About
A Norwegian provider of cloud-based HVAC optimisation solutions partnered with DO OK to improve the scalability, performance and operational efficiency of their IoT platform. Over the course of the engagement we eliminated major technical bottlenecks, reduced infrastructure costs, improved data governance and introduced customer-facing features that made the platform more valuable for building managers.
Challenge, approach, and impact
Excessive Microservice Chattiness
The platform ran on 12 loosely coupled microservices that generated a huge volume of internal network calls. This inflated monthly cloud costs and slowed the flow of telemetry data from buildings, so customers often saw outdated information in their dashboards. The architecture also made the system harder to maintain and limited the client's ability to scale.
Loss of Technical Ownership
The client's internal development team had dispersed, and different parts of the platform had historically been handled by separate specialists. This created both operational and strategic risk. The client needed a single accountable partner able to stabilise the system, work independently with little oversight and advise on both technical and product decisions.
Database Storage Limits
In larger buildings with high sensor counts, the cloud database was reaching its storage limits. This created a real risk of data loss and required constant manual monitoring by the technical team, making it difficult to onboard bigger and more complex properties.
Manual Data Quality Control
Technical staff ran hundreds of SQL queries every day to spot missing or inconsistent sensor readings. Historical data from some buildings also lacked standardised formatting, which distorted dashboard analytics. Faults were often detected late, sometimes only after customers reported them, reducing trust in the platform.
Unsafe Release Process
There was no structured release workflow and changes were tested directly in production. This occasionally caused outages that affected customers and turned every deployment into a risk, slowing down the delivery of new features.
Fragile Integrations
Integrations with building controllers and external data providers were prone to failure due to an inconsistent adapter architecture. Faulty integrations could fail silently or return inconsistent results, causing customer complaints and service interruptions. Onboarding a new building could take up to three months.
Accumulated Technical Debt
Large parts of the codebase were written in unstructured, loosely typed JavaScript, and the API was underdeveloped. This increased the risk of regressions, slowed down feature delivery and made the platform harder to extend with new integrations and customer facing functionality.
How we built
Testimonials
Anonymous
“Before starting delivery our team spent two weeks on site in Norway, working closely with the client’s CTO, product owner, CEO and other key stakeholders. By the end of onboarding we had already completed work the client expected to take months, an early sign of our efficiency and ability to work independently. This built trust quickly and reassured them that DO OK maintained continuity while pushing for improvement.“
Team structure
Client team
Jon
CTO
The client stakeholders were working closely with the team at DO OK
Agency team
Fullstack Developers
Production