A Global Franchise Management System for Pool Leagues
The American Poolplayers Association (APA) was founded by 2 professional pool players in 1979 as the National Pool League. In 1981, it became the American Poolplayers Association. Today, the APA has grown to more than 250,000 members and boasts more members than all other national leagues combined.
In 1999 and for several years following, Entrepreneur Magazine® rated the APA 1st in the category of Sports-Event Planning. In 2005, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked APA No. 173 in the top 500. In 2012, Entrepreneur Magazine also honored the APA with a No. 24 ranking for Best Homebased Franchise.
Given this organization’s rate of growth and worldwide membership, they were in need of more robust software with the ability to handle its expanding membership, league, franchise, and tournament information.
The Challenge – Rescue a Failed Software Development Project
The APA had been working for several years with a large, well-known St. Louis solution provider to convert their existing corporate application to a newer, more robust software development platform. The original software application was designed to manage the franchise, league, and membership portions of the APA’s business process.
Due to a significant amount of consultant turnover and poor project management, the software project was very much over budget and overdue resulting in a 48-page bug report. More importantly, the APA was very dissatisfied with the lack of progress and questioned whether the project would ever be completed.
The Solution – Get the Project Back On Track & Across the Finish Line
In an effort to get the APA project back on track, members of the Swip Systems software development team met with the managers in charge of the project at APA. The goal was to determine if the project could be salvaged or if the project had to be scrapped and restarted from the beginning.
After a thorough review, it was determined that the project could, in fact, be salvaged. However, a large amount of software code standardization and reorganization was required to get the project to a workable state.
1. Standardize customized software code modules
While the software code was being standardized and reorganized, our software engineers began implementing our customizable modules into the application. Our unique, development approach to customized software development allowed APA to quickly make up for lost time and get the software functioning within a very short period.
2. Eliminate every bug documented in 48-page report & test the software
Our software development team eliminated every bug documented in the 48-page bug report and tested the software to make sure the desired functionality was achieved. In a very short time period, the corporate application was scrubbed, polished, and released to production.
3. Convert distributed application that collected data into a web application & roll out via a private cloud
Once the corporate application was implemented and functioning properly, a project was initiated to convert the distributed application that collected data from league operators into a web application. It was then rolled out to over 290 locations across the USA, Canada, and Asia via a private cloud infrastructure.
4. Design & create public-facing web applications to provide functionality to APA league players
At the next phase of APA’s information technology needs, public-facing web applications were designed and created to provide functionality to players in the league. These sites were implemented via a hybrid cloud infrastructure that connected their internet-facing sites to their existing cloud infrastructure.
5. Work with APA to select the cloud solution data center and infrastructure components
Our network engineers worked with APA to select the cloud solution data center and infrastructure components designed to fit the exact needs of the APA.
6. Help with day-to-day problems, upgrades, and questions
Once the applications and infrastructure were in place, our engineers assisted with cloud security and disaster planning strategies to protect APA’s investment. Our network engineers also joined in to help with day-to-day problems, upgrades, and questions that arose during the project.
“Swip Systems restored our faith in customized software development solutions.” –Renee Dyer, Information Systems Manager
The Result– A Fully Functional Web Application, Cloud Solution, and Franchise Management System
This comprehensive solution provided APA with an answer to their customized software development challenges, along with the ability to modify and expand the system as their worldwide organization changes and grows. APA continues to establish new functionality and expand the software applications, including mobile app development to meet the current and future needs of their organization.
If your organization has been stuck in a software, mobile app, or web application project for too long, let us know. We specialize in helping companies finish their projects and reap the benefits of functional, secure business technology. Contact us today for a no-obligation conversation. 877.377.SWIP
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