Siemens Healthineers’ sales organization: a robust mobile CRM tool

Siemens Healthineers AG, headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, leads the way in the medical device industry. The partnership with SH began in May 2020. The goal: use our expertise in custom software development to support the Digital Sales Companion department and simplify daily work for over 5000 sales representatives globally.

The Beginnings: From Workshops to MVP

Our collaboration started with intensive workshops: rapid, agile ways of working applied to corporate-scale challenges. From the outset, we were involved in both software development and scope planning. The priority was to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) quickly, one that worked efficiently, proved the concept, and showed we could deliver the sales support app on schedule. And this was no isolated application: from day one, it ran on numerous integrations with the existing tools of Siemens Healthineers' sales organization.

Challenges and Our Agile Response

The project's main challenge was building a cohesive team able to synchronize multiple workstreams and adjust flexibly to the requirements of Siemens Healthineers' sales organization. Drawing data from many sources and integrating it smoothly from the very beginning was essential. Our first task: build the MVP on PostgreSQL. With a deliberate choice of scope and tools, the application then went through numerous updates. The product is under continuous development, and new features are addressed promptly.

Our Tech Stack and the Thinking Behind It

The technology choices in this project were never about buzzwords or trends. Each selection had a purpose: solving real challenges while keeping the application scalable and efficient. Here's what we chose and why:

TypeScript. TypeScript compiles to JavaScript, so the application keeps everything that works well in JavaScript while gaining type-safe, maintainable code from the very start of the project. For users, that means a stable application.

Elasticsearch. Moving from MVP to production, we needed a powerful search engine. Elasticsearch brought both speed and scalability: search response times improved significantly, and they stay consistent even as data volumes grow. Growth doesn't mean a slowdown.

Microservices. Growth brings complexity, and microservices keep it manageable. The application scales according to user needs, is no longer constrained by a single machine, and can be deployed around the world. That level of flexibility wouldn't be possible with a monolithic architecture.

GraphQL. GraphQL proved especially valuable for our frontend developers. With a 30-strong project team, it became the backbone of coordination and cooperation, speeding up feature rollout across the board.

Neo4j. We don't just adopt new technology; we research, test, and then decide. Neo4j went through exactly that process. With data at the heart of this project, this new generation database handles connections between vast data elements and relationships quickly. Our Proof of Concept for the Neo4j implementation showed 10-100x faster response times compared to the current PostgreSQL database.

Every technology on this list earned its place: it solves a real problem today and keeps the solution ready for what comes next.

Project Management & Communication

Throughout the project, clear communication and efficient project management were central to the outcome. Holger Rohden, Program Manager of Digital Sales Companion at Siemens Healthineers AG, noted in his Clutch review that the SH team was “always understanding”.