How Five to Nine connected event operations, calendars and secure access
Event scheduling, user management and reporting were spread across the product and a set of external tools, and the platform could not be extended safely because so little of it was covered by tests.
Devntech’s scope: Devntech’s work covered backend engineering, event and user management, Google Calendar synchronization, Okta and Google single sign-on, product analytics, automated testing, deployment and performance. This case does not attribute customer growth or event participation figures to that work.
35% → ~100%
automated test coverage
The engagement
What Devntech built for Five to Nine
Five to Nine needed its event platform to support the full operating cycle around a workplace programme: create an event, manage attendance, place it on the calendars people already use, control access through company identity systems and learn from product usage. Devntech rebuilt the backend foundation and connected those responsibilities so they could evolve as one product rather than as isolated features.
What we changed
- 1
Rebuilt the backend around event scheduling, user management and data management as first-class pieces rather than bolt-ons.
- 2
Connected the platform to the tools its users already lived in - calendar sync so events land in personal calendars, and single sign-on so access is controlled centrally.
- 3
Raised automated test coverage until changes could ship without a manual regression pass.
Qualitative evidence
What changed operationally
- Events created in the platform appear in users’ own calendars without anyone copying them across.
- Access is managed through the identity provider the company already runs, not a separate password list.
- New features ship without the release becoming an event of its own.
Evidence standard: These are delivered workflow and operating-state changes supported by the project record. They are qualitative results, not estimated percentages or modelled savings.
What Devntech continued to own
- Platform maintenance
- Integration upkeep
- Deployment pipeline
- Performance work
This is what we mean by
Internal applicationsOperational flow
How the system works
The system is organized around three operational steps, with each handoff tied to a clear purpose and owner.
Step 1
Create and manage the event
Event, programme and attendee data live in one backend designed around the platform’s operating model.
Step 2
Connect calendars and identity
Calendar synchronization puts events where participants plan their day, while SSO connects access to company identity controls.
Step 3
Observe and change safely
Product analytics and broad automated test coverage give the team evidence for improvements and protection against regressions.
What changed in practice
Capabilities built around the real workflow
Specific system capabilities, described by the operational job they do.
- Event operations backend
- Treats scheduling, users and programme data as core product responsibilities instead of disconnected additions.
- Calendar synchronization
- Moves scheduled events into participants’ Google Calendars without a second manual entry step.
- Enterprise access
- Supports Okta, Google single sign-on and two-factor authentication within the platform’s access flow.
- Release confidence
- Automated coverage protects the platform’s central workflows as features and integrations change.
Implementation detail
What made this system difficult - and how we handled it
The decisions below came from the operating constraints of this engagement, not from a generic technology template.
The event was only one record in a larger operating workflow
A workplace event platform has to coordinate more than a title, date and attendee list. Organizers need to create programmes, manage users, understand participation and change details without producing a second version of the truth in email or a spreadsheet. Participants expect the same event to appear in the calendar they already use, and enterprise customers expect access to follow their existing identity policy.
Five to Nine therefore needed a backend organized around event operations rather than a collection of page-level features. Devntech rebuilt the core services so event scheduling, user management and programme data had stable boundaries. That foundation gave integrations a dependable source of truth and reduced the risk that a new feature would reproduce the same business rule somewhere else.
Calendar and identity integrations removed parallel administration
Google Calendar synchronization connected a platform event to the participant’s daily planning environment. The practical change was simple: organizers did not need to rely on every attendee copying dates correctly, and participants did not need to maintain a separate event schedule. The platform remained responsible for the event record while the calendar became a useful delivery surface.
Okta and Google single sign-on connected user access to identity systems customers already operated. Two-factor authentication added another control for accounts using the platform directly. These integrations turned calendar and access management into parts of the product workflow, rather than separate administrative tasks that an organizer had to reconcile.
Testing and product evidence made the platform safer to extend
When Devntech began the work, the project record showed automated test coverage at 35 percent. Coverage was expanded to nearly 100 percent across the relevant application, giving changes to scheduling, access and integrations a repeatable regression check. Coverage alone is not a quality guarantee, but it materially changes how safely a team can modify interconnected workflows.
Product analytics supplied a different kind of evidence: which features people used and where behaviour suggested friction. Together, behavioural data and automated tests supported a healthier improvement cycle. The team could identify a product problem, change the system and check both that the intended behaviour moved and that established workflows still worked.
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