Case study
Rebuilding the Labourpower Portal
Labourpower Recruitment Services, a prominent player in Australia's labour hire sector, required a robust technological solution to manage their extensive operations and large casual workforce efficiently.
We stepped in to provide a comprehensive digital solution, encompassing a web-based dashboard and a mobile application.
Technologies used
Laravel, Vue, Inertia, Tailwind, Vapor, AWS, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions, MySQL, RDS, DMS, Fathom Analytics, Sentry, Octane, Pennant, Pest, Sail, Sanctum
Duration
Rebuild completed in 4 months
Project history
We originally built the first version of the Labourpower Portal back in 2015, using Laravel 5.1 and Angular.js, and it served the needs of internal staff and recruiters, clients, and casual staff for many years. The Portal gave clients and staff the ability to run reports in realtime, which was previously impossible and took valuable time from staff away from activities that provide real value to clients and casual staff.
Labourpower continued to evolve their technology with us, and we have been working with them ever since. As the needs of the business changed, in 2019 we implemented time-and-attendance (TA) and rostering modules, allowing clients to order casual staff and see their orders get filled in realtime, and review and approve timesheets so that casual staff can be paid accurately.
Rather than add this to the existing (now legacy) Portal codebase, we opted to implement these modules under a separate application, using Laravel 6 and Vue 2. We moved both the Portal and TA applications onto Laravel Forge and hosted them on AWS. This combination of old and new applications worked for the next 4 years.
Even with regular maintenance, the Portal had become undeniably slow. With the explosive growth of the business, some of Labourpower's reports were now taking over 10 seconds to load, and the UI had started to feel dated.
It was time to rebuild and modernise the Portal.
Rebuilding for scale
Labourpower approached Atlas Software to rebuild the Portal from the ground up, and with their complex objectives, we came up with some creative solutions to meet the needs of their growing business.
We rebuilt, upgraded and modernised the web dashboard with the latest versions of Laravel and Vue, and improved the UI to today's standards using Tailwind. During the process, we consolidated the reporting, rostering, and TA modules into a single codebase.
We moved the database away from SQL Server to MySQL on RDS Aurora Serverless, and reduced report loading times from 10+ seconds to 450 milliseconds on average.
We implemented single sign-on (SSO) for all employees, and now require two-factor authentication (2FA) for all clients.
We adopted serverless technologies including Laravel Vapor and RDS Aurora Serverless to scale the Portal infrastructure with usage. This allowed us to decommission over 30 EC2 instances, immediately cutting spend in half.
All of this work was completed within 4 months.
Going live
We had fully documented the go-live procedure prior to kicking off, so the actual day went very smoothly, but the process was quite involved:
- Disabling Horizon (Redis) queue workers
- Making changes to DNS records
- Redirecting now obsolete domains to the new Labourpower Portal, rewriting specific URLs as needed
- Running migrations across multiple projects that use different database technologies (SQL Server and MySQL)
- Using AWS' Data Migration Service (DMS) to replicate hundreds of millions of table rows from SQL Server and restructure it for use in MySQL
- Configuring firewalls to permit access from Lambda instead of fixed IPs from EC2 instances
We did all this with only a few hours of downtime, and were quite happy to see some eager clients exploring the new Labourpower Portal by Saturday afternoon - a very rare sight.
Visit the Labourpower PortalThe results
Now 6 months later, Labourpower is thrilled with the results of our rebuild of their Portal.
- Increased operational efficiency
The revamped Portal dashboard significantly streamlined Labourpower's administrative and operational processes. This enhancement led to quicker decision-making, reduced manual effort, and more efficient management of resources. It also facilitated better data management and analysis, enabling Labourpower to make more informed strategic decisions.
- Enhanced employee experience
The Labourpower App transformed the way over 5,000 casual staff interact with their work schedules and payroll information. This improvement in accessibility and user experience resulted in higher staff engagement, reduced queries to HR departments, and an overall increase in employee satisfaction. It also contributed to a more transparent and trust-building relationship between the staff and management.
- Technological advancement
The adoption of the latest versions of Laravel and Vue, coupled with the scalable architecture provided by Laravel Vapor, positioned Labourpower as a leader in technological advancement in their industry. This modernisation has not only improved their internal operations but also enhanced their reputation as an innovative and forward-thinking organisation.
- Scalability and reliability
Hosting the Portal on Laravel Vapor ensured high scalability and reliability, accommodating the growing needs of Labourpower without compromising on performance. This cloud-based solution allowed for seamless handling of high traffic and data loads, ensuring uninterrupted service to both administrators and staff.
- Cost-effective solution
The efficient and rapid rebuild of the Portal, along with the ongoing maintenance of the mobile app, provided Labourpower with a cost-effective solution. The use of modern, open-source technologies reduced total cost of ownership while delivering high-quality, robust software.
- Improved data security
With the latest technology stack, the new Portal offered enhanced data security features, ensuring the protection of sensitive employee and company data. This was crucial in maintaining Labourpower's compliance with data protection regulations and in building trust among users.
- Feedback and continuous improvement
The continuous maintenance and updating of the Labourpower Portal based on user feedback exemplified Atlas Software's commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation. This approach ensured that the Portal remained relevant, user-friendly, and effective in meeting the evolving needs of Labourpower's workforce.
Project statistics
- Project duration
- 4 months
- Daily users
- 5,000+
- Daily requests
- 200,000+
- Average response time
- 84 ms
- Servers
- 0
“Atlas Software's redevelopment of our Portal and the continuous maintenance of our mobile app have been game-changers. These solutions have not only streamlined our operations but also enhanced the work experience of our staff. Atlas' expertise and swift execution have been invaluable.”
5 out of 5 stars