deal connections case study
TRANSCRIPT
Case Study
DEALCONNECTIONS.CO.UK
From Concept to Reality
with Speed & Flexibility
• DealConnections is a UK based company focussed on making investment opportunities in UK more visible to potential investors
• Need: Cloud based E-Commerce Portal
• Key Success Factors: UI/UX, Total Solution, Quick Development, Configurable, Powerful Search, Analytics
• Solution: Cloud based E Commerce Engine that is Configurable. Total Solution from Concept, UI, Design, Development & Maintenance
• Technology: ASP dot.NET 4.0, SQL, AJAX, Entity framework 4.0, IIS
QUICK FACTS
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ABOUT DEALCONNECTIONS
DealConnections is a UK based company (dealconnections.co.uk) has been created by a group of associates with decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions, management buy outs and management buy in activity. DealConnections solves the business problem of a potential investor not having easy access to the potential investment opportunities in the UK. It makes 90% of businesses for sale / investment, more visible to the potential investors.
THE NEED
DealConnections wanted to deliver this business through an online model. It wanted an e-commerce portal to upload deal information on a regular basis, to connect to the potential investors and deliver potential investment opportunities online. DealConnection wanted to offer 3 different types of monthly subscriptions to the potential investors: Market Monitor, Active Investor and Deal Maker. Depending on the type of subscription, the type and quantity of information seen by the subscriber varies.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
The delivery model of DealConnection depended on the E-Commerce portal. The business model of DealConnection was evolving, hence the portal had to flexible. More business features were thought of and had to be quickly added. So the development had to be quick and agile. The concept was new and was targeted at potential investors. Hence the user experience had to be classy and simple. The portal had to be responsive to any device, both for the subscribers and the sellers.
THE SOLUTION
RheinBrüke IT consulting provided a complete solution to DealConnections, from Concept to Delivery. It conceptualised the User Interactions & User Experience for both the sellers and the potential investors, Wire-framed the application, Developed and Delivered a cloud based e-commerce portal to DealConnections (dealconnections.co.uk). The technology used was ASP dot.NET 4.0, SQL, AJAX, Entity framework 4.0, IIS. Since the site requirements were evolving, RheinBrüke used the Agile Development Methodology. Since RheinBrüke were experts in product development, it designed the application using the Product Development Approach. This ensured that the application was configurable and also had design flexibility.
PRODUCT + AGILE APPROACH
Typically Product Development and Agile are 2 independent methods of development. In product development approach, the requirements have to be completely defined, so that the application can be designed to give maximum configuration options to the user. On other hand, in agile approach, the requirements are incremental. Hence, the design and development may not have the extent of configuration flexibility. Combining these two, can only happen by product development experts who have deep knowledge in software engineering.
Since, RheinBrüke specialised in Product Engineering & Development, RheinBrüke was able to combine both these approaches successfully. It satisfied the requirement of offering maximum configuration options to the application user (potential investors, sellers and administrators). RheinBrüke was also able to incrementally incorporate features & functionalities in the application as the business was evolving.
CONCEPT TO DELIVERY
RheinBrüke was able to offer a comprehensive solution to DealConnections From the UI / UX of the e-commerce site, product design, application delivery to application maintenance. RheinBrüke was able to offer the entire gamut of services at of the highest international standards and cost effective prices. This was possible by RheinBrüke as it has a team of experts in Business Consulting, UI/UX, Product Development, Microsoft & Web Technology.
SEARCH
One of the key success factors of the DealConnections was accuracy of search. Search had to be accurate, comprehensive and easy, when a potential investor searched for investment opportunities. To ensure search was comprehensive, every deal had to be multi-tagged.
RheinBrüke provided intelligence in the application which enabled automatic multi-tagging for every deal uploaded / updated. RheinBrüke ensured that automatic tagging was absolutely accurate. This completely eliminated manual tagging of deals. It provided multiple search options to the potential investor and also ensured accurate search results.
INTELLIGENCE
Another key requirement for potential investor was market intelligence. A potential investor required market sector analysis before deciding on the sectors it wanted to invest in. RheinBrüke integrated the application with multiple data feeds and provided extensive analytical tools in the application. This gave the potential investor the power to do detailed market sector analysis before searching for investment opportunities.
VIRTUAL BASKET
In order to give the potential investor an online shopping like experience, RheinBrüke conceptualised and developed Virtual baskets for the investors. The potential investor could pick and choose the potential deals into the virtual basket and purchase the IMs. Using such a concept, while searching for investment opportunities, gave the users a very unique and pleasant experience.
KEY BENEFITS
DealConnections were able to completely focus on its business as RheinBrüke completely shouldered the responsibility of User Experience, Application Design, Development and Maintenance. The cross-functional teams at RheinBrüke translated business idea to reality with speed and flexibility. This has ensured a successful takeoff for DealConnections.
ABOUT RHEINBRÜKE IT CONSULTING
RheinBrücke focuses on offering consulting, technology and outsourcing solutions and services that enable clients to stay competitive and achieve quick growth and profitability. With operational headquarters in Cologne, Germany, the company has a strong focus on the SME Market, with a deep understanding of what it takes for SMEs to succeed. RheinBrücke helps clients adapt to a changing marketplace by ensuring their IT ecosystems are relevant, efficient and perfectly tuned.
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