A management consulting firm offering a proprietary software platform to manage ISO-based process frameworks partnered with 18North to stabilize, maintain, and enhance their legacy application. This engagement came in the aftermath of a vendor transition , with minimal documentation or technical handover. The firm’s platform is central to its service delivery and client audits, necessitating urgent remediation and long-term support. 18North took over the product, performed reverse engineering, baselined the environment, and evolved the application into a maintainable, scalable platform through phased engagement.

The client is a boutique consulting organization with its own SaaS-style ISO management product . Their software enables businesses to document, track, and audit their quality processes in alignment with various ISO standards. Previously managed by another development vendor, the product suffered from: Legacy codebase inconsistencies Lack of structured documentation Accumulated defects and low test coverage The firm needed a reliable technology partner to stabilize the product , provide continuous support , and take over enhancements critical to client satisfaction and audit cycles.

Zero Technology Handover : The prior vendor exited without knowledge transfer or documentation. Highly Inconsistent Code : Modules had diverging coding patterns, dependencies, and partial implementations. Domain Re-baselining Required : Functional flows and business logic had to be rediscovered and reconstructed . Legacy Defects : Clients were actively reporting issues during production usage, impacting credibility. Need for Sustainable Maintenance : The platform required structure, CI setup, and clean enhancement delivery.

18North implemented a four-phase strategy: A. Knowledge Transition & Environment Setup Rebuilt dev/test environments from available artifacts. Reverse-engineered functional behavior by stepping through UI and server logs. Conducted functional walkthroughs with client SMEs to map business intent. B. Baselining & Testing Created structured documentation of flows, configurations, and known issues. Introduced a defect triage model to classify severity and recurrence frequency. Delivered test plans covering core ISO document flows, audit triggers, and notifications. C. Defect Resolution Focused on top-priority defects impacting production stability. Conducted root cause analysis and deployed patches within 2-week window. Established a release protocol for defect fixes with rollback and audit trail readiness. D. Continuous Maintenance & Enhancements Took ownership of enhancement backlog. Delivered new features on top of stabilized modules. Recommended and introduced code refactoring opportunities during enhancements. Introduced basic monitoring and logging layers for long-term sustainability.

Stabilization Achieved in < 8 Weeks : Core platform stabilized with repeatable deployment and documented flows. 100% Resolution of Critical Defects : The blocking issues impacting production use were resolved early in engagement. Enhanced Client Confidence : The consulting firm resumed client-facing usage and resumed audits using the application. Sustainable Roadmap Established : Feature backlog transitioned into structured delivery plans with effort estimates and test coverage. Reverse-Engineered Success : Team delivered without needing legacy documentation — demonstrating 18North’s adaptability and product salvage capability.

This engagement proved that even a complex, under-documented legacy product can be transformed into a stable and maintainable solution with the right engineering mindset. 18North’s ability to step in post-vendor exit and rescue a mission-critical application reinforces its strength as a dependable partner for mid-sized firms with niche IP platforms.

Tiger Analytics, a global leader in data science, partnered with 18North to deliver a digital web platform that wraps around a machine learning–based optimizer model used for planning retail field force deployments in the Australian market. While Tiger Analytics developed the ML-based Optimizer , which mimicked and improved upon the legacy Excel planning model used by the end customer, 18North was responsible for building the frontend and backend application layer . This wrapper allowed structured ingestion of planning inputs, real-time validations, orchestration of the Optimizer engine, and intuitive rendering of its output to end users. Deployed as a responsive, full-stack web application on Azure , this platform enabled field sales planners to simulate manpower plans across regions, activities, and banners with significant efficiency gains.

The end customer — a leading retail organization in Australia — previously used an Excel-based manpower planning tool that helped allocate sales staff to store activities based on multiple variables: Market calendars Core vs. promotional activities Manpower availability Budget constraints Call plans To scale and optimize this manual approach, Tiger Analytics was engaged to build a machine learning–driven Optimizer , while 18North was brought in to deliver a robust, business-friendly digital interface — one that would manage the inputs, trigger the Optimizer model, and surface meaningful outputs for planners.

Co-Execution Across Teams : Needed seamless coordination between Tiger’s ML development and 18North’s application architecture. Multiple Interdependent Inputs : Five separate structured files (activity grid, manpower supply, call plan, calendar, sales budget) required validation and harmonization. Reusable Output Rendering : Visit plans generated by the Optimizer needed to be dynamically visualized by banner, region, and week. Zero Model Rewrites : The ML model was to be treated as a black-box — no internal changes allowed; all orchestration and API wrapping had to respect this constraint. Scalable UI/UX : Replace spreadsheet workflows with a responsive, collaborative, browser-native experience. Tight Build Timeline : 14 weeks from design to deployment.

18North developed a full-stack web platform that acted as a wrapper and orchestrator for Tiger Analytics’ Optimizer model, delivering seamless planning capability to end users. A. Discovery & UX Co-Design Collaborated with Tiger and customer stakeholders to define: User roles and journeys Input/output expectations Optimizer integration checkpoints Delivered: Interactive wireframes and Adobe XD mockups UI component library for forms, uploads, reports, dashboards Prototypes validated with 5 end users and revised iteratively B. Frontend & Structured Input Handling Technology Stack : Angular 12, Bootstrap, HTML5, responsive design Built interfaces to: Upload five critical inputs Auto-validate data consistency and formatting Modify planner-level values (e.g., target utilization %) Optimizer trigger button allowed users to run the engine once inputs passed validation Post-run, the visit plan was visualized through: Filters for time period, region, banner, store Summary dashboard of over/under allocation C. Backend API Wrapping & Optimizer Orchestration Technology Stack : Python 3.x, Django REST Framework, MySQL Developed middleware to: Receive and validate input files Call Tiger’s Optimizer script as a batch process Parse model output into structured JSON Feed data to frontend for rendering Used Swagger documentation for API contracts Embedded model status tracking (e.g., “Processing”, “Completed”, “Error”) D. Testing, Deployment & Support QA across devices and browsers Deployed on MARS Azure App Service with CI/CD pipelines Supported UAT in Azure QA environment Provided triage and performance tuning post-launch

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Q: Conclusion

This engagement proved that even a complex, under-documented legacy product can be transformed into a stable and maintainable solution with the right engineering mindset. 18North’s ability to step in post-vendor exit and rescue a mission-critical application reinforces its strength as a dependable partner for mid-sized firms with niche IP platforms.

Q: Project Overview

Tiger Analytics, a global leader in data science, partnered with 18North to deliver a digital web platform that wraps around a machine learning–based optimizer model used for planning retail field force deployments in the Australian market. While Tiger Analytics developed the ML-based Optimizer , which mimicked and improved upon the legacy Excel planning model used by the end customer, 18North was responsible for building the frontend and backend application layer . This wrapper allowed structured ingestion of planning inputs, real-time validations, orchestration of the Optimizer engine, and intuitive rendering of its output to end users. Deployed as a responsive, full-stack web application on Azure , this platform enabled field sales planners to simulate manpower plans across regions, activities, and banners with significant efficiency gains.

Q: Customer Context

The end customer — a leading retail organization in Australia — previously used an Excel-based manpower planning tool that helped allocate sales staff to store activities based on multiple variables: Market calendars Core vs. promotional activities Manpower availability Budget constraints Call plans To scale and optimize this manual approach, Tiger Analytics was engaged to build a machine learning–driven Optimizer , while 18North was brought in to deliver a robust, business-friendly digital interface — one that would manage the inputs, trigger the Optimizer model, and surface meaningful outputs for planners.

Q: Challenge

Co-Execution Across Teams : Needed seamless coordination between Tiger’s ML development and 18North’s application architecture. Multiple Interdependent Inputs : Five separate structured files (activity grid, manpower supply, call plan, calendar, sales budget) required validation and harmonization. Reusable Output Rendering : Visit plans generated by the Optimizer needed to be dynamically visualized by banner, region, and week. Zero Model Rewrites : The ML model was to be treated as a black-box — no internal changes allowed; all orchestration and API wrapping had to respect this constraint. Scalable UI/UX : Replace spreadsheet workflows with a responsive, collaborative, browser-native experience. Tight Build Timeline : 14 weeks from design to deployment.

Project Overview
A management consulting firm offering a proprietary software platform to [...]
Customer Context
The client is a boutique consulting organization with its own [...]
Challenge
Zero Technology Handover: The prior vendor exited without knowledge transfer [...]
Solution
18North implemented a four-phase strategy: A. Knowledge Transition & Environment [...]
Outcome / Impact
Stabilization Achieved in < 8 Weeks: Core platform stabilized with [...]
Conclusion
This engagement proved that even a complex, under-documented legacy product [...]
Project Overview
Tiger Analytics, a global leader in data science, partnered with [...]
Customer Context
The end customer — a leading retail organization in Australia [...]
Challenge
Co-Execution Across Teams: Needed seamless coordination between Tiger’s ML development [...]
Solution
18North developed a full-stack web platform that acted as a [...]

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