Modern mapping, built for movement

FMX is a leading facilities management software company known for helping organizations streamline maintenance, scheduling, and asset tracking. As part of their ongoing evolution toward modern, interactive user experiences, FMX sought to transform their existing mapping capabilities—initially developed as an internal pilot—into a robust, integrated asset mapping solution.

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Challenge

FMX approached augustwenty with a promising but early-stage pilot: a proof-of-concept mapping tool built internally to gauge client interest and willingness to pay. While the concept resonated, the pilot had significant limitations.

Key challenges included:

• Unclear Product Vision: The initial roadmap shifted multiple times—from a standalone, platform-agnostic mapping tool to an internal-only feature—resulting in rebuilds and accumulated technical debt.
• Limited Requirements Definition: FMX’s product team often provided only high-level ideas, requiring the development team to make critical design and functionality decisions with limited guidance.
• Process and Estimation Friction: Scope and capacity estimation were complicated by external decision-making and the absence of internal metrics, causing missed expectations and delivery stress.
• Legacy Technology Constraints: The existing mapping solution relied on a Blazor framework that struggled to integrate JavaScript-heavy tools like Leaflet, making the solution harder to maintain and evolve.

These challenges underscored FMX’s broader organizational goal—to modernize its architecture and processes to deliver faster, more flexible, and user-friendly products.

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Our Approach

Recognizing the need for both technical modernization and process alignment, augustwenty partnered closely with FMX’s technical leads and product team to provide both strategic and hands-on development support.

Our approach focused on three pillars:

1. Agile Collaboration: We introduced a sprint-based Agile cadence to promote transparency, iterative delivery, and continuous feedback. This allowed FMX to review, test, and refine features incrementally.

2. Technical Leadership and Partnership: Working alongside FMX’s internal leads, Mitch and Dave, we ensured shared ownership of architecture decisions. Our role was not only to build but to mentor and strengthen FMX’s internal capabilities.

3. Design and Requirements Maturity: Through early design involvement, proactive backlog refinement, and test-environment deployments each sprint, we improved requirement clarity and reduced rework.

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Implementation

The team—led by Gabriel Sheeley, Michael Ruane, and Eric Juang—transformed the original Blazor-based pilot into a modern, React-built mapping solution fully integrated within FMX’s core application.

Key implementation highlights included:

• Technology Transition: Rebuilt from the ground up in React, aligning with FMX’s long-term vision to move away from server-side rendered applications (.NET/Blazor) toward a modern, modular front end.
• Mapping Experience: Leveraged Leaflet.js for a more visual, intuitive way to interact with assets, addressing the industry trend away from “grid fatigue” toward data visualization.
• Iterative Delivery: Deployed new functionality into test environments every sprint, allowing FMX to validate direction and refine requirements before production.
• Internal Enablement: Partnered with FMX to introduce a design system using repeatable UI components and helped product managers adopt Agile methodologies and improved communication rhythms.

Throughout the engagement, the team also supported FMX’s shift to the Shape Up methodology—moving from rigid deadlines to quarterly objectives with clearer scope ownership.

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Results

Through close collaboration and process refinement, FMX has made significant progress toward a scalable, modernized product platform.

Notable outcomes include:

• Modernized Front-End Architecture: The React-based mapping solution establishes a strong foundation for future product innovation and easier internal development.
• Improved Cross-Team Processes: Adoption of Agile and regular sprint demos enhanced FMX’s ability to refine requirements early and minimize rework.
• Organizational Impact: The partnership helped FMX’s internal teams strengthen estimation practices, improve communication, and gain hands-on experience with modern frameworks.
• Smoother Client Experience: The upcoming release of the new mapping solution will retire the legacy version, giving customers a more interactive, visual, and efficient way to manage assets.

FMX now stands better positioned to accelerate delivery, attract and retain customers through modern UX, and sustain growth through scalable technology and improved team alignment.

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Technologies & Tools Used

• Front-End: React, TypeScript, Leaflet.js
• Back-End: .NET Core, C#
• Infrastructure: Azure Cloud
• Methodology: Agile (Scrum) / Shape Up Hybrid
• Collaboration: Figma (Design System), Jira, Cursor AI

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Conclusion

Our engagement with FMX demonstrates the value of a flexible, collaborative approach to software development. By acting as a hybrid R&D and implementation team, we were able to deliver tangible MVPs, introduce modern technologies, and set the stage for sustainable growth.

Key takeaways:

• Adaptability is critical: The project evolved through multiple pivots, yet maintaining focus on reusable components and scalable design ensured continuity and efficiency.
• Technology and culture go hand-in-hand: Introducing React and agile-inspired practices fostered both technical and organizational maturity.
• Collaboration leaves a lasting impact: Knowledge transfer and cross-team collaboration positioned FMX to continue building and evolving their solutions long after our engagement ends.

Ultimately, our work with FMX leaves them in a stronger, more adaptable position—ready to meet customer needs, expand features, and maintain competitive advantage in a dynamic market.