Perenso Uses PubNub to Create Magic Button Moments

"Trust – trust is earned. I have never seen PubNub not work. I am extremely confident in its ability and stability. Every time I run a system using PubNub, it functions and that builds an extreme level of trust.” Aaron Connelly, Software Engineer at Perenso

Meet Perenso 

Perenso is a B2B sales execution platform enabling companies to sell better. Their specialty is in offering a “software solution for every selling occasion,” helping their customer automate their sales processes and deliver products efficiently. 

By building advanced technology that helps their vast array of customers automate their sales processes and deliver products quickly and efficiently, Perenso has collected large data sets in the trade show, field sales, and B2B eCommerce market. This has made the company very experienced in data management, visibility, extraction, and reporting.

The software team’s goal at Perenso is to provide a feeling of effortless execution when performing difficult tasks. “We want the end-user to be able to extract 100,000 order lines with a single hand while enjoying a hot cup of coffee in the other,” says Aaron Connelly, Software Engineer at Perenso. “I call these moments ‘magic button moments’. You click a single button, and something magical happens – you get what you want in a timely and effective manner.”

The problem with keeping tech simple

For Connelly and Perenso, the challenges of engineering magic button moments can be summed up in one word: simplicity.

Keeping technology “simple” is very hard. As Perenso has grown, they’ve had to find ways to allow their systems to scale quickly. This means developing systems that are disconnected from each other while maintaining a high level of security and a highly integrated level of UI that allows the user to glide through difficult tasks. Keeping these disconnected systems in place and communicating with each other in a frictionless environment is no easy task.

Another major challenge is to provide software that can run and perform its tasks without impeding or affecting other systems. For example, if a user tries to generate a report that contains over 1 million lines, it must run and function without slowing down Perenso’s other systems. 

In summary, Perenso needed a solution that not only keeps these systems talking to each other but also provides:

• security

• scalability

• system performance

• effortless execution

Before PubNub, Perenso used various techniques—JS timeouts, AJAX refreshes, page refreshes, and signalR—to try to overcome these challenges.

Implementing PubNub

Connelly had known about PubNub for a while when he decided to try a different approach to their Extraction Engine and mobile push notifications. The onboarding process with PubNub “was extremely easy and works right out of the gate.”

According to Connelly, one of the major benefits of PubNub is the documentation and ease of use. “Again, making it look and feel simple is important and hard! PubNub nails it!” There was no need to have anyone help as it was just so easy to use

The PubNub use case 

Perenso currently uses PubNub within two of its key systems.

Extraction Engines: Perenso developed a system that allows its customers to design and generate extracts of data directly from their data sources. 

This system was developed to run within its own system, so it needed to be powerful, scalable, and non-blocking to Perenso’s other services. However, a way to communicate to the user as the extraction process progressed and finished was still needed.

PubNub has allowed Perenso to develop “engines” within its software that can run in segmented environments while allowing it to communicate directly with the end user. 

“This is a huge win for us as it provides us with the ability to scale out individually difficult and intense systems (data extraction, data imports, reporting engines, syncing processes, etc.) and still provide direct communication with the user on how the process is going,” says Connelly. 

Now, Perenso confidently segments its core systems and still allows the user to see a progress bar or status communication instantly as they continue about their day. 

“This goes back to keeping things ‘simple,’” says Connelly. “If I can have a user click a single button to extract 250k order lines in a single file, all while communicating its progress and throwing up some confetti when it’s done, it’s a huge win for both of us (in terms of our defensive architecture) and for our customers.”

Push Notifications: These notifications are, first and foremost, for Perenso Event Explorer—their mobile event application.

However, Perenso also has four additional client apps that use its push notification feature, which is supported by PubNub. These notifications have been deployed with both Apple and Android push services and PubNub’s built-in channel communication when the user is already in the application.

This direct and instant communication from any of Perenso’s systems to a variety of devices was not a functionality that Perenso had previously.

Potential future use cases: Perenso is now looking at how they can use PubNub for live dashboards and instant error and report logging for their development team. “We are looking for ways to make our team’s day easier, and PubNub is definitely a tool that could and will help,” says Connelly. 

The Benefits of PubNub

PubNub has allowed Aaron Connelly to focus on architecting a stable system, allowing Perenso’s team members and customers to perform their roles effectively. PubNub as a service has given Perenso the tools it needs to succeed, and in turn, it has given its customers a more streamlined, pleasant experience that allows them to be more effective at their jobs.

Additionally, PubNub removed an immense load on Perenso’s reporting team by providing an extraction system that can communicate and deliver large amounts of data to their customers. PubNub made that process easy as it allowed the team to directly communicate progress and files to the user.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the ability to build more stable and effective systems makes Aaron Connelly the most excited about the future of Perenso and PubNub.

“PubNub gives us confidence that we can build external engines that will still give the user an integrated and beautiful experience.”

If you, like Perenso, need to create a stable, scalable environment that can easily communicate an unlimited amount of data to customers and internal teams alike, reach out to our sales team to learn about how our real-time, in-app chat, unlimited concurrent users, reaction streams, and other features can elevate your platform.