Global Information Solutions is a value added services provider that specializes in content delivery via USSD, SMS, and MMS. Based on their experience, the company saw that it was crucial to deploy stable services quickly to market, especially in a climate where multiple providers and operators already exist. If this is not achieved, there is a risk of competition gaining market share because of better first-to-market approaches. To help meet these needs, the company has developed a Product Delivery Platform and a Product Designer.
The Product Designer is a tool created on the NetBeans Platform. It helps design and develop services to be launched to the customer. It is a product flow designer geared towards the quick and easy development and deployment of telecom value added services, enabling telecom operators to create products/services triggered by SMS/USSD and related protocols.
When completed, the product is deployed to the Product Delivery Platform. The platform and designer are developed around the concept of a service as a collection of products, accessible via unified service codes from multiple sources.
NetBeans Platform
Initially, the idea was to create a web application or a from-scratch Swing application, but there were too many limitations and complexities in order to get the application out quickly. There was a need for an application that the user could take home and continue working on, regardless of what they were doing. In addition, there was a need to develop components from scratch.
Most developers were already familiar with NetBeans IDE and its API comes with an array of easy to use frameworks and components. So, the decision was made to go in this direction. The NetBeans Platform update mechanism is also great, especially when there are releases that need to be pushed to clients.
Currently, the solution is used internally in the company, while an external VAS provider is also using it. The total software package is targeted towards VAS providers and telecom operators but is not limited to them.