Case study

99.9% Uptime: A Powerful Management Platform for SMEs That Accelerates Business Growth

European Market


 

  • Team size: 11
  • Development time: 8 months


 

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Background

In 2025, Salesforce reported that many small and medium-sized business (SME) leaders are struggling to keep up with rapid technology change, while 53% said disconnected tools create data inconsistencies that slow decision-making and operations. Salesforce also noted that digital tools have become the backbone of how business gets done, which makes integrated management platform for SMEs increasingly important. 

For the client, the need was clear: they wanted an effective and affordable CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform for SMEs that could improve sales pipeline tracking, support smarter communication, and simplify customer and marketing management in one place. Salesbox, now known as 20NINE, reached out to GEM to build that solution.

smiling customer service representative work

Challenges

Building a high-performing management platform for SMEs required addressing a range of technical and operational challenges, from multi-tenant scalability and cross-platform accessibility to third-party integrations and cross-border project collaboration.

  • The client needed a multi-tenant cloud system with strong scalability and capability.
  • The platform had to work across desktop, tablet, mobile, Android, iOS, and Web.
  • It had to integrate smoothly with calendars, email, contact lists, and task management tools.
  • The product needed a strong user experience, especially on mobile for users who were often on the go.
  • The project also had to handle startup-stage changes, teamwork, communication across business and development teams, and a 5-hour time difference between Sweden and Vietnam.
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Solution

GEM worked with the client to design an optimized cloud architecture and recommended improvements to system design and operability. The development team used a Microservices architecture with API Gateway and Service Discovery, helping the platform scale more easily and adapt to changing business requirements.

The application was first deployed on Google Cloud Platform and later migrated to Amazon Web Services. It was made available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and desktop, so it could be used across all required devices.

Despite the time zone difference, GEM provided 24/7 support to keep communication smooth and handle new changes as they appeared.

Tech stack

  • Native Apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store 
  • Microservices architecture with API Gateway and Service Discovery 
  • AngularJS 
  • Java Spring & Spring Boot 
  • MongoDB, PostgreSQL 
  • Jenkins, Mesos, Marathon, Docker & Docker Repository 
  • Bitbucket 
  • Datadog and ELK 
  • Jasper & Microsoft Excel 
  • Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services 

Output

After months of hard work, GEM helped Salesbox build an end-to-end, all-in-one, user-friendly management platform for SMEs that:

  • Achieved 99.9% uptime with minimal to no disruption during new updates
  • Enabled real-time and transparent oversight of sales pipelines
  • Created a broader sales management experience through easy integration with external tools
  • Provided built-in extraction of lead data from campaigns, websites, emails, and social media

Impacts

Since launch, Salesbox has been highly regarded as a CRM platform that helped sales processes become more organized and focused. It was adopted by many SMEs and became a key contributor to sales growth. It was also recognized as one of the most popular CRMs in North America and Europe, and won:

  • “Best Sales CRM 2016”
  • “Best Newcomer Sales CRM 2017” at the Sales Innovation Expo.

Closing remarks

The collaboration between Salesbox and GEM resulted in an innovative and robust customer relations management platform for SMEs tailored to the dynamic needs of SMEs. Its success shows how the right combination of cloud scalability, integration, and user-friendly design can turn operational complexity into measurable business value.

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