Technolog
Replacing 30-year-old setup software with a mobile app that opened new markets
Key Outcomes
Legacy C++ Windows application replaced with a modern, maintainable mobile app
Single-person codebase dependency eliminated
Field engineers now configure devices from a phone rather than a tablet
Mobile app deployable directly to water company customers, enabling self-serve installation
Tender compliance requirements for mobile-based software now met
Business Context
Technolog supplies battery-powered data loggers to UK gas and water companies. Their devices are installed in some of the most demanding environments in the utilities sector: underground sewers, confined spaces and remote pipeline infrastructure.
Once in place, the devices monitor pressure, flow, temperature and water levels. Data transmits to a central server and surfaces through a web portal used by water companies across the country.
The customer-facing portal was modern and well maintained. The software engineers used to install and configure the devices in the field was not.
The Problem
The utilities sector is changing quickly. Water companies are under growing pressure to monitor infrastructure more effectively and reduce the cost of manual site visits. That puts increasing demand on device suppliers like Technolog to deliver not just reliable hardware, but the software and tooling that makes it easy to deploy at scale. In that environment, setup software built for Windows tablets and maintained by a single developer is more than a technical inconvenience. It is a commercial constraint.
The Challenge
One person holding the whole thing together Technolog's field configuration app had been written in C++ and had not been updated in decades. Only one person in the business understood the codebase well enough to extend it.
That is not a sustainable position for a growing business.
The wrong tool for the job
Engineers installing data loggers work in confined spaces where carrying a Windows tablet is impractical and sometimes impossible. Getting a phone out to configure a device changes things entirely.
Customers had been asking for a mobile solution for some time. The business knew it needed to move.
Tenders being lost before the conversation started
As Technolog prepared to supply devices to major water companies at scale, the lack of a mobile app was becoming a direct commercial barrier. Tender specifications were increasingly listing mobile-based setup software as a requirement.
Without it, opportunities were closing before Technolog had a chance to compete
The Solution
The Curve built a modern cross-platform mobile application to replace Technolog's legacy Windows setup software. The app connects to data loggers via Bluetooth Low Enery (BLE), gives engineers full control over device configuration in the field, and is written in a maintainable technology stack the team can own and extend themselves. Designed to work for Technolog's own engineers and for water company customers deploying devices independently, it turned a legacy constraint into a deployable commercial product.
Our Approach
We rebuilt Technolog's legacy C++ codebase into a modern cross-platform mobile app, designing for both their own field engineers and the water company customers who would use it to configure devices independently.
Starting with the device, not the screen
Before writing a line of code, The Curve got under the hood of how Technolog's devices actually work in the field.
The data loggers use two sensor types. Radar sensors measure the distance from the sensor to the water surface: as levels rise, that distance shrinks, triggering alerts when thresholds are breached. Accelerometers sit in the flow and measure the angle at which they are being pushed, which indicates flow rate. Both need to be configured accurately on site at installation, in environments where conditions are rarely straightforward.
Understanding that shaped everything about how the app was designed.
Preserving what worked, rebuilding what didn't
Technolog's legacy application contained years of accumulated knowledge about device configuration. The Curve used it as a reference point rather than starting from scratch, assessing the existing logic and rebuilding it in a modern framework.
The result preserved the core functionality engineers relied on while making the codebase maintainable, extensible and deployable as a mobile application.
Designing for two very different users
The app needed to work for Technolog's own engineers and for engineers at water companies who would be installing devices independently, without product training or on-site support.
That meant building something intuitive enough to use underground, in a confined space, under pressure. Simple by necessity, not just by preference.
The Results
A codebase the business now owns: The dependency on a single developer maintaining ageing C++ code has been removed. The new application is built on modern technology that the Technolog team can understand, extend and support without external reliance.
Engineers working from their phones: Field engineers can now configure Technolog's data loggers directly from a mobile device. In the confined, underground environments where much of this work happens, that is a practical improvement that customers had been asking for.
New commercial opportunities within reach: The app has changed how Technolog can go to market. Rather than sending out their own engineers to install and configure every device, they can now hand the app directly to water company customers and let them do it themselves.
Tender requirements for mobile-based software, previously a barrier, are now met. The full commercial impact is still emerging as the rollout progresses, but the constraint that was limiting growth has been removed.
We had software that did the job but it was holding us back. The industry was moving towards mobile and we needed to move with it. The Curve understood what we were trying to achieve, built something modern we can actually maintain ourselves, and delivered it quickly. It has opened up opportunities we simply couldn't access before.