Try this football predictor game

IBM technologies can help accelerate time-to market even when your delivery team are new to the world of Information Technology. In this great article from Madigan Solutions we learn how four trainees (with no IT background) built an app that enables users to predict the results of the upcoming football in Qatar with the help of IBM Cloud and IBM Security Verify, in just a few weeks.

Background

In June 2022, Madigan Solutions doubled in size following a recruitment campaign targeting young talent enthusiastic about Information Technology but who had not necessarily studied the topic at university. The directors of Madigan Solutions went about finding talent with diverse backgrounds and skillsets with a view that targeted training could reap excellent results.

The hired trainees, with an average age of just 23, had little or no work experience never mind any computing background. Training was going to be broad, intensive, and tough.

“Within four weeks, we had covered virtualisation, the Linux operating system, JavaScript, SQL and non-SQL databases, directory servers, containerisation, GIT, and of course, IBM Security technology” explained Stephen Swann, Director of Strategy & Vision.

Training in labs is all fine and well but it is no substitute for real-world experience in delivering solutions for customers and working within the constraints of project deadlines and ever-changing customer requirements. But how do you introduce trainees to a real-world experience without having to deal with external customers? And how do you select a technology platform upon which the build of applications can be accelerated?

THE SCORE PROPHET

Stephen Swann explained: “At the beginning of August 2022, and after six weeks of training, we decided to run a project to build a cloud native web application which could showcase IBM Cloud technology, but specifically integrate the application into IBM Security Verify. The idea was that the trainees would learn about project lifecycles, IBM Cloud technology and understand the benefits of IBM Security Verify in the context of a real-world application.”

With a the worlds biggest football tournament starting on November 21st , 2022, and the team decided it might be interesting to develop a game that allowed people to predict the results of the matches and rank the participants on the quality of their guesses. That was the cue to gather requirements, design the game, and crucially, work out how on earth one goes about developing such a thing.

“It was amazing to watch the team in action. Not only did they think about the solution itself, but they were really focussed on using modern technology to develop their skills and even wanted to understand how they could go about marketing such a solution at the end of the process. This wasn’t just a training exercise for them. They wanted it to be a success in its own right!”

The team immediately split themselves into front-end UI/UX developers and back-end API and database delivery teams. They gathered their requirements, 2Winning with IBM Security Verify thought about the screens and experience required to deliver a quality solution, then mapped the various API endpoints required to support that experience.

Once the screens were mocked up and the API endpoints defined, it was time to select a means of delivering the technical solution. Node.JS using the Express framework with a MongoDB database were selected from a shortlist of technologies which simplified the next decision to be taken – which components on the IBM Cloud could best serve our needs?

IBM CLOUD

Building the solution on the IBM Cloud was a natural fit for an IBM Business Partner. A cloud native delivery pattern was important to the team (and their stakeholders). The team were focused on delivering a solution rather than delivering procedures for patching operating systems. IBM Code Engine was selected as the container orchestration tool for both the front-end application and API backed. IBM Toolchains were created for automating the CI/CD processes. IBM Key Protect was used to store keys and secrets. IBM Functions was selected for the execution of periodic batch processes.

“The great thing about this tournament is that there was a fixed deadline. No amount of asking for an extension to our project timelines was going to result in a change in match schedules” joked Swann.

The team got into “build mode” and with a target to deliver a minimum viable product within four weeks.

Hooking the platform up to IBM Security Verify was critical. Delegating authentication decisions to a third-party by using OpenID Connect (OIDC) would remove a whole world of pain from the development team.

Thankfully, the SDK for the Verify platform provided by IBM just worked.

The SDK wasn’t the only feature of the integration that proved to be a success, though. Configuring IBM Security Verify to delegate authentication to trusted social identity providers (such as LinkedIn and Facebook) was a point-and-click affair. The setup of an application definition for OIDC integration was similarly simplistic. And enabling context-based and adaptive authentication was a breeze.

Madison Shaw, one of the trainees who looked after the integration with IBM Security Verify said: “OIDC, OAuth, access tokens and refresh tokens were all new concepts to me when I started. I can’t believe how easy it was to implement a means of authenticating users and get the bare minimum user information passed to The Score Prophet platform to establish who was playing the game.” Theming the IBM Security Verify user experience was the responsibility of Billy Quigley. He also found the process of customising the UI/UX for the various use cases that required IBM Security Verify interaction easy to get to grips with: “The APIs for templating and theming were very intuitive. We had the theme we wanted designed, built, and applied within minutes.”

SUMMARY

In summary, a team of trainees with no previous technical background other than six weeks of in-house training built and delivered a fully-fledged web application hosted on the IBM Cloud and protected by IBM Security Verify within just a month. The targets may have been challenging, but determination and focus have resulted in something that wasn’t just fun to build, but will be fun to play, and will be re-used for other sporting competitions in the coming months and years.

LEARN MORE

To learn more about the game or to participate and demonstrate your predictive skills, visit www.thescoreprophet.com