How they came up with the idea for an enterprise application
Back in 2020, the leading operator in the fuel and energy sector sensed the need for a solution enabling employees to communicate securely while ensuring a high level of mobility. At that time, public messengers were extremely popular, and familiar interfaces and classic features enabled convenient work on a smartphone. The same situation was observed in the company — the staff actively used WhatsApp and Telegram for work purposes.
That approach had a shadow side, though, envisaging two negative factors.
Simultaneous communication in several messengers affected the speed of data retrieval and decision-making. Workflow is known to suffer when corporate chats are mixed with those personal.
Furthermore, the developments of 2022 made it clear that foreign solutions are unable (or simply unwilling) to ensure full protection of enterprise information. Information security is a fundamental issue. The country would not afford the risk of jeopardizing the data security of its flagship systemic enterprise, so the idea to abandon Western public products was natural and quick.
These factors underpinned the creation of a unified industry platform for work communication for all of the corporation’s divisions. The company decided to give up on foreign services in favor of the Russian messenger eXpress.
Tasks set
The project’s priority objective was to ensure its complete independence from any solutions supplied by Western vendors. eXpress was supposed to accomplish several critical tasks:
- To provide fast and secure communication between units within the corporation and with external users.
- To involve employees in corporate communication and business processes.
- To offer employees additional mobility by providing remote access to the company’s information systems from their smartphones.
An important prerequisite was the development of the enterprise’s own application to be available in app stores.
Project implementation
The project team addressed the task at hand in several phases. What we did:
- We installed a pilot eXpress version in the corporation’s infrastructure.
- We carried out a series of load tests. Experts and the company’s employees conducted a massive test drive of the messenger that took a couple of months. For our part, we collected feedback to upgrade the platform to its final form.
- • We finalized the solution and put it into commercial operation.
The system had to be replicated simultaneously for tens of thousands of users. The architects and engineers of the project team pulled off: they compiled a roadmap, prepared detailed instructions on the deployment of enterprise servers and supported the company’s technicians whenever they encountered any challenge.
Key security aspects available in our product that were important to the corporation:
- Certification. This requirement was easily met, as eXpress is currently the only messenger-class product certified by the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control.
- Secure data transfer. Our proprietary elliptic-curve end-to-end encryption protocol is responsible for this.
- Secure data storage. In eXpress, all messages and files are stored encrypted within the app container. It is impossible to upload or transmit them externally.
- Security of enterprise accounts. Three-factor authentication using independent channels does the job: SMS to a phone number, password, and enterprise directory data. These rules out the risk of information theft by a third party.
- Enhanced security of correspondence and documents. For this purpose, we have developed an enhanced privacy mode — classic secret chats with a timer enabling automatic deletion of messages and control of system functions. It is based on the principle that is familiar to many users and displays a warning if someone has taken a screenshot of a chat or copied the text of a message to the clipboard.
- Comprehensive information protection. Integration of the eXpress messenger with antivirus software and enterprise data leak control system helps to deal with this challenge.
Gateway to the digital ecosystem
For the application to become a comprehensive enterprise digital ecosystem, we integrated our messenger with the customer’s necessary IT services.
First, we focused on the videoconferencing functionality. Project teams are often located in different parts of the country, so conferences are critical for them. In this project, the platform served as a client for “heavy” videoconferencing systems, specifically for IVA and Mind. eXpress Smart Apps helped put in place a broadcasting service for top management. The result is that all tools can be found in a single secure application.
Second, we integrated eXpress with the corporation’s HR services. We created a Smart Apps application for requesting 2-NDFL certificates, developed chatbots to execute business travel documents and manage employee health checks. Furthermore, we introduced the enterprise mobile assistant to eXpress in chatbot format, which helps deal with a broad range of work-related issues, such as:
- execute vacation or business travel documents;
- contact the customer support center;
- restore account password;
- order a 2NDFL certificate or a certificate for a visa;
- receive copies of documents;
- find out how many days of vacation you have and a lot more.
Results
The project team addressed the task at hand in several phases. What we did:
- The corporation acquired its own industry-wide application for communication. The application makes it possible to bring together all communication channels into a single digital space without compromising communication speed or staff mobility.
- Employees working both remotely and, in the office, now have access to the company’s information systems from any device. You do not have to sit behind the desk to deal with all your routine tasks.
- Information protection has improved. In addition to the encryption protocol and crypto container that we mentioned above, the company gained control over the registration process and push notifications. We also thought about preventing data leaks — we empowered the system administrator to control access to documentation.
Future plans include maximizing mobility for every employee
Our near-term objective is to create a comprehensive mobile workplace on the basis of the eXpress messenger. The solution will save the corporation’s resources and ensure access to the main personal account data on a smartphone, regardless of the user’s location. This is a way for us to ensure work transparency and efficiency, maintain high quality and rate of task execution by the customer’s employees anywhere in the world.
In addition, we are planning to:
- Implement divisional servers, which will reduce the load on channels.
- Increase the number of services to work in the corporate app store.
- Expand technical support for the product and continue improving the existing eXpress features.
