Modernizing the platform that helps elderly people live independently

Smart Data partnered with VRI’s product owner, internal QA and existing development team to plan and execute the replacement. A small Smart Data team of two developers and a scrum master worked alongside VRI’s product owner, dedicated tester and occasional internal development support.

Key implementation highlights

• Modern .NET Core web application for both internal and external users, backed by SQL Server
• Role-appropriate views so internal users and external customers consumed the same underlying data with the right permissions
• Wearable device monitoring API designed as a first-class internal product, not a feature; the API is reusable by other applications in VRI’s ecosystem
• Custom Bluetooth drivers for wearable hardware where off-the-shelf libraries didn’t fit
• React front end built around the workflows VRI’s team actually performs
• IIS-hosted infrastructure integrated with VRI’s existing Windows environment
• Architectural decision to elevate the wearable API from feature to product, which paid back across every VRI tool that needed the same device event data

Treating an internal API as a first-class product rather than a one-off integration is one of the highest-leverage architectural calls in any platform replacement. The decision to do that early in the project shaped the value VRI captured later.

Caregivers, family members and VRI’s customer service team got a platform that stopped getting in their way. Four operational changes:

The wearable API decision early in the project shaped the value VRI captured later. Designing it as a reusable internal product rather than a one-off integration gave the rest of the company’s tooling a clean way to plug in.