Performance engineering · Product modernization
SmartTime product rescue
Stabilizing a legacy legal-technology product while opening a credible path to cloud-first architecture.
Outcome
A 10× response-time improvement, a weekly release cadence, and a parallel cloud-native modernization direction.
Context
SmartTime combined a mature MVC and SQL codebase with serious performance and support pressure. It needed immediate engineering focus without losing sight of the platform’s longer-term future.
Challenge
Restore confidence in the existing product, improve delivery rhythm, and explore modernization without pretending a legacy rewrite could happen overnight.
Approach
Make the system work.
- 01
Take hands-on ownership of critical performance bottlenecks and inefficient search paths.
- 02
Create a dependable weekly release cadence to shorten the feedback loop.
- 03
Balance production stabilization with a parallel cloud-first architecture initiative.
- 04
Use Blazor WebAssembly, Azure Functions, Cosmos DB, and Azure Key Vault to shape the modernization path.
Impact
What changed.
- Improved application response times by 10×.
- Reduced product friction through focused stabilization and faster delivery cycles.
- Established a security-minded cloud modernization direction while the legacy platform continued to serve users.
Disciplines
- Performance
- Legacy modernization
- Azure
- .NET