| “BB&D's thorough general knowledge of accounting concepts and systems, its proven ability to deliver on time and within budget, and the overall level of effectiveness demonstrated by the company have established them as our preferred technology partner in favor of other US-based and offshore software development companies. Over the last two years BB&D has built a reputation of a reliable provider of technology and business expertise backed up by quality service. Recently we extended our partnership even further by entrusting them with sub-contract work for some of our clients’ sites.
Flexi has worked with several development partners. I believe that our partnership with BB&D gives us the best competitive advantage and most valuable results. We look forward to ongoing, fruitful interaction with BB&D."
DMITRY TRUDOV
CTO Flexi International
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Flexi International Software, Inc. (“Flexi”) designs, develops, markets and supports the Flexi suite of internet-enabled financial and accounting software for medium to large businesses. Flexi sells software and provides services through various partner channels including Value-Added Reseller (VAR) partners, Flexi Industry Partners (FIPs) and other partnership arrangements. Flexi also provides complete accounting outsourcing solutions that assist partners in providing outsourcing services.
Context
The FlexiFinancials® Suite had originally been developed as a client-server based solution. The rapid adoption of internet technologies meant that Flexi could reach a wider market through internet enabling their accounting software. The current application architecture could not meet the market opportunities that were being presented in the context of VAR partnerships and potential Application Service Provider licensing opportunities. A new application architecture was required to be built to enable Flexi to meet its customer demands.
The BB&D/Flexi relationship had been established in mid 2002 and had grown from strength to strength. BB&D had only been responsible for enhancements, changes and maintenance up to this point in time and were called in as the partner to help create the new generation Flexi accounting system.
Project Description
The first stage was to document and define the Flexi business requirements. BB&D sent a project team to Shelton, Connecticut, USA to document the projects scope and deliverables. After a detailed understanding of the project scope had been defined in the context of both immediate and future requirements the BB&D team returned to consult with the technical specialists back in South Africa to define the most suitable architecture and technologies to be used.
The technical team proposed the use of the Microsoft .NET architecture. This would provide Flexi with a low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) solution with the features and vision geared towards fully internet based application with rich graphical user interface and adoptable web service based back-end. The Microsoft .NET tools also provide a rapid development environment ideal for meeting the tight project deadlines defined by the business team.
The BB&D architecture team exploited the strong points of using .NET approach to achieve a solution that provides Flexi, its industry partners and the Flexi customers with an adaptable software solution ideal for exceeding the market requirements for the near to medium term.
The Solution
The Dynamic Application Framework provides an extendable and customizable user interface to existing server applications by extending and leveraging off the Microsoft .NET technologies. The solution built on top of the framework can be run in either a browser or a smart client. On start-up the application will connect to the Web Server. All files required on the front-end are then downloaded to the user’s workstation, if this is the first time the application is run. The application comprises of a navigation area, a toolbar area and the dynamic application area. The Uniform component, which is the core of Dynamic Application Framework on the client’s computer, has the ability to build screens at run-time according to XML files retrieved from the Web Server. The screens are not therefore static and can be easily adjusted by altering a text XML file. Microsoft is introducing similar capabilities for Windows applications into their next major version of the Windows Operating System called Longhorn.
In order to store business documents entered on the screen the framework makes use of Web Services loaded on the Web Server. Web services are responsible for data exchange between the screen and an Application Database storage applying business rules set up within Flexi accounting system along the way. Once the user has captured the information required on the screen the corresponding Web Service will be called on the server. Backend functionality is designed to be available via both a web service and a set of .NET component, where web services serve as a façade for loosely coupled business logic modules. The Application Backend Server framework is flexible to utilize business logic functionality implemented in legacy COM libraries or .NET assemblies.
Using this framework it is possible to customize application screens according to a customer’s internal requirements including naming of fields, logically grouping fields and laying out screens according their own requirements without requesting customizations from Flexi, as well as to extend functionality of the standard application package with additional business logic on the back-end.
The Result
BB&D designed and delivered a powerful Dynamic Application Framework that provides Flexi with a highly configurable and flexible architecture built on top of the latest technologies and ahead of what is currently available on the market.
The system is internet and intranet enabled with the relevant security and performance features in place to enable the commercial application to operate successfully in this environment.
The modules provide easy capture of complex, mission critical data such as invoicing, bills payable and receivable, general ledger journals, client and vendor details. Issuing of receipts and the paying creditors are also incorporated into the system functionality. At the same time the system is flexible enough to accommodate requirements for unique end-user experience with no changes in the core system.
The initial development of the new Interface involved on BB&D’s side a project of 4 analysts and developers over a period of 6 months.
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Flexi Client Testimonial
The Flexi Client Testimonial, complete with full diagrams, is available in PDF format.
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