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Digital Publishing Platform Proposal

A scalable, secure platform to sell and read books online, manage a digital library, and support publisher workflows. This proposal includes: architecture, technology rationale, security/compliance, roadmap, timeline, and estimated pricing in AED.

Hybrid MVP (fast launch) + gradual custom expansion
TLS + encryption at rest + RBAC + WAF + audit logs
CDN + caching + monitoring + autoscaling
Data export & anti lock-in by design
Delivery approach: Recommended “Hybrid” delivery to reach Soft Launch fast, then evolve modules (reader, entitlements, publisher portal, analytics). A full custom build is available if maximum control is required from day one.
Estimated timeline
10–12 weeks Soft Launch
Public Launch hardening
+4 weeks Security & reliability
Build estimate (Hybrid)
AED 320k–480k
OPEX estimate (Year 1)
AED 60k–180k
Assumption: Final pricing depends on content volume (books), expected traffic, payment gateway contract, SMS/email volume, and DRM requirements.

Table of Contents

01
Scope & Requirements Mapping
What we will build (modules, integrations)
02
Architecture & Tech Stack
Why these technologies vs alternatives
03
Security, Privacy & Compliance
Controls + auditable operations
04
Reliability, Performance & BC/DR
Monitoring, backups, RPO/RTO
05
Delivery Plan, Roadmap & Timeline
Soft Launch → Public Launch → Maturity
06
Pricing (AED) + Assumptions
CAPEX + OPEX and what drives cost

1) Scope & Requirements Mapping

A. Customer & Commerce Modules

  • Catalog: books, authors, categories, metadata, pricing, availability
  • Search: keyword + filters + collections (phase 1), advanced relevance (phase 2)
  • Accounts: signup/login, profile, consent, password reset
  • Checkout: cart, payment, invoices/receipts, refunds workflow
  • My Library: ownership/entitlements, “read now”, progress, bookmarks

B. Admin / Publisher Modules

  • Admin console: manage books, categories, pricing, promotions, pages
  • Publisher workflows: upload content, approval, metadata templates (optional)
  • Orders dashboard: payment status, refunds, disputes, customer support tools
  • Reporting: sales, content performance, top titles, active readers
  • Roles & permissions: RBAC for admins, publishers, support agents

C. Integrations (Phase 1)

  • Payment gateway: UAE-ready providers, with a pluggable adapter (avoid lock-in)
  • Email/SMS: transactional confirmations, password reset, important alerts
  • Analytics: events for funnel tracking, conversion, and product decisions
  • Storage/CDN: covers + static assets + book payload distribution

D. Optional / Advanced

  • DRM / watermarking: baseline watermark + stronger DRM (Readium LCP or equivalent)
  • SSO: enterprise login (if needed)
  • Subscriptions / bundles: pricing models beyond per-book purchase
  • Recommendations: personalization and “similar titles” (phase 2/3)

2) Architecture & Technology Choices

2.1 High-level Architecture

Layer What it does Technology Why this vs others
Frontend Storefront + Reader UI + Admin portal UI Next.js (React) Strong SEO, fast page delivery, modern caching, great for multilingual & content discovery.
Backend APIs, commerce logic, entitlements, admin workflows NestJS (Node) or .NET NestJS = speed + hiring flexibility; .NET = enterprise governance. Both are proven in production.
Database Orders, payments, users, entitlements, catalog metadata PostgreSQL ACID transactions for commerce + mature tooling + reliable performance.
Caching Catalog cache, sessions, rate limit counters Redis Very fast cache reads; reduces DB load and improves latency for “hot” content.
Storage + CDN Covers, book files, static assets distribution Object storage + CDN CDN reduces latency; object storage is cost-effective for large files and scales easily.
Monitoring Logs, APM, tracing, alerting OpenTelemetry + APM (Sentry/Datadog/etc.) Standards-based tracing avoids observability vendor lock-in; faster incident response.
Security WAF, rate limiting, secrets, audit logs WAF + Secrets manager + RBAC Protects against common web threats, enforces least privilege, ensures auditable actions.
Key design principle: We build with “swapability” — payment gateway, analytics provider, and DRM are abstracted behind adapters to reduce vendor lock‑in and support clean exit/export.

2.2 Reader Technology

  • Web Reader: PDF + EPUB support, progress sync, bookmarks
  • Baseline protection: signed URLs + encrypted storage + watermarking
  • Optional strong DRM: Readium LCP (or equivalent) for publishers who require it
Why this approach: Fast to launch with real protection, while keeping a path to enterprise-grade DRM without rebuilding the platform.

2.3 Payments & Checkout

  • Support UAE gateways (Telr, Amazon Payment Services, Checkout.com, Network International, etc.)
  • Pluggable adapter layer so you can change providers later
  • Payment failure handling + reconciliation logs + refund workflow
Why this approach: Payment contracts evolve; the adapter keeps the platform stable even if the gateway changes.

3) Security, Privacy & Compliance

Security Controls (Baseline)

  • TLS everywhere + secure cookies + HSTS
  • Encryption at rest (DB + storage)
  • RBAC roles: Admin, Publisher, Support, Finance (least privilege)
  • Secrets management: no secrets in code; rotated keys
  • WAF + rate limiting: bot protection, credential stuffing defense
  • Audit logs: admin actions, content changes, refunds

Privacy & Legal Deliverables

  • Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Cookie Policy (if cookies used)
  • Consent banner + preference center (optional)
  • Data processing record & retention policy
  • DPA templates (as needed for vendors/processors)
Operational requirement: Every sensitive action is logged and traceable (who/what/when) to support audits and incident investigations.

Threat Model Snapshot (Examples)

Threat
Account takeover
Credential stuffing, brute force
Control
Rate limits + WAF
IP reputation, lockouts, MFA optional
Evidence
Audit logs
Correlate events via trace IDs

4) Performance, Reliability & BC/DR

Performance Strategy

  • CDN for covers/static assets + optional secure book payload distribution
  • Redis caching for catalog & frequently accessed pages
  • Database indexes for search filters and top queries
  • Image optimization + lazy loading for mobile speed
Target: fast perceived load on mobile and stable performance during marketing spikes.

BC/DR (Business Continuity)

  • Daily backups + retention policy
  • Restore drills: test recovery before Public Launch
  • RPO/RTO defined per environment
  • Staging + rollout/rollback strategy
Goal: predictable recovery and minimal downtime impact.

Observability & Incident Readiness

  • APM + tracing to identify slow endpoints and bottlenecks
  • Central logs with correlation IDs
  • Dashboards: signups, conversions, failed payments, reader engagement
  • Alerts: error rate, latency, queue lag, payment failures
Go-live gate: Monitoring/alerts, backup restore test, and vulnerability scan remediation are mandatory before Public Launch.
SLA baseline: define response times for Sev-1 / Sev-2 incidents; postmortems for major incidents; monthly health reports.

5) Delivery Plan, Timeline & Roadmap

5.1 Delivery Options

Option Best for Timeline Cost Notes
Hybrid (Recommended) Fast launch + validate demand + evolve 10–12 weeks (Soft Launch) + 4 weeks hardening AED 320k–480k Build core + integrate ready components where sensible; replace gradually.
Full Custom Maximum control from day one 18–22 weeks AED 750k–1.1M Longer QA/security cycle; deeper customization across modules.
Recommendation: Hybrid for MVP + early revenue, then invest in custom modules as data proves what matters.

5.2 Soft Launch (10–12 weeks)

Weeks 1–2: Discovery & Foundation
  • Requirements validation + UX wireframes
  • Architecture, data model, API contracts
  • Cloud environments (dev/stage) + CI/CD baseline
Weeks 3–6: Core Platform Build
  • Catalog + search + user accounts
  • Checkout + payments + invoicing
  • Entitlements + My Library
Weeks 7–9: Reader + Admin + Integrations
  • Web Reader + progress sync
  • Admin console + publisher workflows (baseline)
  • Email/SMS + analytics events
Weeks 10–12: QA, Security & Soft Launch
  • Performance tuning (CDN/caching)
  • WAF + rate limits + audit logs
  • UAT + fixes + deployment readiness

5.3 Public Launch Hardening (+4 weeks)

  • Backup restore drill + finalize RPO/RTO
  • Vulnerability scan + remediation
  • Monitoring dashboards + alerts tuned
  • Support operations: ticketing, runbooks, on-call matrix
  • Release management: rollback plan + post-release monitoring
Launch KPI examples: conversion rate, payment success rate, reader engagement (minutes/read), returning users, top titles.

5.4 Roadmap (3–12 months)

0–3 months
Growth & conversion
onboarding funnels, promotions, reporting dashboards
3–6 months
Publisher portal + bundles
subscriptions, collections, metadata workflows
6–12 months
Personalization
recommendations, A/B testing, BI warehouse

6) Pricing (AED) + Assumptions

6.1 One-time build (CAPEX)

  • Hybrid MVP (recommended): AED 320,000 – 480,000
  • Full custom build: AED 750,000 – 1,100,000
Cost drivers: number of modules in phase 1, DRM tier, publisher workflow complexity, number of payment methods, integrations, multilingual content, QA depth.

6.2 Annual operations (OPEX — Year 1)

  • Hosting & storage: compute + DB + object storage
  • CDN: bandwidth + caching
  • Monitoring/APM: logs + tracing + alerting
  • Security: WAF, vulnerability scans
  • Email/SMS: transactional delivery
  • Payment fees: per-transaction (contract dependent)
Typical range: AED 60,000 – 180,000 / year for small-to-medium scale (excludes payment transaction fees).

6.3 Assumptions & Exclusions

  • Content files provided in acceptable formats (PDF/EPUB) with correct rights.
  • Brand assets (logo/colors) will be provided for UI styling.
  • Payment provider onboarding and KYC are client-owned but supported by our team.
  • DRM Tier 2 is optional and priced separately if required.
  • Native mobile apps (iOS/Android) are excluded in Phase 1 (PWA is included).
  • Advanced AI recommendations are roadmap items, not MVP.
  • Content digitization/scanning is excluded (unless separately contracted).

Go‑Live Checklist (Public Launch Gate)

  • Payment failure handling + reconciliation logs
  • Privacy/Terms published + consent flows configured
  • Monitoring dashboards + alert rules active
  • Backup + restore tested successfully
  • Vulnerability scan completed + remediation done
  • Incident response plan + SLA + escalation contacts
  • Operational runbooks + rollback plan
  • Final UAT sign‑off + production readiness review