Benelux’s Top Private Education Provider Crafts a New and Improved Learning Platform
Challenge
To support the next stage of its growth strategy, the Benelux region's biggest training institute engaged us to help upgrade its learner-facing education platform.
Outcome
The new and improved platform now provides 5,000 - 10,000 users each day with a faster, more user-friendly experience on a more scalable and maintainable technological bedrock.
Building an interface for self-improvement
Salta Group is the largest provider of private education in the Benelux region. Its 25 training organisations equip over a million people annually with the skills they need to thrive. With a client base of over 15,000 employers, Salta Group is an integral part of the region’s educational ecosystem for learners of all ages. Its front-end interface, e-Connect, allows students, teachers and employees to log in and interact with their courses and learning programmes. As the primary customer-facing aspect of their software estate, the Group’s growth plans depended partly on the scalability of this platform.
The Group had doubts as to whether eConnect 3.0, its current iteration, could bear the load of its ambitions. To maintain and grow its leading position in the Netherlands and promote expansion in neighbouring nations, the Group has set its sights on substantial annual growth. To realise these aspirations, Salta Group knew it needed to leverage a technological advantage over its competitors and adapt its software products to the preferences of a modern user base.
To make sure eConnect and all its component parts were up to this challenge, the company identified five key objectives for the platform:
- Compatibility with multiple screen sizes and resolutions
- A ‘touch first’ approach on all web applications configured primarily for touchscreens, but also useable with mouse and keyboard
- Location and time awareness, allowing for notifications about upcoming events
- A secure, high-performing and reliable experience with little-to-no downtime
- Higher cost effectiveness, with a lower time to market for new features
As a result of Endava’s strong reputation in the Benelux region, Salta Group engaged us to deliver the new and improved eConnect 4.0.
Charting a course to user-friendly learning
The project started with an analysis of how to achieve the goals earmarked for the new iteration of eConnect. This wide-ranging exercise identified some potential technical ways forward, with a single page application (SPA) implementation picked as the most promising candidate.
Our developers proposed to explore this option through a proof of concept project. We devised and implemented a full SPA pilot. This validated the theory that a SPA modality would be the most appropriate. It also allowed our team to test out new ideas for student-facing functions and the platform’s information architecture.
Once this experimental phase was complete, we analysed the results and decided on the exact technology stack to be implemented. This strategy considered the client’s wishes to incorporate the most up-to-date applications to ensure the platform’s longevity.
The development process took two years, steered by a team of 20 people. It involved a gradual migration of functionalities, onboarding students first, then teachers and then employees.
Helping thousands of students thrive each day
e-Connect 4.0 delivers a qualitatively better user experience. Asynchronous loading of the different application areas has cut loading times and allowed users to find the information they need more quickly than ever.
A reduced need for trips to the server and a smaller message exchange have contributed to this faster user experience. These new, under-the-hood features also materially contribute to Salta Group's growth plans by making the platform more scalable.
The project has also improved the quality and maintainability of the app’s existing functions and features. This has unlocked a set of new integrations with third parties like examination providers and chatbot solutions.
By installing reusable REST API services in the backend, we were able to make the platform easier to maintain. This also had the welcome effect of decoupling direct dependencies between the front and backends that might hinder flexibility.
The whole project has resulted in an elegant, user-friendly learning platform that now supports between 5,000 and 10,000 users each day.
We are proud to see our software engineering expertise helping organisations and individuals fit themselves with the skills and knowledge that will help them thrive in a fast-changing world.
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