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Recently one Client approached Altamira with an ambitious vision for their education technology platform. However, as we dived deeper into discussions, it became clear that their budget and timeline expectations didn’t align with the scope of full-scale development.
Instead of forcing a decision, we guided them through a structured process to determine what they truly needed to reach their goals faster, while ensuring long-term success.
At the heart of our development philosophy is always a partnership. We know how many things cause headaches in building a business, but we do our best to help clients make the best strategic decisions by understanding their priorities, limitations, and end-users.
Through collaborative workshops, technical consultations, and iterative planning, we enable businesses to validate their ideas before making significant investments.
This method ensures our clients don’t waste time and resources on building something that might not fully meet their needs.
Understanding the right development path
Many clients come to us uncertain about whether they need a full-scale solution or if a Proof of Concept would be a better starting point.
To help them make informed decisions, we take a hands-on approach, working closely to break down their requirements, educate them on possible risks, and align technical solutions with their business goals.
For every pilot project, we start with discovery workshops – interactive sessions that aim to clarify needs, challenge assumptions, and explore the best path forward.
These sessions bring together key stakeholders from different backgrounds, including business leaders, product managers, and developers, to ensure all perspectives are considered.
During these workshops, we help clients map out
The core problem their product aims to solve
The must-have functionalities versus nice-to-have core features
The technical feasibility and potential roadblocks
Budget and time limitations
With this structured approach, we often find that while a client envisions a large-scale solution, they may not need it immediately.
Instead, a PoC or Proof of Concept process can offer a faster way to validate key assumptions, showcase the product’s value to investors, and collect user feedback before committing to a full-scale build.
Testing the waters before full commitment with a PoC
For our EdTech client, we proposed a PoC development to demonstrate the core functionality of their platform.
Of course, this version excluded some of the more complex and costly features—such as the resource library—to keep the initial investment manageable.
Instead of a full infrastructure setup, we used low-code tools to accelerate development and reduce costs.
To ensure transparency, we walked them through every decision
Why key features were omitted and how they could be introduced later
The security trade-offs of using OpenAI’s public API versus Azure OpenAI
How the PoC would provide tangible insights for refining the final product
Eventually, the PoC will use the open-source OpenAI API to reduce expenses associated with Azure OpenAI installation and fine-tuning.
However, as this approach may pose security risks, we didn’t recommend using this version in a live environment with real school data and reports, we insisted on limiting to demo purposes only.
Additionally, the PoC cannot be integrated with the current platform, as its architecture would require redesign.
It is designed to meet the immediate needs of the client but will lack a recovery strategy, autoscaling capabilities, and validation for multi-user usage.
This phased approach allowed our client to move quickly, gather real-world feedback, and avoid costly missteps.
It also ensured they had a clear roadmap for transitioning to full-scale development when they were ready.
Azure OpenAI vs open-source OpenAI
By having its own instance of Azure OpenAI on the Client’s side, it would provide better security of data and a stable dedicated version of the platform.
Advantages of Azure OpenAI over Open-Source OpenAI
Hosted by Microsoft Azure, fully integrated into its secure cloud ecosystem
Improved security with Virtual Network support and Private Endpoints, ensuring controlled data flow
Greater control over model responses, allowing fine-tuning to align with business needs
Data residency control, ensuring compliance with high-security standards
While OpenAI’s public API is a suitable choice for a quick MVP, it poses potential risks for production environments, particularly when handling sensitive user data.
Using OpenAI’s public API for real school data could lead to data leakage, and it lacks the necessary control over generated outputs.
So, we decided on Azure OpenAI to meet high-security standards while ensuring future integrations remain flexible and compliant.
The benefits of a well-designed architecture
A well-structured architecture is the foundation of a scalable, resilient platform. Our architectural approach provides:
Reliability & disaster recovery – Automated backups and a disaster recovery plan ensure data integrity and system stability, even in unexpected failures.
Seamless scalability – The system dynamically allocates resources based on user demand, preventing bottlenecks and ensuring smooth performance.
Efficient resource management – Independent service scaling optimizes costs by allocating computing power only where it’s needed.
Performance optimization – Caching mechanisms reduce redundant database queries, significantly improving response times.
Traffic management & load balancing – An API Gateway directs traffic efficiently, preventing system slowdowns during peak usage.
Fault tolerance – If a service fails, automated monitoring reroutes requests to backup instances, preventing downtime. Messages are queued rather than lost, ensuring all tasks are processed once the system is restored.
Security & compliance – Microsoft’s Key Vault and Active Directory safeguard sensitive information such as passwords and API keys, while encryption and strict access controls protect user and system data.
Background processing – Critical operations run asynchronously, preventing high-traffic scenarios from slowing down user interactions.
This architecture ensures the platform is not only reliable today but also ready to grow easily alongside the client’s growing needs.
Why this approach works
By breaking development into clear, strategic phases, we help clients to:
Avoid unnecessary expenses by proving concepts before full commitment
Gain a deeper understanding of their product idea and technical requirements
Move faster by focusing on essential features first
Adapt and refine their approach based on real user feedback
We believe software development should be a guided journey, not just a transactional service.
Our role is to empower clients, helping them reach their goals efficiently without compromising on quality or scalability.
A smarter and stress-free way to build
Once the PoC (Proof of concept) proves successful, our Client can easily shift to building a scalable solution, moving beyond low-code tools, implementing enterprise-grade security, and designing a resilient infrastructure capable of handling real user data.
The success of any software project is always about making the right decisions at the right time.
By combining strategic guidance, hands-on workshops, and a phased development approach, we, as a software company, help our clients bring their visions to life, removing the headaches along the way.
