Andy Lee

Problem

The client wanted to build an application which had the concept of users and security, retrieved data from a back-end service, and subsequently displayed this information to administrators.

Solution

For the application back-end, I built an AWS-hosted data aggregator in Java using the Spring framework. The application was secured using AWS Cognito and IAM services, as well as JSON web tokens.

I also constructed a front-end in React which displayed the aggregated information from the API to the users.

Value Added

The client now had visibility of customer transactions in a secure environment. The application also provided the administrators with the ability to add and/or delete users, as well as adjust their varying degrees of access.

Problem

In order to support a popular product driven by customer engagement on social media, the company used a Microsoft Excel back-end to interface with Twitter and a popular CRM tool. This caused issues with the security and handling of API keys and secrets, as well as a loss of revenue due to the system's inability to handle and process direct messages from customers using the Twitter API.

Solution

The decoupling of back-end services from Microsoft Excel, leaving only the spreadsheet as a de-facto UI which made calls to an external API. This API in turn interfaced with the CRM tool and the Twitter API. I helped to construct the Java service hosted in the cloud using Amazon Web Services (AWS), making use of tools such as AWS Key Management Service (KMS) and DynamoDB.

Value Added

The company was now able to retrieve and respond not only to tweets, but to direct messages from customers on Twitter- directly leading to a new source of revenue. The API keys and secrets were now securely stored in AWS KMS, adding a layer of security which did not exist previously.