Tight schedule for new feature development and bug elimination.

JazzTeam Challenge

One of the challenges for building a sustainable remote team was the complexity of the data model, which increased time for project newcomers. They should study the data model with territorial and historical entity types, as well as with data changes binding to the framework of separate “projects” in the system.

Solution

JazzTeam used a combination of strategic management changes, architectural enhancements, and strict adherence to the best software development practices to transform the client’s digital enterprise:

JazzTeam assembled a dedicated R&D team to address all challenges stated by the client.
The project embraced Agile development methodologies, specifically Scrum. Daily Scrum meetings and two-week sprints facilitated efficient collaboration, flexibility, and timely delivery of new features and bug fixes. This approach allowed for a seamless integration of feedback and ensured that the software met evolving requirements.
To address overall system performance, stability, and scalability concerns, JazzTeam proposed and implemented various architectural and technical solutions. At the same time, the team focused on creating an application business layer and successfully applied Spring Framework to the existing codebase.
Recognizing the importance of maintainability, the development team actively carried out code refactoring activities to reduce the amount of legacy code in the system. This effort significantly improved code quality. The software became more robust and easier to maintain, ensuring a smooth and reliable user experience.
Additionally, JazzTeam implemented rigorous software testing processes. Unit testing, code-style standards, and code quality requirements were defined and enforced. The introduction of the Data-Driven Testing (DDT) approach for data uploading functionality improved the stability of the process. The team utilized DBUnit to quickly verify the database state during unit testing. Additionally, JazzTeam developed a test framework for rapid test case automation.

Testimonial

Andrey Voynov
Head of Software Development, Nexign JSC (earlier Peter-Service Inc), Information Technology and Services
The customer testimonial about project: Tariff plans and services management system for mobile operator

"PS RnD, LLC herewith recommend software engineers of JazzTeam as highly skilled professionals.

We would like to underline that JazzTeam’s employees are well organised and with a positive ‘can-do’ attitude.

The staff of JazzTeam is always proactive in collaboration and ready to help with enhancing decisions. In particular, JazzTeam has initiated the implementation of a unified code-style and the increase of unit tests covering of the solution PSC.

Besides the development of the new features and code refactoring, JazzTeam’s specialists deployed a testing system with Data Driven Testing approach for the export component, and this significantly improved its operation.

We hope that our further cooperation will continue and be fruitful and productive.

We wish JazzTeam successful projects!"

Result

As a result of our collaboration, the client successfully adopted and implemented software development best practices, significantly expanded the product’s test coverage, and streamlined data management across the organization.

A new robust and flexible web-based application empowered the BSS provider to efficiently manage tariff plans, discounts, bonuses, promotions, and service types. The system’s interactive interface, built as a single-page application, enables seamless data handling and enhances user experience. Thanks to the test coverage, the data uploading component has become more stable.

The technical overhaul and revamped software delivery processes empowered the mobile operator to adapt quickly to market changes, implement new services, and enhance their overall service offering. With the newest additions to their tech expertise, the company has positioned itself for continued success and market expansion.

Screenshots

Technologies

Java, Vaadin, Hibernate, JPA, Apache Tomcat, PostgreSQL, Oracle, JUnit, DBUnit, Git, Jira, Confluence, Bamboo CI, Selenium, Maven, Flyway (database migration tool).