Background
Using the event registration system is necessary for effective planning and management of any event, regardless of whether it is a sporting event, concert, conference or other events.
Today, as businesses value innovation more and more, and as event attendees value experiences over things, organizers have the ability to both drive innovation for companies, while delighting event attendees hungry for new and exciting event experiences.1
The Need
The ticketing company began their technology innovation a few decades ago, eventually introducing e-ticketing and an online box office solution for consumer events. The problem was that the legacy system, based on older Microsoft technologies, became bloated and unwieldy with updates and new features, making it internally labor intensive. Every new trade show or event required a developer to recode the system manually. The goal was to remove the manual process and enable self-service for client producers to create and set up the event and for attendees to register and pay for tickets. A secondary objective was to switch from ASP.NET to C#.Net to make internal maintenance easier.
The Solution
Project Analysis
The ticket company had been using outmoded Microsoft technologies that they wanted to update. Their biggest issue was how labor intensive it was for new events to be created in the system and the fact that clients could not manage it themselves. They needed a self-service system that would allow non-tech employees and customers the ability to set-up and edit events. This project had two phases.
Phase 1: System Specification and Software Architecture Definition. Time Period: Six Weeks
The first, taking six weeks, involved system specification and software architecture definition. It required daily communication between Softjourn’s Software Analyst and ticketing experts and the client’s subject matter experts to review their entire system. Based on those virtual working sessions we could determine what functionality should stay as-is, as well as what needed to be changed or added.
Phase 2: Software Rewrite and System Performance Improvements. Time Period: Six Months
The second, six-month phase focused on system development and fulfillment, involving software rewrite and system performance improvements to create a new content management system. For years, adding new content to the website with an outdated database meant developers had to be involved in the process. Our solution was to upgrade the client’s database and create an adaptable content management system that would enable even non-technical administrators at the company and at client companies to add and edit events—and allow event attendees to manage their registration and ticket purchases. Based on our Software Analyst’s design, which included mock-ups, user scenarios, and database design, we were able to deliver a flexible, easy-to-maintain event creation and registration system.
Starting a large system rewrite with some analysis, spec definition and mockup creation is a good practice. We also combined continuous integration with unit tests and UI tests, which made testing so much easier and much more effective.
Kostia K., Softjourn Project Manager
