Renovotec · Led dashboard modernisation
Changing the foundations of a delivery platform—not starting again with an empty project.
| Area | Before | My migration work |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | .NET Framework 4.8 / EF6 | .NET 8 / EF Core |
| User roles | Legacy dependencies | Replacement user-role service and authentication integration |
| Interface contracts | MVC5 response conventions | Preserved expected JSON property names |
| Diagnostics | log4net | ILogger and slow-report logging |
| PDF reports | Rotativa and Razor views | QuestPDF implementations for operational reports |
An established delivery platform carries accumulated expectations: who can sign in, what each role may access, which fields an interface receives and how operational documents are laid out. Modernisation has to account for those expectations as well as the framework version.
My scope was the dashboard migration and replacement application services, not the original LastMile product. The platform is commercially available; the rollout of the modernised dashboard remains unconfirmed. That distinction separates completed engineering work from customer deployment.
LastMile is an established commercial electronic proof-of-delivery platform. I modernised its dashboard and led the move from .NET Framework 4.8 and Entity Framework 6 to .NET 8 and EF Core.
My responsibility was understanding an unfamiliar system, replacing obsolete dependencies and carrying its existing behaviour through the migration.
Changing the target framework was only part of it. Authentication, user roles, data access, mapping and the responses expected by the existing interface all needed attention.
I implemented a replacement user-role service and preserved MVC5-compatible JSON property names. Those are small-looking details with a large consequence: the rest of an application already depends on them.
The development history records role assignment during authentication, controller access changes, repository registration and data mapping alongside the framework migration.
Logging also moved from log4net to ILogger. Later work added logging for reports taking more than twenty seconds. That threshold helps investigation; it is not a claim that reports became twenty seconds faster.
I replaced Rotativa-based PDF generation with QuestPDF across operational reports, including signatures, barcode labels, run sheets, depot operations and proof of delivery.
This was more than replacing a package reference. Existing views contained the information, layout and orientation each report needed. I worked through those report types individually, rather than treating compilation as proof that the output was correct.
The migration and replacement services were completed, followed by operational reporting changes. LastMile itself is available to customers; rollout of the modernised dashboard remains unconfirmed.
The following decisions connect the implementation to its practical constraints. Each separates what I changed from what still needs verification.
Different evidence answers different questions. This record distinguishes a visible demonstration, implementation history and validated operational outcomes.
What it supports: Records migration completion, service replacements and subsequent operational reporting work.
What it does not establish: Does not independently confirm deployment of the modernised dashboard to customers.
What it supports: Shows the application context and delivery/parcel reporting interface.
What it does not establish: Displayed totals are interface data, not a measure of my impact or verified customer volume.
What it supports: Makes the changed frameworks, services, diagnostics and reporting approach explicit.
What it does not establish: Summarises implementation scope; it is not a published performance study.
Migration work rewards attention to behaviour that is easy to overlook: a property name, a role assignment or a document’s orientation. Those details are part of the product contract even when they are not the headline feature.
Before claiming deployment success, the remaining evidence would need to establish the release status and acceptance results for access control, representative dashboard paths and report outputs. I keep that gap visible rather than borrowing the original platform’s commercial status.