Implementing a web application within a company is a strategic decision aimed at facilitating its technological evolution by moving away from existing or off-the-shelf systems—which are often cumbersome and complex—and ensuring its long-term viability. The use of web technologies makes it possible to modernize the company’s systems without having to change internally developed concepts of operations, to improve the user experience through clearer and easier-to-use interfaces, and to simplify the maintenance of the systems in question.
However, designing these applications goes far beyond a simple programming exercise; the process can be complex, particularly in highly regulated industries. Identifying needs and formalizing system requirements will then help guide the development of modern applications tailored to the company’s operational challenges.
The aviation, rail, maritime, defense, telecommunications, industrial, and medical sectors have high quality and safety standards and requirements to ensure the reliability of their products, as they must meet specific and stringent needs. The technologies used must, therefore, meet a variety of requirements, such as:
Systems engineering is, therefore, a particularly important step in these projects. Web applications operate in a variety of technological environments and must integrate with other existing systems, data exchange interfaces, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, while communicating securely and efficiently with embedded systems. The specification document for these projects outlines the technical requirements necessary to ensure compatibility and optimal management of dependencies between the application and the various systems.
Access management is another critical component of a web application’s smooth operation, particularly for multi-user systems accessed by various teams within an organization. Indeed, it is crucial to provide users with an optimal experience based on their role within the company and their use of the systems, while protecting data through the proper definition of the necessary permissions for effective long-term control.
In complex technological environments that rely on legacy systems or infrastructure, integrating new features into an existing system is often a challenge. The best approach is generally to deploy new applications incrementally. Also known as “brownfield deployment,” this method allows the existing system to continue operating during the migration, thereby avoiding disruption to the customer’s operations and minimizing risks.
In the long term, the use of modern applications enables the company to manage its technological evolution more effectively, while maintaining a robust and reliable infrastructure and minimizing its reliance on commercial solution providers.
Designing high-performance, secure, and scalable web applications therefore relies on a rigorous process that requires:
While web applications developed for heavily regulated environments often require a high degree of customization, there are common foundations that can be leveraged to benefit all parties.
In recent years, Cysca has carried out several large-scale projects in the rail transportation sector. Two of these projects were designed to optimize the management of train fleets for a total of nearly 100 trains. The systems developed have made it possible to track all trains on a map, generate remote reports on the systems’ status, create automated reports for regulatory authorities, and remotely schedule the display of advertisements on board trains.
The same approach was subsequently applied to a major retail company to help it optimize its order management and delivery planning system. The project addressed performance issues and cybersecurity vulnerabilities by modernizing functionality, all while building on a code base that had been proven in the projects mentioned above.
Technology modernization initiatives are generally long-term projects (one to three years), since the systems involved perform complex tasks and follow sophisticated business rules in highly regulated environments.
The web applications we design meet our clients’ specialized needs. Thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the standards that apply to many industries and the engineering work we perform in-house, we support you in designing and deploying reliable, high-performance, well documented, and cybersecure technology solutions to support your long-term business objectives.
