Roles

Project Overview

Led the complete platform rebuild for AchieveCE, a continuing education provider serving 100,000+ healthcare professionals across pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing. Responsible for architecting and delivering a modern LMS that processes millions in annual recurring revenue while maintaining seamless user experience during a complex data migration.

The Challenge

AchieveCE's legacy platform was constraining growth. Built on outdated technology, it struggled with scale limitations during peak enrollment periods, complex healthcare compliance requirements varying by state and profession, and operational overhead from manual processes. The business needed a complete platform overhaul without disrupting service for existing users or jeopardizing revenue streams.

System Architecture

Technology Stack

Frontend: Next.js 14 with App Router, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
Backend: Next.js API Routes, Prisma ORM, PostgreSQL
Infrastructure: Vercel for deployment, AWS RDS for database
Integrations: Stripe for payments, SendGrid for email, CE Broker for license tracking

Core Platform Design

Built around three primary concerns: user experience optimization for mobile-first healthcare professionals, content management streamlined for compliance tracking across 50 states, and data architecture designed for zero-downtime migration of critical compliance records.

Data Migration Complexity

Migration Scale & Constraints

• 100,000+ user accounts with active course enrollments
• 500,000+ course completion records required for license renewals
• 2.5M+ certificate records with legal compliance requirements
• Zero tolerance for data loss - healthcare professionals depend on completion records for license renewals
• No maintenance windows - platform generates revenue 24/7 during peak renewal periods

Migration Strategy

Executed a phased approach with dual-write capability. Phase 1 involved comprehensive data mapping and validation testing against a full production dataset copy. Phase 2 implemented gradual user migration with 10% weekly cohorts, allowing rollback if issues emerged. Phase 3 maintained temporary synchronization between old and new systems during transition.

The critical challenge was maintaining data integrity for compliance records while transforming legacy schema into a modern structure optimized for multi-state requirements. Built custom validation tools that verified every migrated record against source data, with automated alerts for any discrepancies.

Risk Mitigation

Implemented real-time monitoring during migration windows, with automatic rollback triggers if error rates exceeded 0.1%. Created shadow mode testing where new system processed live traffic alongside legacy system for two weeks before cutover. Maintained complete audit trails of every data transformation for regulatory compliance.

Team Building & Engineering

Team Structure

Built a 6-person product engineering team: 2 frontend engineers focused on user experience optimization, 2 backend engineers handling data architecture and API design, 1 QA engineer specializing in compliance validation, and 1 product manager with healthcare domain expertise.

Development Operations

Implemented continuous integration with automated testing covering unit, integration, and end-to-end scenarios. Maintained 85%+ code coverage requirements with particular emphasis on compliance-critical features. Used TypeScript strict mode and automated linting to prevent runtime errors in production.

Deployment strategy centered on Vercel's zero-downtime deployment with automatic rollback capabilities. Database migrations were version-controlled with tested rollback procedures for every schema change.

Technical Challenges

Multi-State Compliance Complexity

Healthcare professionals need different CE requirements based on state licenses and profession. Built a dynamic compliance engine that calculates requirements in real-time, accounting for renewal periods, special requirements (ethics, law, live courses), and cross-state license holders. This replaced manual tracking that previously required customer service intervention.

Performance at Scale

Peak enrollment periods during license renewal deadlines created traffic spikes 10x normal load. Implemented Redis caching for frequently accessed course data, optimized database queries to eliminate N+1 problems, and used Vercel's edge network for static content delivery. Result: platform handles peak load without degradation.

Real-time Certificate Generation

Users expect immediate certificate availability upon course completion for license renewals. Built async processing pipeline with immediate generation attempt and queue fallback for high-load periods. Average certificate generation time: 3.4 seconds, with 99.8% success rate on first attempt.

Production Results

Business Impact

• Revenue: 25% increase in ARR within 6 months post-launch
• User engagement: 40% increase in course completion rates
• Operational efficiency: 60% reduction in manual certificate processing
• Customer satisfaction: NPS improved from 6.2 to 8.4

Technical Performance

• Uptime: 99.9% during peak enrollment periods
• Performance: 85% reduction in page load times (average 1.2 seconds)
• Scale: Handles 2,800+ concurrent users during peak periods
• Mobile optimization: 68% of traffic now mobile, up from 23%

Migration Success

• Zero data loss across 100,000+ user records
• Seamless transition with no customer-reported issues
• Compliance maintained for all existing certificates and records
• Revenue continuity throughout 4-month migration period

Architecture Decisions

Next.js App Router

Chose App Router over Pages Router for better TypeScript integration, improved performance with React Server Components, and more intuitive file-based routing. Tradeoff was learning curve for team, but long-term maintainability benefits justified the investment.

Prisma ORM

Selected over raw SQL for type-safe database queries and reduced boilerplate. Some complex compliance calculations required raw SQL, but development velocity gains outweighed limitations.

Vercel Deployment

Chose over AWS/Docker for zero-config deployment and excellent Next.js optimization. Less infrastructure control but significantly reduced DevOps overhead, allowing team focus on product development.

Current State

The platform successfully serves 100,000+ healthcare professionals with 99.9% uptime, sub-2-second page load times, and automated compliance tracking for all 50 states. Monthly active users: 45,000. Average session duration: 42 minutes. Mobile traffic: 68%.

Key Lessons

• Early database design investment prevented months of later refactoring
• Phased migration approach caught issues before affecting all users
• Healthcare domain expertise on team prevented costly compliance mistakes
• Performance directly correlates with revenue - faster load times measurably increased enrollments
• Automated compliance tracking enabled business growth without proportional staff increases

AchieveCE demonstrates how thoughtful technical architecture and execution discipline can drive significant business outcomes. The 25% ARR increase and 40% improvement in completion rates show that technical excellence directly impacts the bottom line.