Apex Waves Legacy Systems Modernization

Modernized the applications that supported inventory, quoting, returns, procurement, checkout, and fulfillment for a reseller of legacy electronic test equipment.

Role
Web Developer
Context
Raleigh, NC; November 2025 - May 2026.
PHPJavaScriptAWS EC2SQLInternal tooling
problem

Challenge

Daily sales and operations depended on interconnected legacy applications with repeated logic, limited diagnostics, and aging infrastructure. Changes in one area could affect inventory, quoting, service intake, and fulfillment downstream.

ownership

My role

I worked across backend logic, frontend behavior, internal tools, automated testing, customer-facing utilities, and the AWS environment. Because the applications shared data and handoffs, I treated inventory, quoting, RMA intake, and fulfillment as one operating flow rather than unrelated screens.

constraints

Constraints

The work touched business-critical legacy systems while inventory, quoting, service intake, and fulfillment remained active. Changes had to improve connected workflows without interrupting daily operations.

implementation

What I changed

  • Reworked backend logic across inventory, quoting, RMA intake, and fulfillment.
  • Redesigned checkout with attention to usability, validation, and secure transaction handling.
  • Built focused internal tools for procurement and high-volume operational tasks.
  • Added diagnostic reporting and automated test coverage.
  • Rebuilt or restored subsidiary websites.
  • Reorganized the public engineering tools around a reusable single-page application shell.
implementation

Connected operations workflow

  1. InventoryStock and availability workflows
  2. QuotesQuote-management workflows
  3. RMA intakeReturn and service intake
  4. FulfillmentOrder fulfillment workflows
The Apex modernization connected work across inventory, quote management, RMA intake, and fulfillment workflows.
decisions

Key decision

I organized changes around shared data and handoffs rather than rebuilding one page at a time. That approach let the applications improve incrementally without preserving the same coordination problems behind a newer interface.

impact

Results

  • Reduced monthly AWS spend by roughly 79% after identifying idle and compute-heavy workloads.
  • Added diagnostics and automated tests that made failures easier to identify and changes safer to verify.
  • Reorganized the public engineering tools into a shared application shell with reusable routing, layout, and controls.
retrospective

What I learned

The project reinforced that legacy modernization should follow data and handoffs, not page boundaries. Rebuilding one screen at a time would have preserved the same coordination problems in a newer interface.