Harnessing the big ideas.
Working with industry leaders Boardman Bikes we helped place Olympics level performance tools in the public domain.
Our bespoke booking system is vital - the “backbone” of the Centre’s operation. It enables us to take customer bookings online and manage colleagues’ daily schedules. The most important benefit is that it can accurately offer customers the real-time availability of a session at the Centre without manual intervention from our team.
Tom Payton
Head of Performance Centre, Boardman Bikes
The future of cycling training.
The custom booking tool we developed in partnership with Boardman enables web visitors to book online for a variety of custom cycling activities.
The application automates facilities and staff management and builds an itinerary for stakeholders so they know the classes and assets they will be using in real time.
Via a web portal login, visitors are able to visit a custom area. They can view feedback and graphical and video performance data to measure and improve their overall performance.
Breaking the frame.
Having worked with the Boardman team for several years we'd bred a great culture of collaboration and discovery. When they first came to us with the idea of Europe's first publicly available wind tunnel and cycling training facilities we were blown away by the concept.
They faced many analogue and digital issues and built an internal and specialist 3rd party team that could work together to solve challenges and develop ways of integrating several elements to deliver state-of-the-art end-user experiences.
We were asked to research and recommend developing a booking system that had to manage several assets including equipment, specialist staff, customer requirements and general time management that wasn't achievable with off-the-shelf systems.
The second element was to integrate a customer portal area for visitors to book and also login to see their data and graphical performance for them to learn where improvements could be made. Data was received from 3rd party software applications and had to be understood and displayed appropriately within a browser environment.
Enabling ambition.
With no similar applications available there was a blank canvas and we entered into a journey of discovery together.
Our priority was to develop a proof of concept together to ensure all of the disparate technologies and applications could be accessed and visualised appropriately.
As there was no previous application to utilise for experience, we had to stress test real world scenarios and make recommendations on how to achieve them.
Automating the availability of personnel with specialist expertise alongside operational challenges such as holiday and sickness quickly became complex and had to be considered fully to ensure robustness.
Security was also a key requirement and high level encryption required due to the personal nature of the data being communicated. We advised on best practice to ensure the Microsoft Azure infrastructure was planned and specified appropriately.
Microsoft technologies used by Boardman Bikes.
The application utilises several Microsoft technologies and we continue to research and develop enhancements utilising the Microsoft stack.
Cloud Based Infrastructure
We utilise the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform to create, deploy, and manage our customers' infrastructure in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
On Demand Data
Azure SQL can easily scale up or down on demand enabling us to efficiently manage customers' workload and application performance.
Automated Failover
Built in disaster recovery features automatically replicate data to secondary geographical regions in the event of an outage to help maintain application availability.
Proactive Security
We implement automated cloud-native security solutions to detect and respond to potential threats to our customers' applications.
AI Technology
By utilising Azure AI technologies we can provide our customers with advanced capabilities for machine learning, cognitive services, and natural language processing to enhance automation and decision-making processes.
Data Protection
Our customers' critical data and workloads are protected through continual cloud based monitoring, backup and restoration.
Hello world.
Launched in 2018 the application was a great success that enabled the team to concentrate on the primary role of the service: provide a service for keen cyclists to a level never before experienced outside of professional race teams.
The scheduling removed operational challenges and the team confident that their appointments were reliable.
We developed a custom shared calendar for all stakeholders to visualise areas and equipment that were being utilised and availability managed frictionlessly.
We developed an API to manage integrations with 3rd party partners and developers to provide a seamless experience for users to ensure accurate data visualisation and the use of video to illustrate the performance charts and feedback.
We are proud of the great work we achieved with the Boardman team and continue to work together on their web presence.
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/
Client Success.
We've worked with numerous partners, delivering scalable application development, technical insight and recommendations. We're confident we have previous experience that will add value to any challenge we're presented with.
Thinking outside with James Ryan.
Brand Communications Manager, Boardman Bikes.
What surprised you?
The success of our B2B services. Pro-teams and coaches hiring the centre and facilities.
The flexibility of the scheduling software means we can effectively manage the staff and room resources required to service these types of bookings with ease.
What was fun?
Venturing into the unknown. Doing something new, with unique requirements.
The software is an integral part of what we wanted to deliver. Seeing that come to life alongside the centre itself was a blast.
What's next?
We’re working with bluebox on new algorithms focused on improving efficiency at the centre.
Enabling more sessions will will allow us to increase visits, improve asset management and ultimately, increase revenus.
The system is clever enough for us to factor in colleague annual leave, colleague rotas over a 7 day period as well as factoring in session structures which require multiple rooms and colleagues. The system gives customers a positive first experience of the Centre.
