Client Overview

A leading UK-based architecture firm sought to modernize its legacy intranet application to improve performance, scalability, and user experience. The existing platform was limiting collaboration and efficiency across their distributed teams, prompting a full rebuild to leverage modern technologies and cloud infrastructure.

Challenge

The firm required a comprehensive solution that could deliver:

• A responsive and intuitive user interface to boost user engagement.
• High availability and seamless scalability to handle fluctuating workloads.
• Robust security and access control aligned with corporate policies.
• Efficient development, testing, and deployment pipelines to accelerate delivery without compromising quality.

Solution

Frontend Development

The frontend was rebuilt using Angular, selected for its robust component-based architecture and reactive programming capabilities. Key implementations included:

• Component-Based UI: Modular, reusable components enabled a clean, maintainable codebase.
• Reactive Forms and RxJS: Enhanced responsiveness and state management ensured fluid user interactions and real-time updates.
• Responsive Design: Delivered a seamless experience across desktop and mobile devices, increasing accessibility for all users.

Backend Migration and Cloud Infrastructure

To provide a scalable and secure backend, the application was migrated to Microsoft Azure with the following architecture:

• Azure App Services: Hosted the backend APIs, offering a managed platform with automatic patching, scaling, and load balancing.
• Azure SQL Database: Provided reliable, fully managed relational data storage with built-in high availability.
• Azure Functions: Implemented serverless, event-driven backend processes to handle asynchronous tasks efficiently.
• Azure Active Directory Integration: Secured application access with corporate identity management and single sign-on capabilities.

This cloud-native setup ensured the intranet could scale dynamically with user demand while maintaining high availability and robust security.

DevOps and Automation

To streamline development and ensure continuous delivery, the project embraced DevOps best practices:

• Automated CI/CD Pipelines: Built with Azure DevOps, these pipelines automated building, testing, and deployment to reduce manual errors and accelerate release cycles.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): ARM templates and Terraform were used for version-controlled, repeatable infrastructure deployments, improving consistency across environments.
• Comprehensive Automated Testing: Unit, integration, and end-to-end tests were integrated into pipelines, ensuring code quality and functionality with every release.

Outcomes

• Enhanced User Experience: The new Angular frontend provided a modern, fast, and intuitive interface, boosting user engagement and productivity.
• Scalable, Resilient Platform: Leveraging Azure cloud services, the intranet now supports dynamic scaling and high availability with minimal latency.
• Improved Security and Compliance: Integration with Azure AD streamlined user management and strengthened access controls.
• Accelerated Delivery and Maintenance: DevOps automation reduced deployment times and improved release reliability, enabling continuous improvement.

Conclusion

By rebuilding their intranet on a modern Angular frontend combined with a scalable, cloud-native Azure backend, the architecture firm transformed their internal collaboration platform into a future-proof, high-performance solution. This project highlights how leveraging component-based UI frameworks, serverless cloud services, and robust DevOps practices can deliver significant business value and operational efficiency.