Empowering Sales Teams on the Go: Introducing AppMySales, the mobile solution for Sage X3?ERP

Empowering Sales Teams on the Go: Introducing AppMySales, the Mobile Solution for Sage X3?ERP

At Brighten Consulting , we use technology to simplify our clients’ businesses. Our Digital service line focuses on automating and customising processes to achieve operational excellence.

We’re excited to introduce AppMySales, a revolutionary mobile app designed to transform the sales process for businesses using Sage X3 ERP. In this article, we’ll take you behind the scenes to explore the journey of creating AppMySales, from the initial spark of an idea to the challenges we faced and the ultimate achievements we celebrated.

Overview

A dynamic client with a growing sales team approached us, seeking a mobile solution to enhance customer interactions and simplify sales activities. Sales representatives were spending valuable time on manual tasks such as navigating planned routes, accessing customer data, and processing orders.

Our goal was to create a mobile app that would:

• Enable efficient route planning and visibility for sales representatives.
• Facilitate quick and accurate sales order creation in the field.
• Provide real-time access to customer data, history and insights.
• Simplify payment recording of several financial documents like invoices and credit notes.

To achieve this, our talented Digital team collaborated with stakeholders from the client and Sage X3 consultants, leveraging a modern architecture and robust technology stack to ensure seamless integration with Sage X3 ERP and create the ultimate mobile sales solution.

Technology Implementation

We required an architecture that could provide the flexibility and scalability to support the app’s diverse functions. We developed a user-friendly interface for the mobile app, optimised for iOS and Android devices, ensuring a consistent experience for all sales representatives across devices.

The integration with Sage X3 ERP was crucial. We utilised Sage’s SOAP web services framework to securely connect our app to the ERP system, ensuring real-time data synchronisation and access to relevant customer and product information.

Seamless CI/CD Backend: A Robust DevOps Approach

To guarantee a smooth and reliable user experience, the AppMySales backend development team adopted a rigorous Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) strategy. Leveraging Azure DevOps pipelines, we automated the entire build, test, and deployment lifecycle.

Key advantages of our Back-End approach:

• .NET Core Foundation: The backend was built using the latest?.NET Core framework for high performance and scalability, adhering to modern development best practices.
• Microservices Architecture: We embraced a microservices approach, breaking the backend into loosely coupled, independently deployable services. Each service represented a specific business capability and was encapsulated. Containerisation allowed us to scale each microservice independently based on demand. This flexibility was crucial for handling varying loads on different system parts and optimising resource utilisation.
• NuGet Repository: Each microservice within our solution produced NuGet packages published to a private Nuget server set as an Azure DevOps Artifacts feed. This streamlined dependency management and allowed easy component sharing and reuse.
• Automated Pipelines: Azure DevOps pipelines were the backbone of our CI/CD. Each code commit triggered a pipeline that executed unit tests, integration tests, and code quality checks. Successful builds were automatically deployed to staging environments, fetching the latest NuGet packages from our private feed and creating new container images for each microservice.
• Code quality: We integrated SonarQube into our pipeline to maintain high-quality code. It provided detailed reports on code coverage, potential bugs, vulnerabilities, and code analysis, helping us identify and address issues early in the development cycle.
• Comprehensive Monitoring: We implemented a comprehensive monitoring strategy based on OpenTelemetry through Azure Insights for basic metrics and the Jaeger observability platform for distributed tracing. Additionally, we wanted to go beyond the Azure ecosystem and be able to use other systems, such as integrating Jaeger with AWS OpenSearch, for long-term storage of traces and logs, providing powerful search and analysis capabilities.

Combining all these enabled seamless CI/CD for the AppMySales backend. This accelerated our development cycles and ensured the backend remained stable, reliable, and ready to adapt to evolving business needs.

Front-End Development for Speed, Scalability, and User Delight

To boost development and swiftly bring AppMySales to market, we strategically chose a low-code tool based on Flutter/Dart for the mobile app’s front end. This enabled the simultaneous publishing of artefacts for both Android and iOS, ensuring broad device compatibility. Flutter’s flexibility and performance allowed us to rapidly create a visually appealing interface with smooth animations and seamless integration with device-specific features. It also empowered us to tackle the complexities of material pricing calculations, sales order management, and secure payment recording.

Key advantages of our Front-End approach:

• Rapid Time-to-Market: Low-code development significantly accelerated the initial release and feature updates.
• Enhanced User Experience: Smooth animations, intuitive interactions, and device-specific features elevate the app’s usability.
• Performance Optimisation: Flutter’s efficient rendering engine performance optimisations ensure a responsive experience, even with complex calculations.

We’ve crafted a robust mobile app that empowers sales reps and provides valuable insights, all within a visually engaging and highly responsive interface.

Achievements

AppMySales has been a resounding success, delivering numerous benefits to our client’s sales team:

• Route Optimisation: Sales representatives can now effortlessly identify and navigate their daily routes, saving time and costs.
• Sales Order Creation: Orders can be created, customised, and submitted directly from the app, speeding up the sales cycle and market offer process.
• Customer Insights: The app provides access to key performance indicators (KPIs) and visually engaging charts, giving sales representatives valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences.
• Sales History: A detailed transaction history is readily available, enabling better-informed decision-making.
• Charge Capabilities: Secure payment collection is integrated directly into the app, improving cash flow and customer convenience.

Challenges and Solutions

Throughout the project, we encountered some hurdles:

• Data Security: Ensuring the security of sensitive customer and sales data was paramount. We’ve used encryption protocols and authentication mechanisms to protect against unauthorised access.
• User Adoption: Encouraging widespread app adoption requires comprehensive training and ongoing support. We created user guides, conducted training sessions, and provided a dedicated support channel to address questions or concerns.

Future Outlook

We’re committed to continuously enhancing AppMySales. Our future plans include integrating advanced analytics to provide deeper insights into sales trends and customer behaviour. We’re also exploring features like:

• Offline Functionality: Sales representatives often operate in areas with limited connectivity. Build offline capabilities into the app, allowing them to access critical data and operate without an internet connection.
• CRM functions: Empower sales representatives with tools to support all commercial activities aligned with the ERP capabilities.

AppMySales is more than just a mobile app; it’s a game-changer for sales teams. It simplifies processes, enhances customer interactions, and provides actionable insights, empowering sales representatives to achieve greater success.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our experience helping businesses achieve digital transformation.

If you’re looking to revolutionise your sales process with a tailored mobile solution, Brighten Consulting is here to help.

Contact us today to schedule a demo and learn more about AppMySales and how it can transform your sales operations.

*This post is part of our series showcasing how technology simplifies business at Brighten Digital’s service line.

*Are you curious about our AppMyWork product line? Stay tuned as we explore its full range of features and benefits in the upcoming posts in this series.