Scalable cloud engineering to optimize application performance and improve reliability

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Bandera Electric Cooperative (BEC) is a member-owned utility company that provides electricity and fiber internet to members in Boerne, Texas. BEC has become a leader in providing energy usage transparency and member education through development of their Apolloware platform.

BACKGROUND

Apolloware is a software platform developed by BEC to gather real-time energy consumption data and, in turn, provide their customers up-to-the-second insight and awareness of their overall energy consumption. Apolloware can identify when a customer is running a specific appliance via an eGauge device installed at the customer’s meter that measures live energy consumption and generation data. This data is streamed to the Apolloware application via Amazon API Gateway and Kinesis Data Streams, and then presented to users via dashboard reports and graphs.

OPPORTUNITY

Apolloware faced multiple challenges with a poor user experience, backend scalability and potential security vulnerabilities. To continue to scale the platform for future growth and entry to new markets, Apolloware needed a redesign and implementation of its cloud architecture.

SOLUTION

BEC selected 27Global to audit Apolloware’s existing code and cloud infrastructure, but based on the audit results and 27Global’s expertise in cloud-native software engineering , data engineering, and DevOps, BEC ultimately hired 27Global to replace their existing Apolloware development partner. 27Global quickly began remediation efforts and the ongoing management of Apolloware development.

27Global Provided:

• Immediate security fixes, including improved management of user credentialing via AWS Cognito
• Remediation of application single points of failure, optimizing application performance, and bug fixes for the application, orchestrated via AWS CodePipeline
• Design and implementation of a new, scalable architecture that supports pooled tenancy of utility, commercial, and residential users
  • Amazon S3 and Amazon Redshift were leveraged for scalable storage of user data.
    • Apolloware and 27Global follow a Sensitive Data Review process to ensure any sensitive data is properly secured and encrypted while in transit and at-rest.
  • AWS Lambda functions were implemented to execute on-demand queries of eGauge devices, which provided real-time feedback on energy consumption and sources
  • A multi-AZ deployment of Amazon RDS for MySQL, with a read replica, to ensure high availability. Client data is stored in a secure pooled model.
• Improvements to the user experience were made by leveraging Amazon Kinesis Data services to analyze users’ consumption data and present valuable insights around their energy usage trends and gamifying the education process

RESULTS

With the help of 27Global, the enhancements to the Apolloware application and cloud infrastructure have resulted in a vastly improved user experience in the mobile application with a modern look and feel, delivering real-time estimates for customers’ utility bills, real time cost estimates by appliance, and even an updated live view of energy usage within the home or business. An additional feature enabled by Amazon SES allows Apolloware to provide users a weekly energy report, plus tips to reduce their overall energy consumption.

“27Global exemplified a deep expertise in cloud-native application development, cloud infrastructure, and data architecture, which was very influential in our decision to partner with 27Global for future development of Apolloware. 27Global’s ability to be nimble and scalable means they’re the right-sized partner for the job – far nimbler and more attentive than the incumbent.”

-Justin McKenzie, VP of Apolloware & Energy Services, Bandera Electric Cooperative

These improvements also extend to the business, where Apolloware is benefiting from an improved user experience in their mobile and web apps – allowing for reduced friction in the hardware installation process, quicker installations, and improved training for installers. Improved analytics and metrics provide Apolloware with data-driven insights into the household environmental impact to identify high-value future feature development and subscription opportunities. In addition, by optimizing Apolloware’s cloud infrastructure, 27Global made an immediate impact in terms of Apolloware’s ability to scale – and do so in an economical way – to accommodate residential and commercial user growth.

Among the list of improvements, 27Global also provided value directly to Apolloware by quickly acquiring domain knowledge of the energy industry and translating technical business needs into actions, bridging the gap between ideas and tangible software value.

LOOKING FOR A PARTNER TO DEVELOP, SCALE, OR MODERNIZE YOUR PLATFORM? CONTACT 27GLOBAL TODAY TO GET STARTED.