The customer is a US-based IT startup in the field of behavior and efficiency analysis of employees using a PC. The agent application is installed on the target user PC and sends data to the could. The administrators use a convenient web application to view detailed reports on the used software, viewed websites, etc.

Problem

As of now, the customer has two types of agent applications: for Windows and for macOS. The IT rooms of many educational organizations in the US are equipped with Chrome OS-based laptops. The customer kept being asked about the possibility to connect Chrome OS-based laptops, and eventually they decided to develop an agent application for this platform, as the business value of the idea was obvious.

The customer contacted us with a request to develop an agent application for this new platform.

Solution

The first thing we did was the analysis of the pattern of Windows and MacOS-based agent applications’ interaction with the back end. From the very beginning, we decided to develop the agent step by step, feature by feature. First, we implemented real-time browser monitoring, later added the screenshot sending feature, and so on.

The agent is installed on the target PC through sending an invite to a Gmail account. After activation, the user is forwarded to Chrome Store to download the agent. Upon installation, the agent requires the user to login to Google and sends the successful activation info to the servers.

As the last step, our team developed a JavaScript application as an add-on to Chrome OS (or the Chrome browser), which collects information on the user network behavior, including viewed websites, duration of visiting a certain web resource, and many other data in the background. Besides, the application is capable of sending real-time screenshots through WebSocket and supports scheduled operation, set up by the administrator using the web application.

Result

The agent application developed by our team has offered new opportunities for the customer, as in addition to Chrome OS-based laptops, it supports monitoring the browser-related activity in Linux-based systems. Our solution was tested at several real companies, and within the first week after the release, the customer found a new client who wanted to install over 200 copies of the agent application in a Texas school. As of now, they already have several similar clients.