The initial prototype of STEVIE.01 was created as an entirely offline experience; authentication, capture, storage and post-processing were all handled using local resources. As the product moved out of prototyping and into production, MMAPT needed the assistance of a skilled partner to realise their vision of a network of cloud connected STEVIEs.
For MMAPT, being cloud-connected enables an enormous competitive advantage, allowing users to login and use their specific settings to shoot products, regardless of which robot they are using, as well as delivering finished assets to clients within seconds of shooting.
Fitzroy IT were heavily engaged in building the prototype solution for MMAPT, contributing an elegant client/server solution for users to control the running of shoots. Fitzroy IT also have a talented and experienced team of onshore developers who are experts at serverless development using a vast array of AWS services and programming frameworks.
MMAPT chose to engage with Fitzroy IT because they were uniquely qualified to take on the challenges presented by MMAPT’s disruptive business model. The project required broad experience across AWS Infrastructure Management, Software Development, Media Management, Robotics and Digital Photography. Such diverse skills are rarely found in one place, but Fitzroy IT prides itself on the breadth and depth of its knowledge and expertise.
Choosing AWS was a straightforward business and technology decision; guided by Fitzroy IT, MMAPT could see that no other provider could meet their needs for global reach, functionality, bandwidth, performance and high-availability at an extremely competitive price.
Additionally, AWS' serverless technology was the perfect fit for developing the MMAPT Cloud platform.
AWS also identified the potential of this project for Amazon’s retail arm and other retail clients. They have provided MMAPT with credits through their Startup Activate program, and assisted Fitzroy IT with Partner Opportunity Acceleration funding.
Fitzroy IT worked with MMAPT to create a short, medium and long-term plan for the development of its cloud platform, which was named MMAPT Cloud.
MMAPT Cloud provides portals for Administrators and Customers. The initial deployment has provided the following functionality:
This initial stage has been incredibly successful and has laid a solid foundation for future development works.
Every second matters to MMAPT, as they aim to create an end-to-end workflow that dramatically outpaces traditional, studio-based product photography. The introduction of MMAPT Cloud has reduced the amount of time it takes to get assets into the hands of the customers who need them. Previously assets were manually uploaded to different customer storage locations when MMAPT staff had the time. Now the process is automatic, and key assets are available less than one minute after being created. Staff can now focus solely on shooting, which has in turn increased the average number of products shot per hour, from eight to eighteen.
The Administration portal which manages users and organisations, allows for the creation of organisation-specific settings. At present this is just being used to set unique S3 buckets, but in the future all settings will be stored in the cloud. The foundations of something bigger and better have been laid with this first release.
Work on the next stages of MMAPT Cloud continues. Coming next:
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