Developing a Custom Application for a Clinical Trial Supply Leader Using AWS and Modern Frameworks

Our customer, a pharmaceutical services organization, needed to streamline their Oracle Cloud data management processes for handling large volumes of serial numbers across purchase orders, work order receipts, and sales order reservations. The existing manual data entry processes were time-consuming, error-prone, and created bottlenecks in their operational workflow.

Apps Associates was already a trusted, proven provider for Application Managed Services (AMS) and AWS Infrastructure Managed Services (IMS), and so the customer engaged us to develop a specialized web-based utility that would simplify and expedite the mass data upload process.

Leveraging AWS Cloud infrastructure and modern frameworks, the team created a custom Mass Upload Toolkit. This is a sophisticated solution that integrates seamlessly with Oracle Cloud applications while utilizing AWS Amplify for the front end and AWS Lambda for back-end processing.

The application provides standard users and administrators with an intuitive interface for managing large data sets, enhancing productivity and ensuring data integrity. Apps Associates was selected as the partner for this project based on the quality of our previous deliverables, the integrity of our team of experts, and our dedication to implementing value-driven, high-performing solutions.

Customer Overview

The customer operates in a regulated pharmaceutical environment with strict data integrity requirements. The deployed solution spans multiple environments:

Oracle Cloud Environment:

  • Integration with Oracle security authentication
  • JSON Web Token (JWT) token-based authorization
  • Oracle Springboard integration

AWS Cloud Infrastructure:

  • AWS Account – fully managed by Apps Associates Infrastructure Managed Services (IMS) support
  • AWS Amplify for front-end hosting.
  • AWS Lambda for serverless back-end processing
  • Amazon API Gateway for API management
  • AWS Cognito for supplementary authentication
  • CloudWatch for monitoring and logging

Environment

Apps Associates was brought in to develop the custom Mass Upload Toolkit to address several key business challenges:

  • Manual data entry for serial numbers was creating operational bottlenecks
  • Large volume data uploads were error-prone when performed individually
  • Existing processes lacked audit capabilities required for regulatory compliance
  • Users needed role-based access to specific document types
  • Session management was needed to prevent data loss during lengthy operations
  • The solution needed to integrate with existing Oracle authentication mechanisms
  • Administrative oversight was required for user management and audit reporting
  • Scalable cloud infrastructure was needed to handle variable workloads
  • Real-time processing of data uploads required serverless architecture

Driving Factors

The implementation team faced several challenges during the development and deployment of the Mass Upload Toolkit:

  • Integration between AWS services and Oracle’s authentication system required careful handling of JWT tokens
  • Session management needed to balance security with user convenience
  • Validation rules varied by document type and needed to be implemented at multiple levels
  • Role-based access control had to align with existing Oracle security models
  • Large data set handling required optimized Lambda functions to maintain performance
  • UI design needed to accommodate multiple document types with different data requirements
  • Audit trail implementation had to meet regulatory requirements while remaining user-friendly
  • Serverless architecture required custom designing for handling long-running operations
  • Cross-platform authentication between Oracle and AWS required sophisticated security implementation

Apps Associates addressed these challenges by implementing a flexible architecture that accommodated document-specific requirements while maintaining a consistent user experience. The team leveraged their expertise in both Oracle integrations and AWS cloud services to ensure the tool worked seamlessly across platforms.  The Apps Associates managed services framework and AWS platform together proved to be a powerful combination of services to deliver this highly sophisticated solution.

Challenges

Technical Architecture

The Mass Upload Toolkit application was built using a modern, cloud-native architecture:

Front end:

– Flutter framework for cross-platform responsive UI
– AWS Amplify for hosting.
– Material Design components for a consistent interface
– JWT authentication handling for secure Oracle integration

Back end:

– AWS Lambda functions for serverless processing
– Python runtime environment
– API Gateway for RESTful API management
– Integration with Oracle Cloud via custom APIs

Security:

– JWT token validation for Oracle authentication
– Role-based access control aligned with Oracle roles
– Comprehensive audit logging for compliance

  • Operational Efficiency: Time spent on data entry for serial numbers reduced dramatically by 75%.
  • Data Quality: Multi-level validation significantly reduced errors in data entry.
  • Scalability: AWS serverless architecture accommodates variable workloads without performance degradation.
  • Integration: Seamless experience between AWS-hosted application and Oracle Cloud.
  • User Experience: Intuitive interface reduced training time by 60%.
  • Compliance: Enhanced audit capabilities with comprehensive tracking and reporting.
  • Administration: Centralized oversight of all data upload activities.
  • Security: Enhanced protection through dual Oracle/AWS security controls.
  • Cost Efficiency: Serverless architecture reduces operational costs compared to traditional hosting.

Benefits

About Apps Associates

Apps Associates is a premier enterprise applications and technology advisor, counseling and executing across every stage of the enterprise transformation journey—not just the destination. For more than two decades, Apps Associates has closely collaborated with decision makers across nearly every industry, offering end-to-end integration, modernization, and cloud migration services. By helping to break down the silos within today’s most complex business challenges, Apps Associates is unlocking solutions and efficiencies that scale into future opportunities. Learn more at appsassociates.com or follow on LinkedIn.

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