ClientServiceBridge
IndustryFranchises
RegionUSA
Work implementedCustom Software Development, Web Development, Staff Augmentation
Challenges
The first challenge was the need to develop franchiser-focused functionality quickly, under tight deadlines. A further constraint was adapting the royalties system to meet the client's requirements without requiring developer intervention for configuration. Where functionality did need to be extended, the system had to support that with minimal friction.- Every part of the system must be configurable without developer involvement
- Extensibility is a core requirement
Goals
ServiceBridge's primary goal in partnering with Toughlex was the co-development of a new franchise royalty reporting system. Beyond the functional requirements — which ranged from support for different royalty agreement types to features like exemptions and promissory notes — the objective was to make almost every aspect of the system easily configurable.- Define an architectural direction before starting implementation
- Select technologies that cover the broadest range of use cases
- Achieve high unit and integration test coverage
- Apply scalable architectural patterns throughout
Created Value
With the project's challenges and goals in mind, Toughlex drew on its experience with AWS to inform the architecture. AWS CloudFormation demonstrated how a human-readable configuration could produce an entire stack of uniquely configured, interdependent services — which was exactly the model needed here. We implemented AWS Lambda-based microservices to deliver scalability, high test coverage, and an extensibility-first architecture.AgileTo stay current with changing requirements and respond quickly to new challenges, we used Scrum as our Agile framework. This allowed us to set clear priorities and deliver functionality without delays. Throughout the engagement, Toughlex was a consistent part of the team — from backlog grooming through to retrospectives.
ChallengesBeyond the inherently dynamic nature of royalty reporting, the domain itself proved complex. The system needed to handle periodic financial calculations for companies operating across multiple time zones. To manage this correctly, we built a timezone handling library — with dozens of methods extending the core date, time, and timezone logic — that remained useful well beyond the original scope of the project.
Fast AdaptationServiceBridge has a broad feature set serving the varied needs of franchise field service operations. The royalty reporting system had to integrate into existing functionality from day one. Toughlex adapted quickly to the technology stack and its services, which was a key factor in delivering quality results on schedule.
OutcomeToughlex delivered a fully integrated, configurable royalty reporting system that met ServiceBridge's functional and extensibility requirements. High test coverage, a well-structured microservice architecture, and clean integration with the existing platform gave the client a system it could maintain and extend with confidence.
Technologies
Given the product's long history, we built on the existing stack: .NET for the backend, PostgreSQL as the primary database, and Knockout for the client side. For the microservices layer, we used AWS Lambda alongside other Amazon Web Services, enabling a highly scalable, manageable, and cost-efficient architecture. To reduce the overhead of developing and deploying new microservices, we created a reusable template and automated the deployment pipeline across environments using PowerShell and TeamCity.
Skills
- .NET
- Custom Software Development
- AWS
- Knockout
- PostgreSQL
- TeamCity
- PowerShell
- Agile
