2009: Zermelo - From desktop software to SaaS

The Zermelo Portal is used daily by 800,000 students and parents in Dutch education. When I started designing it back in 2013, it was still called “Zermelo Online.” At Zermelo, we had a solid software product, but most of it ran as a Windows desktop application. I was tasked with exploring how we could move “into the cloud” to avoid being overtaken by competitors.

The final design was a Java application with a (Smart)GWT frontend. Java was a suitable language for the server, and I wanted the frontend to use the same language as the backend.

The architecture – using Java (Spring), Hibernate, Jackson, and SmartGWT – worked very well. Today, all data entry and information distribution is handled through the Zermelo Portal. The C++ desktop software still exists, but it’s now primarily used by the schedule planner.

Now, 12 years after this design, SmartGWT has proven to be quite outdated. I was already concerned about that back then, but I figured we could replace the frontend if necessary. In hindsight, I think I underestimated the complexity of that.

Looking back, I’m proud that we successfully made this transition and that the system still runs so well. I’m also grateful that, as a relatively inexperienced architect at the time, I was given the opportunity to design and build the first version of this entire system.

Seven years later, I would draw on these experiences when designing Katmai – The Virtual Office, with entirely different challenges.