Faster Onboarding, Better Pricing and New Revenue Models: Making Vetera's Platform Agile

For over 30 years, Vetera GmbH, a leading veterinary practice management software provider, has supported veterinary clinics across Germany with digital solutions for patient management, billing, scheduling, and compliance. Vetera's Practice Management Software (vetPMS) holds over 90% market share, making it an integral part of Germany's veterinary healthcare infrastructure and streamlining clinic operations across the country.

However, as its legacy system began to limit growth and innovation, Vetera faced a critical challenge: how to modernise without disrupting the daily operations of thousands of clinics.

Aventude stepped in to lead a seamless codebase takeover and transformation, ushering in a new era of agility, scalability, and data-driven possibilities for the German veterinary services market.

Limitations of Vetera's legacy system

Vetera's PMS had served the company well for 16 years, but its aging architecture built on multiple programming languages, UI stacks, and custom hardware, was becoming increasingly fragile. The system was difficult to maintain, expensive to scale, and slow to adapt to evolving market needs. Onboarding new customers took up to a month, a bottleneck that forced Vetera to turn away potential clients despite growing demand.

The Windows-based platform also lacked flexibility. It couldn't support remote access for veterinarians working in the field or traveling between clinics. Integration with modern diagnostic devices such as CT scanners, MRI machines, and blood analysis tools was cumbersome, limiting the system's utility in a data-rich clinical environment.

Most critically, the monolithic design stifled innovation. Vetera couldn't explore new revenue models or partnerships, such as sharing anonymised clinical data with universities for research into disease patterns and treatment outcomes. Because the system was on-premise, valuable data remained siloed within individual clinics, inaccessible to Vetera and external collaborators. The lack of a modern user experience coupled with complex customisation and training requirements, made the platform increasingly uncompetitive.

Maintaining continuity while preparing for transformation

Aventude's engagement began with a high-stakes mandate: take over the entire legacy codebase with immediate effect while ensuring zero disruption to Vetera's operations across its vast customer base. The team executed a cut-over and stabilisation strategy, maintaining the existing system while laying the groundwork for transformation.

Through collaborative workshops, Aventude worked closely with Vetera's leadership to understand the real pain points and business goals. The modernisation plan included migrating the backend to .NET Core, introducing HTTP-based communication for modularity, and designing Vetera Sky, a cloud-native SaaS platform using Azure PaaS, Cosmos DB, React, and Docker.

This dual-track approach allowed Aventude to support the legacy system while building the new one in parallel. An IoT Hub was integrated to synchronise data between desktop clients and the cloud, enabling both systems to operate side by side, ensuring continuity for existing users while preparing the platform for future scalability.

Faster onboarding, scalable growth, and new opportunities

The impact of Aventude's intervention was swift and significant. Within 16 months, the first modernised modules of Vetera Sky were live, dramatically reducing onboarding time and improving user experience. The new system offered plug-and-play usability, seamless integration with clinic ecosystems, and remote accessibility, empowering veterinarians to work from anywhere, whether in rural areas or on the move.

By shifting to a cloud-first architecture, Vetera unlocked new business models. The platform could now support data-sharing partnerships with universities and research institutions, enabling studies into disease spread, treatment efficacy, and regional health trends. This not only added value to the veterinary community but also positioned Vetera as a data-driven innovator in healthcare technology.

The modernisation also allowed Vetera to evolve its business model, moving beyond traditional licensing to offer scalable SaaS solutions. Clinics could now subscribe to services based on usage, enabling more flexible pricing and faster deployment. The system's modular design also made it easier to roll out new features and integrations, keeping pace with technological advancements and customer expectations.