Legacy Mobile App to Digital Platform
The mobile app was built on an aging stack with frequent crashes and slow release cycles. Backend services were tightly coupled, making changes risky. The business needed a modern digital platform to support new customer journeys and faster releases.
Client Type
Consumer Services Enterprise
Region
APAC
Engagement Type
Platform Modernization + Migration
Duration
8–11 months
Role
Delivery lead for migration plan, platform build, and phased rollout
What We Delivered
- New cloud-ready backend services for core customer journeys (login, profile, transactions)
- API layer to decouple mobile apps from legacy backends during transition
- New mobile app builds with improved UX and consistent performance baselines
- Migration toolkit for user sessions, feature flags, and phased feature rollout
- Observability and incident response playbooks for go-live stability
How We Delivered
- Used a 'strangler' migration approach: new APIs alongside legacy until cutover
- Implemented feature flags for safe rollout and quick rollback per region/user cohort
- Enforced CI/CD pipelines with automated tests and release gating
- Ran performance testing for peak traffic; tuned caching and timeouts
- Conducted staged rollouts: internal users → 5% → 25% → 100%, with KPI gates
What Made It Hard
- Legacy dependencies with inconsistent APIs and undocumented edge cases
- High user impact risk; required controlled rollouts and strong telemetry
- Tight timelines driven by business launch commitments and seasonal peaks
Results and Impact
Stability Improvement
Reduced app crash rate by ~45–60% within 8 weeks of new app rollout. Lowered Sev-1 production incidents by ~35% post-migration stabilization.
Release Velocity
Increased release frequency from monthly to bi-weekly after CI/CD stabilization.
Performance Gains
Reduced average API response time for key journeys by ~30–40%. Improved customer login success rate by ~8–12% through session handling fixes.