Company Profile

WhatsApp is a popular messaging programme created in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton. It
immediately became popular because to its easy-to-use interface and ability to exchange text
messages, voice calls, photos, videos, and documents. Facebook paid $19 billion for WhatsApp
in 2014, making it one of the largest technology purchases at the time.

1.2.1 Background Details of the Company

A) WhatsApp Business Unit: WhatsApp introduced the WhatsApp Business app in 2018, with
the goal of connecting small businesses with their clients. The WhatsApp company app has
various company-specific features such as corporate profiles, automatic messaging, and
messaging analytics. This distinct WhatsApp business section intends to create a dedicated
platform for businesses to communicate with their customers and improve their
communication strategies.
B) Product Portfolio:
1) WhatsApp Business App: The WhatsApp Business app was created to help small
businesses establish an official presence on WhatsApp. It includes features like business
profiles, rapid responses, automated greetings, and labels to help you organise customer
discussions.
2) WhatsApp Business API: The WhatsApp Business API is a more advanced solution for
medium to big organisations that allows them to connect WhatsApp into their existing
systems and infrastructure. It includes capabilities like as messaging templates, message
delivery reports, and chatbot integration to help organisations automate and expand their
customer interactions.
3) WhatsApp Payments: WhatsApp Payments is a function in the app that allows users to
send and receive money. WhatsApp Payments is intended to make financial transactions
between individuals more convenient and secure.
4) WhatsApp Messenger: WhatsApp's main product is the messaging app, which allows
users to send and receive messages, make audio and video calls, share media files, and form
group chats. This item is mostly intended for personal correspondence.

WhatsApp can be researched using a variety of methods. To understand the experiences and
perceptions of WhatsApp users, including both personal and corporate users, qualitative
research approaches such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups can be used.
1.2.2 Year of Incorporation, registered office etc.
WhatsApp was founded in 2009. Jan Koum and Brian Acton founded the popular
texting app. The registered office of the corporation is in Menlo Park, California, USA.
Menlo Park is regarded as a technology innovation hotspot and is home to a plethora of
IT enterprises. WhatsApp has grown at an exponential rate since its debut, and it is now
one of the most extensively used messaging apps in the world. The user-friendly design
and strong encryption of WhatsApp have contributed to its widespread acceptance and
success.
 1.2.3 Ownership Pattern:
Facebook, Inc. owned WhatsApp. WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook in February
2014 for around $19 billion. WhatsApp continued to function as an independent
platform at the time, with co-founder Jan Koum serving as CEO. However, Jan Koum
announced his retirement from WhatsApp in April 2018, citing conflicts with Facebook
over privacy and data sharing issues.
1.2.4 Joint collaborations & Ventures
Collaborations frequently involve collaborations with other companies or organisations.
Technically, the procedure often entails integrating WhatsApp's messaging platform
with the partner's current infrastructure or systems, resulting in seamless
communication and data exchange. These partnerships attempt to improve WhatsApp's
offers, reach new audiences, and give users with additional features and functionalities.

1.2.5 Management Style

WhatsApp, a popular messaging programme, operates under a decentralised management model.
It places a premium on autonomy and empowerment, allowing employees to take ownership of
their tasks. Bottom-up decision-making is common, supporting collaboration and innovation.
Communication is open and transparent, allowing for the rapid exchange of information. It
fosters a culture of trust, flexibility, and efficiency.

1.2.6 Organizational structure

Here’s a general overview of the organizational structure of WhatsApp at that time:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO): The CEO is the highest-ranking executive in charge of
WhatsApp's overall operations and strategic direction.
Leadership Team: The leadership team is made up of high-level executives who work closely
with the CEO and are in charge of many elements of the business, including product
development, engineering, design, marketing, and operations.
Product and Engineering: This department is in charge of developing and improving
WhatsApp's software apps and infrastructure. It consists of teams dedicated to various topics
such as mobile app development, backend infrastructure, security, and user experience.
Design: The design team is in charge of WhatsApp's visual and interactive components,
guaranteeing a user-friendly and visually pleasant experience across multiple platforms.

Marketing and Communications: This section is in charge of WhatsApp's marketing strategies,

branding, and communication activities. It could comprise teams in charge of advertising,
partnerships, public relations, and customer service.
Operations: The operations team oversees the platform's day-to-day operations, which include
customer assistance, data analysis, quality assurance, and infrastructure management.
Legal and Policy: This department is in charge of legal issues, privacy policies, and regulatory
compliance.
Sales and Business Development: The sales and business development teams are responsible
for growing WhatsApp's user base, investigating new commercial prospects, and forming
alliances with other firms to improve the platform's features.

1.2.7 Infrastructural facilities

Key components of WhatsApp’s infrastructure:
Data Centers: WhatsApp's services are powered by many data centres situated across the world.

Server Architecture: The system is built to manage huge amounts of text, photos, videos, and
documents.
Encryption: WhatsApp is well-known for its end-to-end encryption, which means that messages
transferred between users are encrypted and can be decrypted only by the intended receivers.
This encryption protects your privacy and security.
Messaging Backbone: WhatsApp includes a communications backbone that allows users to
exchange messages in real time.
Mobile Application: WhatsApp has mobile apps for several platforms, including Android, iOS,
and Windows Phone.
WhatsApp Web: WhatsApp also has a web-based version known as WhatsApp Web. It enables
users to access their WhatsApp accounts and send/receive messages from their PCs using a web
browser.
Cloud Services: WhatsApp hosts some of its infrastructure components on cloud service
providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

1.2.8. Achievements, awards:

WhatsApp has surpassed various milestones and been honoured with numerous honours. With
over 2 billion monthly active users, it became the most popular messaging app. It won the
GSMA Global Mobile Awards for "Best Mobile App" and the Webby Awards for "Top Social
Media App." Its impact on communication and global networking is generally acknowledged.

1.2.9. Quality Policy: WhatsApp is dedicated to provide a safe and dependable

communications platform that meets or exceeds our users' expectations. We endeavour to
constantly improve the quality of our services by using strong security measures, stringent
testing procedures, and adhering to industry standards.
Vision: Our mission is to effortlessly link individuals all around the world while protecting their
privacy and data. We want to be the top messaging platform, providing innovative features and
an amazing user experience to millions of users worldwide.
Mission: By providing a high-quality messaging service, we hope to facilitate communication
and develop lasting connections. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our
users' data while providing a dependable platform for instant messaging, voice calls, and file
sharing.

Quality Objectives: We have specified the following quality targets as part of our ISO
certification:
Reliability: Assuring that the programme runs consistently and reliably, with no disruptions or
downtime.
Security: Implementing strong security measures to safeguard user data, prevent unauthorised
access, and assure information confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Performance: Assuring that the programme runs efficiently and satisfies user expectations for
speed and responsiveness.
User Experience: With a focus on user-centric design and usability, the programme becomes
intuitive, user-friendly, and accessible to a wide range of users.
Compatibility: Ensure that the programme is compatible with various operating systems,
devices, and versions, giving a consistent experience across platforms.
Compliance: Adherence to applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards pertaining to
privacy, data protection, and content control.
Continuous Improvement: Striving for continuous application improvement by incorporating
user feedback, monitoring performance metrics, and executing iterative updates and upgrades.

Practices to Achieve Quality Objectives:

Robust Testing: Implementing rigorous testing techniques, such as functional, security,
performance, and compatibility testing, to find and correct issues prior to the release of new
features or upgrades.
Secure Development Lifecycle: Including secure coding methodologies, regular security
assessments, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing in every level of the development
process.
Incident Management: Developing processes for responding quickly to security incidents,
vulnerabilities, or service outages, and putting in place mechanisms to reduce their impact and
prevent recurrence.
Privacy and Data Protection: Implementing strong privacy safeguards, such as data encryption
and user permission processes, as well as adhering to relevant data protection requirements such
as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
User Support and Feedback: Maintaining user support channels, obtaining user input, and
utilising user insights to promote application improvements.
Change Management: Using well-defined change management methods to govern and track
application modifications, ensuring that they are tested, documented, and deployed without
causing unexpected repercussions.
Training and Awareness: Regular training for personnel involved in the application's
development, maintenance, and support to improve their grasp of quality objectives, security
practises, and compliance standards.