Automating Manual Processes with a .NET Cloud Solution

Their current process was managed with Excel spreadsheets. It lacked integration with the various key departments within its internal systems to accurately execute a proper infrastructure request. They needed a feature-rich application to replace the current process to provide data insights to their customers, back-office support, and management. Additionally, it was required to run in a cloud environment and to be developed within four months.

The new Cloud-based application reduced the turnaround time of the order capture process to build/fulfillment of all infrastructure requests. The solution also provided useful reports on how the Data Centers were utilized as well as capacity metrics helping the management team with important business organizational decisions. The Backend Data Management tools provided the ability to manage Service Catalog items, pricing, and availability of catalog items more efficiently compared to the previous manual process.

We recommended .NET as the application development platform to allow for improved code management, ability to run on cross platforms (Windows, Linux, and OS X, etc.), flexibility to deploy, and easy maintenance. The Charter Global team automated the client’s entire manual process, while simultaneously collaborating with their Product management team to gather the requirements. The new application provided an easy-to-use Cloud Ordering experience. Its features include viewing available service catalog items, the ability to add/update/delete required items to their Project infrastructure estimates, view capability via the shopping cart, support bill of Materials, and submit/checkout project estimates. The Backend functionality provided important validations of their Data Center capabilities to serve project estimates; the ability to submit estimates to the backend Deployment team for build/deployment of infrastructure requests provided key integrations with ServiceNow and Data Management operations Audit trails.