The Project
Project Overview
The multi-site gym management project for the VIVA Gym group in Spain, undertaken a few years ago, was Khanyisa Real Systems’ (KRS) first major international development project, an opportunity to showcase South African software development on a global stage.
VIVA Gym had an ambitious target, to aggressively grow the gym chain with a view to exit in under five years. Their current systems were based around a biometric access system that was not a member management system at all and had been heavily adapted. The result was a painful process of member onboarding and monthly debit order problems that prevented VIVA Gym from expanding at the rate they desired.
VIVA required scalability, a proper functioning transactional debtors’ system and most importantly, a flexible promotions engine that could be deployed to drive sales and overall growth.
Why KRS? Our many years of debtors and gym management experience as well as our positioning in South Africa was an ideal match. Being in a very similar time zone and with enough language and business process overlap, working together made sense. Of course, the exchange rate benefited VIVA greatly.
Strong use of remote working tools and shared repositories allowed for easy sharing of information. The initial gym group comprised of 13 gyms and approached 50 very quickly.
The system now features:
- an ecommerce website for members to join using credit cards with integration into Spanish banks;
- Month end debit orders are automated with follow-ups in case funds are not available
- A marketing and promotion tool that allowed VIVA to create dynamic offers to attract new members;
- Data integration into QlikView allowing for rich reporting and business intelligence analysis
- A cross platform mobile booking application to allow members to book classes on the move.
Agile in action: The KRS way
The KRS team adopted an Agile project management methodology throughout the VIVA SPAIN project, which included online daily stand-ups.
Transparency and collaboration were key for effective communication, which was seen as critical for the entire project. The project was conducted remotely, with client meetings and presentations held via video calls ensuring transparency and collaboration.
The Technology
Technology stack and integration
The following technology stack was selected to ensure optimal performance, scalability and integration capabilities:
- Cloud-native solution: The solution was deployed on Microsoft Azure, utilising a SQL database that included a high availability design allowing for full redundancy, and failover capabilities.
- The solution was deployed on Microsoft Azure, utilising a SQL database that included a high availability design allowing for full redundancy, and failover capabilities.
- Back end and front end development:
- The back end was developed in C-sharp (C#) .NET, providing a rich API for the front end.
- The web front end was created using JavaScript with the Aurelia framework, offering a responsive user experience.
- Mobile application:
- The web application was wrapped into mobile applications and deployed on both the Android and iOS (iPhone Operating System) through their respective application stores. This allowed users to quickly access the system, enabling easy class bookings with just a few taps, no matter where they were.
System testing process
KRS rolled out a robust testing and quality assurance process before entering the deployment phase:
- Testing by developers: The developers performed thorough testing of the code, helped with automated test harnesses to maintain quality.
- User acceptance testing (UAT): The web application was deployed to the UAT site on Azure and the client tested it and provided sign off. KRS gave test cases and scenarios for validation by the client.
Post-project support: technical and implementation
Post the project implementation, KRS continued to support VIVA SPAIN in the following ways:
- Ongoing service and maintenance to keep the application highly performant for the many thousands of users and visitors to the website.
- Resolution of queries from the VIVA back-office team.
- Ongoing system enhancements to support VIVA’s aggressive growth targets.
Conclusion
VIVA Gym was a prime example of KRS’s dedication to quality, innovation, and client happiness. KRS was able to satisfy the demands of its first worldwide client by effectively delivering a reliable and scalable solution by embracing new technologies and utilising its current competencies. The cooperation created a long-lasting alliance and opened doors for more initiatives and expansion possibilities. In addition to facilitating VIVA Gym’s quick growth, the project’s accomplishments enhanced KRS’s standing as a trustworthy partner in the global software development landscape.
