Combine commonly used functionality into a framework
Our Framework
Key difference with us when implementing solutions is the application development framework that we bring with every project. Every software application has certain key common requirements. We baked these requirements into a common application framework. The framework components provide us head start on every project. Once the project solution is created, we register the framework components. This makes them available to the project. We are then able to focus on the specific requirements of the project. The framework components include:
At the user interface level, our framework includes the following:
Components: Our components extend the readily available Angular components because they are purpose built. Our component include various UI widgets that are integrated based on purpose i.e. Login, Registration, Work Queues, Dashboard, Detailed View, Contextual Tabs etc.
Themes: Our components can also be themes based on the client brand specifications. This includes fonts, colors, logos, header, footers and layouts that ensure the implemented solution meets the client standards.
ADA Compliance: Our components are built to be accessible to users that need machine readers to interact with the application. Our solutions include values within the HTML markup for Page Views/Titles and support Keyboard navigation and focus management to make context sensitive information accessible.
At the core application level, our framework includes the following:
Authentication: Every application requires a robust mechanism of authenticating users of the application. The users can include internal and external users. Internal users need to be authenticated by validating their presence in the agency directory while external users need to self register using valid registration information. The authentication mechanism within our framework manages this for internal and external users. Our framework using OAUTH2 based authentication while is the standard for authentication within the industry.
ACL: Provide role based access to information is another fundamental aspect of every enterprise application. Our framework includes Access Control List (ACL) to maintain and manage this authorization information for every role. All users are listed under a role and authorized functions i.e. ability to add, update, disable, view for that role are managed through a browser interface.
Search: While maintaining information is important, the ability to retrieve it when needed is even more important. We have built and made available a powerful and extensible search feature through our framework. This will allow the user to search across configured entities for the information entered for search criteria.
Notification: Generating context sensitive emails is another requirement that most application have. Context can include confirming an event or getting reminded of another event. Our framework include configurable email templates that can be generated from the application based on specified context i.e. due date for a task is approaching, an assignment was made etc.
Workflow: Workflow is another important functionality that most applications require, Our framework provides a state workflow engine. We have designed this using a series of states. At every state, the user will have access a set of contextual actions that will determine the status of the record and the next applicable state. This will then present the user with the next logical set of actions and so and so forth until the end of the workflow. Using this structure, we provide the ability for the workflow to move forward or back as needed. In addition, we also support the ability to have system determined states i.e. when no human interaction is needed fo move from one state to the next.
Rules: Rules and workflow go hand in hand. While workflow engine controls transitions from one state to the next, rules determine what the user must complete before transitioning from the current to the next logical state. We have a JavaScript based rules engine that allows this configuration to be maintained and managed.
Document Generation: The ability to generate documents from the system is becoming an another important requirement. This can be a correspondence or mail-able letter where information from the system needs to be transposed onto the document. Our framework includes the ability to generate word documents as output without need MS Word installed in the server. We support conditional formatting, images, page breaks and heirarchial data transfer. For example, you can generate an invoice with the order overview and the detailed line items in the order.
Document Management: Managing documents is now as fundamental as managing security. We realize that not all information in an enterprise system is structure, Unstructured data in the form of word, excel, pdf and images is just as important. We offer a powerful document management component that is powered by Mongo DB for clients that are interested in using it. This is built into the framework.
File Processing: We support web services based integration right off the bat. However, there are still systems that depend on asynchronous data integration using a secure FTP server i.e. drop files in a secure location that must be read by the receiving system and processed by updating relevant tables and fields. Our framework includes this ability to read text, excel and XML files with data that is relevant for file processing.
Micro-services: This is baked into the architecture of our framework. Every feature or functional is connected from the front end to the back end using a series of discrete services.
Once the framework is implemented, we can focus on building application specific functionality. This makes our efforts at implementing projects must faster than conventional application development. In some cases, our development is faster than customizing or configuring a commercial off the shelf solution.