How to Deliver a Complex OA System in 3 Months with NocoBase

Originally published at https://www.nocobase.com/en/blog/deliver-complex-oa-system-nocobase-3-months

Confidentiality Note

To protect the privacy and security of the organization and its clients, this case study is presented anonymously. All details are based on a real-world implementation.

Context & Constraints

The project was led by a team experienced in enterprise management systems and process-heavy industries such as petrochemicals. They were familiar with environments where requirements are complex, constantly evolving, and operational constraints are strict.

Historically, they relied on traditional custom development. A project of similar scope would normally take nearly a year from requirement analysis to delivery.

This time, the client introduced a set of non-negotiable constraints:

• Network Isolation: The system had to run entirely within an internal network, physically disconnected from the internet
• Data Sovereignty: All data must remain fully under the organization's control
• Deployment Model: Only self-hosted / on-premise deployment was acceptable

At the same time, the system still needed to support complex workflows, large volumes of data, and integration with existing systems.

The team needed a foundation that could satisfy strict security requirements while still enabling fast delivery, continuous iteration, and long-term extensibility.

They chose NocoBase.

Solution & Implementation

1. Digitizing Administrative and Financial Workflows

The first phase focused on the most critical and frequently used scenarios: administrative and financial processes.

Previously, these processes relied heavily on paper forms and manual routing. The team gradually migrated them into a unified system.

They built nearly 60 modules covering daily administrative operations.

This was not a simple “form digitization” effort. Instead, the team restructured the workflows:

• mapped dependencies between processes
• converted implicit offline rules into explicit system logic
• transformed manual decision-making into configurable business rules
• clarified cross-department collaboration paths

Using NocoBase’s data modeling and workflow capabilities, these complex processes were turned into a stable, system-driven operation.

2. Embedding Budget Control into Workflows

Previously, budget management was handled in Excel, fragmented across departments and only reviewed after spending.

The team redesigned this by embedding budget logic directly into business processes such as travel, approvals, and reimbursements.

After implementation:

• Executives gained real-time visibility into overall budget execution
• Department heads could track usage dynamically
• Employees could validate budget limits at the time of request submission

Budget management shifted from post-hoc reporting to:

• pre-control
• in-process enforcement
• real-time validation

This was enabled by NocoBase’s ability to integrate business logic directly into workflows.

3.Automating Financial Integration with ERP

For reimbursement and financial processing, the team integrated the system with Yonyou ERP through custom plugins.

Using a built-in transformation engine, the system automatically converted business data (travel requests, loans, tax data, etc.) into financial records compatible with ERP requirements.

The engine handled complex accounting logic, including:

• VAT splitting
• employee debt offsetting
• department-specific account mapping

Once processed, financial vouchers were automatically generated and pushed to the general ledger.

This replaced manual entry of approximately 1,400 financial records per month.

The main challenge was not API integration itself, but structuring business logic.

Using NocoBase’s data models and plugin architecture, the team transformed manual accounting rules into system-level logic, enabling stable end-to-end automation.

4. System Integration & Unified Identity

To support future system expansion, the team first established a unified identity system:

• integrated with existing authentication services
• used NocoBase as the centralized user management layer
• ensured consistency of user data across systems

For communication, a private IM system was introduced:

• approval and task notifications were pushed directly to IM
• users could access tasks without repeatedly logging into the system
• one-click navigation from message to approval page

This significantly reduced response time and improved operational efficiency.

5. Iteration in an Air-Gapped Environment

The project was deployed in a fully isolated environment.

To maintain development efficiency, the team adopted a hybrid approach:

• development and testing were done externally
• validated configurations were deployed into the internal network

Using NocoBase’s configuration migration mechanism, the system could be deployed as a whole without repeated redevelopment inside the isolated environment.

This enabled , weekly or even faster iteration cyclesdespite strict security constraints.

Delivery Timeline

The project progressed as follows:

• Early September: Project kickoff
• Mid October: Phase 1 requirements finalized
• Mid November: First batch of administrative modules launched
• Mid December: Full launch of administrative + financial systems

Given the complexity, integration scope, and deployment constraints, this delivery speed was significantly faster than typical enterprise projects.

Preparing for AI Integration

After the first phase, the client began exploring AI capabilities:

• Invoice automation: OCR-based recognition and compliance validation
• Knowledge retrieval: vectorizing internal documents and building a private knowledge base

The team is currently experimenting with integrating lightweight private models into NocoBase.

With NocoBase 2.0’s plugin architecture and AI capabilities, AI can be gradually embedded into existing workflows and data structures, making it practical in real business scenarios.

Outcome

From requirement confirmation to full rollout of administrative and financial systems, the entire project was completed in 3 months, representing a 75% reduction in delivery time.

This not only reduced development cost, but also enabled the team to handle multiple complex projects in parallel.

This case highlights a key point:

In complex enterprise environments, success depends not only on the platform, but also on the ability to:

• structure complex workflows
• integrate systems effectively
• formalize business logic

NocoBase provides the foundation that makes this possible.

It allows experienced teams to deliver faster, adapt continuously, and evolve systems over time, even under strict constraints.

The team plans to join the NocoBase partner ecosystem and replicate this delivery model across more enterprise projects.

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