about working with the IT infrastructure that took a quarter of a century to build

Teterich is not like the other day

So, the application, the development of which began in 2004, is still working for us, as is the technical director Igor Sagnaev, with whom we created it together. Thanks in large part to him, we have been able to improve the infrastructure all this time, taking into account the market requirements. It's cool when the IT team understands the essence of the business for which it works.

With the development of web technologies and user mobility requests, it became clear that Windows applications are no longer enough for a modern company. But it is impossible to pause the business, rewrite everything from scratch, teach users new products, and then restart the business. Therefore, we decided to act like a neurosurgeon during brain surgery – the patient is conscious and performs normal tasks, and there is no room for error. We are now developing new solutions simultaneously with supporting existing products, although the idea has often arisen that it is worth destroying the old world to the ground and building a new one.

Why the old system is no longer enough. Firstly, six years ago we switched to a franchise business and saw that what realtors in one region were used to was not suitable for others. For example, different regions have their own terminology: “odneshka” in Novosibirsk, “odnushka” in Moscow and “poluturka” in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Plus, each region has its own peculiarities in informal toponyms, types of properties and established business practices. Secondly, it turned out to be difficult to integrate international business into the general ecosystem – different geos, languages and currencies.

And if in Novosibirsk there was initially a specialization by type – rent, sale of residential real estate, commercial real estate, then in the regions there was a demand for support of universal agents. That is, let's say, a tractor driver drove a tractor, and a combine operator drove a combine – the rental department deals with rent, and the secondary real estate department sells apartments. And the franchisee needs a universal tractor-combine, so that both the tractor driver and the combine operator would be equally normal and understandable.

There's more to come

In general, we are now on the way to creating a single platform, we have already implemented the database itself, part of the backend and frontend, we are preparing a launch strategy. We are focusing on integration with external systems. For example, now a realtor can get an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate with a click, send an application for a mortgage to a bank (direct integration with banks via API has been implemented). There is also the possibility of using AI to evaluate objects, generate descriptions and select analogs.

But somewhere deep in my soul I will fondly remember the old system that worked for us for almost a quarter of a century – a colossal period for an IT product, which, in my humble opinion, says something about its quality. And if a global collapse occurs and the Internet suddenly disappears, we will dust off the SHDSL modems and install directional antennas on the roofs. In extreme cases, Yandex.Couriers will carry diskettes with database updates around the offices.