Case study

Virtual1

One complex web portal for the UK's largest wholesale telecom network

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Foreword

When we met UK-based Virtual1 back in 2010, we hadn't predicted we'd still be a part of their team 14 years later.

Even after two acquisitions, most recently by PlatformX Communications, Aimprosoft is still their number one choice for IT staffing - even over their parent company's enterprise-level staffing provider.

Project team

6 Backend developers, 2 Frontend developers, 2 QAs
In progress since

September, 2010

Story

As a start-up, Virtual1 focused on making clients independent of expensive overheads and complicated internet connectivity issues. In the UK, laying cables can cost up to £100 per meter, but as a leased line provider Virtual1 could offer customers a more affordable, convenient internet connection.

When we initially helped Virtual1 scale, their customer relationship management systems and service coordination were managed almost entirely by hand. Not only did they need one single seamless, customer-facing portal to service clients, but also a way to shift expensive manual work to an automated, streamlined system.

Together, we decided that Liferay was the strongest tool to cover both internal management needs and support Virtual1 through exponential commercial growth.

Challenges

Initially, Virtual1's fast growth and big goals meant they needed a portal that could provide: Capacity to support an array of equipment, customer orders, and communication between providers and suppliers.

In 2011, Virtual1 became an Internet Services Provider, pushing the need for an increasingly complex platform that supports broadband internet providers and clients.

Solutions

1Portal

We used split user stories to understand gaps in services Virtual1 offered and ways to improve their portal. Their variety of distributing partners also made the portal more complex to include services like

Connections to Virtual1
Users, payments, and internal/external communication
Network resource monitoring

5 Key Elements to Virtual1's Portal

Together, we decided these 5 factors would take priority when building their portal:

Smart and quick onboarding for new partners and clients.
One single server for every single partner.
High security and authentication measures.
Settings for users, customers, pages, and permissions.
Simple and sleek design.

Pioneering a new portal isn't cheap. Liferay is still the best resource to build a portal while managing possible risks, keeping development costs affordable, and including these 5 key elements:

Smart and quick onboarding for new partners and clients.

Fast and simple sign-ups make for a seamless onboarding experience. Clients register with their name, the name of their website, and other basic yet crucial contact information. Our Liferay's experts used portlets so clients can begin business cooperation faster.

One single server for every single partner

Each new partner gets the same impeccable online experience, with no code resources and easy customizations within accounts.

High security and authentication measures

As Virtual1 continues to grow, strong security measures are needed for both clients, the portal, and customer websites themselves.

Settings for users, customers, pages, and permissions

Virtual1 emphasized the importance of every individual user's experience, customer management, and role definitions within the portal. User grouping allowed us to organize all communication, orders, prices, purchase statuses, contracts, and more to keep internal and external activity organized.

Simple, sleek design

Their online portal offers an easy-to-navigate user experience and customizable looks that align to different brand styles.

Development

As Virtual1 grew, we developed a variety of solutions for users and internal team members, including

Custom order workflows
Settings based on service packages
Kit for partner account settings, like access, management, and communication

Partners aren't only able to order products, they can also compare carrier prices, and safely and securely e-sign documents within the portal.

Location-based pricing, in real-time

We developed a price map so customers can request an accurate price estimate of their or their business's location. They can also compare multiple providers, overall availability in their zone, and service packages.

Side-by-side price comparison of internet providers
Seamless online orders via simple forms
One portal for all customer services and accounts
Resources to automatically monitor service

Salesforce Integration

Their portal is integrated with Salesforce, so management of leads, sales, and their funnel is seamless for Virtual1 and partners.

Automatic notifications and updates immediately show up in Virtual1's portal, including information on orders, data, equipment, and business opportunities are all reflected.

1Access

This tool allows Virtual1 to monitor orders and quotes within the portal. Partners can also create their own orders and monitor customer orders independently via Virtual1's portal.

UX/UI Design

Part of Virtual1's overall goal was to build a portal that isn't only functional, but stylish and engaging for users.

Our designers focused on blending Virtual1's branding with the portal internally, while keeping the user experiences for client, partners, and customers simple and intuitive.

Stack

— Frontend
— Backend

Liferay themes
Sass
Css
jQuery
AngularJS
Bootstrap
Liferay
Spring
Hibernate
Salesforce integration
Spring Boots
PRTG Integration
Elasticsearch
Tomcat
Velocity
BECS Integration
SOAP
JSON
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Jenkins
Maven
Gulp
Ant

Results

Aimprosoft has supported Virtual1 from scrappy start-up to surviving two acquisitions and becoming a household name.

In 17 years, Virtual1's partnership requests have increased by 100x, catapulting them to become a top telecom provider in the UK. In 2016, they won 'Network Provider of the Year.' And progress hasn't paused - now, we're focusing efforts on their B2B corporate distribution portal. We're excited to see what they'll achieve next.