--- title: "PIM Extranet for B2B Promotional Products Search Engine (European Sourcing)" description: "Complete back-office for managing the largest European online trade show for promotional products - 229K lines of application code, 38 data models, 7 languages, 15 GB database." locale: "en" canonical: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/achievements/extranet-pim-b2b-objets-publicitaires" source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/achievements/extranet-pim-b2b-objets-publicitaires.md" html_source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/achievements/extranet-pim-b2b-objets-publicitaires" author: "José DA COSTA" date: "2014" type: "achievement" slug: "extranet-pim-b2b-objets-publicitaires" tags: ["PHP 5.x", "Symfony 3.1", "MySQL", "PostgreSQL", "Doctrine ORM", "RabbitMQ", "AngularJS", "Node.js", "jQuery", "Bootstrap 3", "Vagrant", "Chef"] generated_at: "2026-06-02T15:38:05.941Z" --- # PIM Extranet for B2B Promotional Products Search Engine (European Sourcing) Complete back-office for managing the largest European online trade show for promotional products - 229K lines of application code, 38 data models, 7 languages, 15 GB database. **Date:** 2011 - 2016 **Duration:** ~6 years **Role:** Software Engineer then Senior Software Engineer **Technologies:** PHP 5.x, Symfony 3.1, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Doctrine ORM, RabbitMQ, AngularJS, Node.js, jQuery, Bootstrap 3, Vagrant, Chef ### Key Metrics - Lines of Code: **-** - Application code (PHP, JS) - Merge Requests: **-** - 4 active contributors - Database: **-** - Languages: **-** - FR, EN, DE, ES, IT, NL, PT ## Presentation _Project definition and scope_ ### Domain B2B promotional products - European online trade show connecting suppliers, resellers, and brands ### Target Users Internal team (sales, catalog managers, administrators) + 800+ European suppliers (via Supplier BO) + 50+ resellers (via MyEasyWeb) The **Extranet European Sourcing** is the central back-office of the European Sourcing platform, the largest European online trade show dedicated to promotional and advertising products. This internal administration tool enables the European Sourcing team - operating under the name **Medialeads**, the **IT development and IT consulting division of European Sourcing** - to manage the entire product catalog, suppliers, resellers, advertising services, and platform statistics. Originally designed by **SQLI consulting (Phase 1, 2008-2013)** with extensive functional and technical specifications - reflecting the state-of-the-art consulting practices of the time - the project was **taken over by the internal team in 2014** to bring development closer to the business and increase iteration velocity. From there, the project went through **two major versions**: **Extranet v1**, a custom PHP MVC application with MySQL, used in production for several years; and **Extranet v2 "Rebirth"**, a complete rewrite under **Symfony 3.1** with **PostgreSQL** and **RabbitMQ**, initiated on **March 14, 2016**, aimed at modernizing the architecture and centralizing shared business bundles. A third associated component, the **Supplier Back-Office**, is an **AngularJS/Node.js** single-page application offering suppliers a dedicated space to manage their profile, products, statistics, and contracts. ### Functional Scope ### Product Catalog Management ### Supplier & CRM Management ### Reseller & MyEasyWeb Sites ### Advertising Services ### CSV Import/Export (6 steps) ### Statistics & Reporting ### Multilingual Management (7 languages) ### Contracts & Subscriptions ## Objectives, Context, Stakes & Risks _Strategic vision and constraints_ ### Context The project operates within a complex software ecosystem of **15+ interconnected sub-projects** (sourcing front, export, flux/auto-update, API, translation, statistics, MyEasyWeb, etc.). The shared MySQL database weighs approximately **15 GB** (uncompressed) across **97 tables** and is accessed by all applications. Infrastructure is hosted on **OVH dedicated servers** (sql1, sql2 for MySQL, dedicated web servers). Versioning migrated from **SVN** to **GitHub** (medialeads organization) **in January 2016**. Development environments are provisioned via **Vagrant + Chef** with 25+ cookbooks. ### Massive Catalog Millions of products with their variations across 7 languages, **32+ fields per product/variant**, **36 fields per marking option**, **up to 50+ degressive pricing grids per product**, **32 currencies** (ECB rates). Some suppliers like **SOL's** maintained up to **15,000 variations for a single product** (e.g. a T-shirt declined by size, color, V-neck or round neck, with or without sleeves, finishings, etc.). A PIM/data model complexity that was the state of the art at the time for this kind of B2B catalog - a level of modeling that off-the-shelf PIM solutions only started to approach years later. ### B2B Relationships Tracking supplier subscriptions, contracts, advertising service orders generating the platform revenue ### Multi-Site Ecosystem Extranet data feeds europeansourcing.com, tendanceobjet.com, export site, 50+ MyEasyWeb reseller sites ### v1 to v2 Migration Complexity Complete rewrite of a production tool used daily, with risk of functional regression and prolonged coexistence of both versions. ### Monolithic Database A single shared MySQL database between 15+ sub-projects - an architecture pattern aligned with the practices of the late 2000s, which became a structural challenge as the platform grew. ### v1 Technical Debt Custom MVC framework reflecting the state-of-the-art PHP practices of the 2008-2010 period (before Symfony 2 and modern ORMs became mainstream) - increasingly demanding to evolve as the ecosystem grew. ### Objectives - Provide a unified administration tool to manage a catalog of hundreds of thousands of products from hundreds of European suppliers - Rewrite the extranet with a modern framework (Symfony 3) to improve maintainability, testability, and code reusability via shared bundles - Migrate from MySQL to PostgreSQL and introduce asynchronous messaging with RabbitMQ - Offer suppliers an autonomous modern interface (AngularJS SPA) to manage their presence on the platform ### Business Stakes ### Identified Risks ## The Steps - What I Did _Chronological phases and personal contributions_ ### Project Timeline ### Phase 1 - Extranet v1 (2011 - 2016) - I developed the original extranet on a custom PHP MVC framework - On the data ingestion side, I built a 6-step CSV import system: upload, column mapping, validation, preview, insertion, history with rollback - To feed the catalog continuously, I built and maintained **37 distinct automated supplier import connectors** (FTP, HTTP, REST APIs - including Pixika, Makito, Midocean, BIC, Paul Stricker, Clipper, TopTex, Cybernecard, etc.) - On the catalog side, I implemented the full product management: attributes, variants, markings, multi-language translations - For the CRM, I created supplier management, reseller management and MyEasyWeb site creation and backup - On the advertising side, I developed the services: banners, AdWords campaigns, homepage sliders, partner management - To enable steering, I built a comprehensive statistics module: by supplier, product, reseller, MyEasyWeb, advertisements ### Phase 2 - Rebirth (Symfony 3) (2016 - 2019) - I took part in the Symfony 3.1 rewrite (initiated March 14, 2016) with PostgreSQL, Doctrine ORM and RabbitMQ for async messaging - On the mutualization side, I worked on the shared business bundles: ESCoreBundle (entities, auth, file system) and ESSourcingBundle (business logic) - To industrialize the admin screens, I implemented a generic list system (EntityList) with configurable columns, bulk actions, row actions and pagination - On the forms side, I developed 70+ Symfony Form Types covering products, variants, product images, markings (static/dynamic with profiles), attributes (simple/multi/groups), categories, keywords, labels with synonyms, subscriptions and import/export workflows - To secure the rewrite, I built a full PHPUnit test suite with 611 test files validating entities, controllers and business logic - On the DevOps side, I set up Vagrant + Chef provisioning with 25+ cookbooks for reproducible development environments ### Phase 3 - Supplier Back-Office (2014 - 2016) - I built the supplier self-service SPA with AngularJS and CoffeeScript (19,007 lines) - On the functional side, I implemented the modules: Dashboard, Profile, Contacts, Products, News, Statistics, Contracts - On the i18n side, I shipped a multilingual interface supporting 7 languages (FR, EN, DE, ES, IT, NL, PT) - To plug the SPA into the ecosystem, I integrated it with the European Sourcing REST API for all supplier operations ## The Actors - Interactions _Who I interacted with directly and how I collaborated_ ### Contribution Distribution - Application Code (229,090 lines) **Development team - my day-to-day teammates (4 active developers)** Inside this tight-knit team, I contributed **629 merge requests** and **117,916 lines of application code** - I was the primary author of v1 and the Supplier BO. Alongside me, Thomas C. took the lead on the v2 Rebirth; IronXtreme brought targeted reinforcement on the v2 Rebirth, and Wamania focused on refactoring and corrections. **External stakeholders I interacted with** - **SQLI**: External consulting firm (Phase 1, 2008-2013) where I authored 47+ detailed specification documents for the extranet supplier module (ESV3) - covering functional specs, technical specs, exploitation and installation guides, data model and requirements traceability - **Systonic**: Former hosting provider (2009-2010); I then helped drive the migration of the entire infrastructure to OVH - **OVH**: Primary provider of dedicated servers - we handled all sysadmin operations ourselves (provisioning, configuration, security hardening, monitoring, backups), and I took an active share in that work - **Suppliers**: Hundreds of European promotional product companies, B2B clients for whom I was the technical contact through the extranet - **Resellers**: 50+ distributors using MyEasyWeb sites that I fed from the extranet ## Results _Impact for me and for the organization_ ### Results for Me: Professional Growth This project was a foundational experience in my career as a software engineer. Over **nearly 5 years of involvement**, I developed **deep expertise across the full stack**: **backend PHP development** (custom framework then Symfony), **relational databases** (MySQL and PostgreSQL), **frontend SPA development** (AngularJS) and **DevOps practices** (server administration, Vagrant/Chef provisioning, Git workflow). **An XXL-scale project, exceptional in every dimension**: the Extranet was the orchestration brain of an entire ecosystem - **9.1M total lines of code**, **7,510+ PHP files**, **4,510+ JavaScript files**, **910+ controllers**, **2,220+ views/templates**, and a search engine indexing **22,000+ words** derived from this Extranet. This project changed the way I work: I learned to think about **performance, scalability and data integrity** at a level impossible to reach on smaller projects, confronted daily with **data manipulation**, **data architecture**, **business rule complexity**, **infrastructure and server administration** and **large-scale data backup strategies**. **Search engines and indexing**: I progressively moved from native database indexing (MySQL full-text MyISAM/InnoDB, then PostgreSQL full-text search with `tsvector`/`tsquery`, GIN indexes and `to_tsvector`/`ts_rank` functions) to a true search engine with **Elasticsearch** - inverted index, multilingual analyzers (stemming, tokenization, normalization), TF-IDF scoring, aggregations, facets. Going through every step let me grasp in depth the differences between a relational engine and a search engine. **Complex algorithms and business rules**: I designed and implemented many algorithms and very complex business rules - for example the calculation of all possible combinations of prices, product variants and availability (**Cartesian product / combinatorial explosion** that can generate **thousands of combinations per product** across sizes, colors, quantities, marking types, marking zones and finishes). **Dynamic pricing rule modeling** and **business decision engines** are now part of my toolbox. ### Results for the Organization: Business Impact The extranet was the **operational heart** of European Sourcing. Without this tool, it would have been impossible to manage the catalog of hundreds of thousands of products, supplier relationships, and advertising services that generated the platform's revenue. - **Catalog Management**: Hundreds of thousands of products managed across 7 languages with attributes, variants, markings, and pricing - **Multilingual Search**: **7 dedicated Elasticsearch indexes** (one per language) powering full-text product search across the platform - **Supplier Network**: **800+ European suppliers** managed with subscriptions, contracts, and dedicated self-service portal - **Multi-Site Distribution**: Data feeding europeansourcing.com, tendanceobjet.com, export site, graphicsourcing, 50+ MyEasyWeb reseller sites - **Revenue Generation**: Advertising services (banners, AdWords, sliders, partner placements) managed entirely through the extranet - **Operational Efficiency**: Internal team of 5-10 people managing the entire European promotional products market through a single unified tool ### Technical Metrics ## The Aftermath _What happened after the project_ **Immediate Post-Delivery** The v1 and v2 coexisted in production for several years, with the v1 continuing to handle daily operations while the v2 Rebirth was being developed module by module. **The v2 is still in production today**, powering the European Sourcing platform. **Career Impact** This experience at European Sourcing - within Medialeads, its IT development and IT consulting division - **was instrumental in shaping my approach to large-scale web development**. The lessons learned about **managing complex data models**, **building multi-tenant architectures**, and **working with massive datasets** directly informed my subsequent work on even more ambitious projects. ## Critical Reflection _With hindsight, how I judge this project_ ### What worked well - **Extremely rich functional scope**: with hindsight, I measure how thoroughly the extranet covers every administration need of a complex B2B platform - catalog, suppliers, resellers, advertising, statistics, import/export, multilingual - **Modular architecture (v2)**: I stand behind the decision to create shared bundles (ESCoreBundle, ESSourcingBundle) to mutualize code between sub-projects - a choice that held up over time - **Courageous technology migration**: moving from a custom framework to Symfony 3 and from MySQL to PostgreSQL took guts, and I would do it again - **Automated provisioning**: by pushing Vagrant + Chef on v2, I secured reproducible development environments ### What I would do differently - **Implement CI/CD from the beginning**: I would have set up a pipeline with Travis CI or Jenkins from day one (GitHub Actions didn't exist yet) and it would have caught regressions earlier - **Separate the database**: I would have split the monolithic database into microservices or at least distinct schemas to reduce the strong coupling between 15+ sub-projects - **Adopt Docker instead of Vagrant + Chef**: I would have switched to Docker earlier for lighter and more portable provisioning ### The lasting lessons this project brought me - **Shared bundles are a long-term investment**: I saw how mutualizing business code between sub-projects reduces duplication but creates strong dependencies and demands solid version management - **Data import is a full engineering problem**: after shipping the 6-step CSV import system with validation, preview and history, I now treat mass data management as a first-class engineering concern - **Documenting architecture is essential**: I experienced that when the number of sub-projects and developers grows, documentation becomes critical - I now apply this systematically ## Skills applied _Technical and soft skills applied_ - **[Problem Solving & Adaptability](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/problem-solving-adaptability.md)** - Modelled complex business rules (dynamic pricing, marking variants, multi-currency) - some suppliers reaching 15,000 variations per product. Picked up the project from SQLI in 2014, then drove the rewrite from custom MVC to Symfony 3.1 + PostgreSQL + RabbitMQ - **[Software & System Architecture](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/system-architecture-design.md)** - PIM/data model bigger than Akeneo: 32+ fields per variant, 36 per marking option, 50+ pricing grids, 97 MySQL tables on 15 GB. European Sourcing REST API consumed by the Supplier BO SPA and downstream services across 7 languages. Shared Symfony bundles (ESCoreBundle, ESSourcingBundle), 70+ Form Types, generic EntityList system, MVC + SPA + ETL - **[Fullstack Development](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/fullstack-development.md)** - PHP custom MVC then Symfony 3.1, Doctrine ORM, RabbitMQ async messaging, MySQL then PostgreSQL over 5+ years. Owned 229K lines across the Extranet v1, v2 Rebirth and Supplier BO (AngularJS SPA), front-to-back ownership - **[DevOps, Cloud & Production Industrialization](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/devops-cloud-production.md)** - PHPUnit test suite with 611 test files validating entities, controllers and business logic on the v2 Rebirth. OVH dedicated servers self-administered: Vagrant + Chef provisioning, 25+ cookbooks, Apache, security, monitoring, backups - **[Data, AI & Machine Learning](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/data-ai-machine-learning.md)** - MySQL then PostgreSQL with Doctrine, 6-step CSV import pipeline, 37 supplier connectors via FTP/HTTP/REST - **[Reverse Engineering & Algorithms](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/skills/reverse-engineering-algorithms.md)** - Cartesian-product pricing engine: thousands of combinations per product (sizes × colors × markings × zones × finishings) ## Related journey _Professional experience linked to this achievement_ - **Software Engineer · PHP Zend Framework Developer** ## Image gallery _Project screenshots and visuals_ ## Need a partner extranet designed? I delivered the European Sourcing extranet: fine-grained partner access management, contract document space and order tracking. Let's talk about your context. **Contact me**