CAR HUNTER
Case study: Car Hunter, iOS and Android apps with backend web application powered by Microsoft AZURE Cloud
Client
Belgian start-up CAR HUNTER, was born out of the desire to answer a problem that appeared in the car sector in Belgium.
A large number of car professionals spent a great deal of time traveling to see the cars in order to meet the demands of their customers. The time spent in traffic (loss of financial resources, materials, time) had become more and more uncontrollable.
The idea of CAR HUNTER was to free professionals from all this burden and to give them the time they needed to focus on their businesses and clients to increase their profitability.
Very quickly, the idea of creating a dedicated smartphone application became obvious. Indeed, to materialize this idea, it seemed obvious to us that we must use the geolocation functionality present on most smartphones via integrated GPS. And so to develop a CAR HUNTER application for both car professionals who are constantly looking for vehicles, but also for individuals who wanted to sell their car. Having no internal competencies for developing mobile applications and facing the budgetary constraints of a start-up at the beginning, we quickly turned to the solution of outsourcing software development in Romania to optimize our costs.
David Ferreira – Project Manager – Car Hunter
Constraints
The first constraints were related to:
- Language barrier,
- Distance Belgium-Romania,
- Daily exchanges,
- The unknown regarding the real competences of a Romanian company.
Our research has targeted several companies in Romania, able to meet our needs. Very quickly, and after a few discussions, Tesio Software answered all our claims. Andrei speaks impeccable French. The same is true for those in his team. He invited us to visit his headquarters, which we did with great pleasure. Instead, we invited the TESIO SOFTWARE team to our offices in Belgium. Every day, we have established a Skype communication system. Finally, we felt at home, having complete confidence and, above all, in good hands, they were able to accompany us on our adventure.
David Ferreira – Project Manager – Car Hunter
From a business point of view, the major constraint was to be sure that the application can reach the entire Belgian population, as well as the professional group in the Belgian auto sector. We had to make sure that we were present on as many mobile devices as possible.
The solution: an application for each OS plus a dedicated website
In consultation with Car Hunter, we decided to create an application for each available OS: iOS, Android and Windows Phone. In order to consolidate everything, we have created a front-office website and a back-office website for our client so that he can:
- track sales and subscriptions,
- follow the evolution of the number of entries,
- manage customer accounts,...etc.
Specialized in Azure (Microsoft Cloud) and Xamarin developments, we started with the development of the website. Starting from the web version and using Xamarin with the Cross-Platform development platform, we have developed mobile applications for iOS, Android and Windows. Based on the models provided by Car Hunter, we could very easily expand the application on the iOS and Android.
From a technical point of view, the solution architecture is based on Microsoft Azure Cloud Services (Services Platform).
A SQL Server database and a Storage for data and image preservation, a website (ASP.MVC 5) for Back Office, a responsive web site design for Front Office, an API that serves mobile applications and 3 iOS applications, Android and Windows Phone: here are the elements that were the basis of the CAR HUNTER solution.
From a development point of view, this solution is complete, covering all the mobile technologies of today. It has a website in responsive design and a phone application that serves the 3 OSs on the market. It represented for us a new challenge, an important mission, which required much effort, search, research, but also the joy of success that would meet this new challenge.
Andrei Tesio - General Manager TESIO SOFTWARE
The application finally delivered by Andrei's team was 100% in line with our expectations. The Tesio Software team, being agile and competent, is also very receptive. She does not hesitate to come with proposals when the need arises, to our satisfaction. In the end, all the doubts from the beginning disappeared due to the professionalism and skill of Andrei and his collaborators.
David Ferreira – Project Manager – Car Hunter
