Client Opportunity: As a leading software provider for the mortgage and real estate industry in Canadian markets, our client’s customized web-based applications give them a competitive edge. To keep up with the increasing demand for their popular customized products, our client needed to automate testing for various projects to reduce the overall testing phase.

Challenge: For each custom rollout, the financial lender had a specified set of configurable features. The software had to be tested not only to ensure the requirements were met, but also to guarantee the customization had not added additional features or interfered with the product’s core functionality. The demand for these customized products was growing daily and the overall test execution phase needed to be reduced.

One of the client's existing projects, having been under steady use and development for two years, was large and contained insufficient documentation. The scripting language of the client’s existing testing tool was proprietary and the client needed to convert existing automated test architecture for use with a new testing tool. The entire testing project had to be converted for the new test automation software, and that included converting test scripts, over a dozen function libraries and hundreds of tables of testing data.

With a large number of projects to staff within budgetary and deadline limitations, expanding its internal Software Quality Assurance (SQA) department, and hiring and training additional employees was not an option. The client urgently needed to partner with a highly effective team of professionals that encompassed a diversified skill set, offered flexibility, expertise and had a proven track record of successful automated testing of vendor software.

PQA’s Impact: With some of the most experienced and skilled professionals in automated testing, PQA was chosen by the client to augment their internal SQA department. By generating increased efficiencies with automated solutions, we would help them maintain their competitive advantage by meeting the surging demands for customized products. PQA’s SQA team worked in tandem with the client’s internal SQA department to supplement their skill set. We adapted and executed a consistent framework for tests, updated existing test scripts, wrote new scripts, executed fully automated scripts and completed numerous rounds of regression.

For the tool conversion, we began the project by first becoming familiar with the client’s code and producing professional-quality documentation for all core project libraries, while simultaneously developing documentation standards to be used as the project continued.  This value-added initiative readied PQA for a ‘running start’ when the client was ready to begin the conversion itself, and all remaining undocumented functions were documented as they were converted, leaving the client with full library documentation once the process was complete. To further streamline the project conversion, existing text processing tools were leveraged to automatically perform many of the more common steps in the conversion process.

Results: The automated testing was a complete success and the client was able to efficiently meet the growing demand for their popular customized product. Reducing the overall test execution phase, PQA’s automated tests and successful integration into their client’s dynamic test environment decreased the load on the client’s manual testers so they could focus on more complicated tasks.

The client was also pleased with PQA’s successful conversion of existing automated test architecture to a more robust and versatile tool, enabling faster and more inclusive testing. Improvements and upgrades to the project architecture now support multiple versions of the product under test. In addition, PQA’s value–added initiative to create full library documentation and high-quality code will facilitate future project management by ensuring test developers can work more efficiently, and by reducing the learning curve and training resources necessary for new testers. PQA continues to serve ongoing automation projects with this client. 

Client Opportunity: Our client is a worldwide leader in the video lottery and casino gaming industry. The nature of this industry is fueled by the evolution of technology and is subject to the impulses of consumer demands. In order for our client to maintain their competitive advantage in this dynamic industry, they must constantly evolve their products in line with consumer and technology trends while simultaneously maintaining their reputation as a top quality vendor.

Challenge: Historically, our client outsourced some of their software testing overseas and relied heavily upon their internal expertise to oversee the quality management of their projects. Faced with gaps in their existing internal QA resourcing and the inherent barriers to working with offshore partners, they elected to nearshore with PQA. With deadlines to meet for several existing products undergoing upgrades and enhancements, the client is also developing entirely new and highly anticipated game management architecture that can be used remotely. The client urgently needed to augment the current testing environment with a broad range of quality assurance skills and professional expertise to ensure their status in this competitive market.

PQA’s Impact: With a business model that includes specializing in all aspects of software quality assurance and an impressive combination of industry success and quality-centric professionals, the client chose PQA to augment their internal team of software quality assurance (SQA) testers. The PQA team worked exceptionally well with the client’s established SQA team with total integration into a number of different projects achieved in only a matter of days. We attained full responsibility for testing the client’s newest server software and worked closely with the client’s design, development and business analyst teams to create and execute test cases and scenarios to cover new components and verify their integration with legacy features. In addition, several PQA resources augmented internal teams testing multi-game software releases for various global customers. Throughout all testing phases of the various projects, PQA was also able to incorporate long term value by observing and making recommendations for process and quality management improvements.

Results: The partnership was a complete success resulting in the client effectively meeting all project objectives and deadlines. On several occasions, the client expressed their thanks to PQA for our professionalism, expertise and dedication to quality that helped the client exceed the quality expectations that make them leaders in the video lottery and gaming industry. The success of the initial engagement with this client has resulted in an ongoing partnership with PQA as their preferred software testing provider.

Client Opportunity: Our client is a leader in the Canadian financial industry. As a dynamic financial institution with efficiency and quality entrenched in their corporate vision, our client needed to customize newly acquired mortgage software for company-wide release. The successful customization and implementation of this software would give it a huge advantage over its competitors. Our client’s reputation depended heavily on the success of this project.

Challenge: Until now, the client’s solution was a legacy system that required its users to take on a huge amount of manual processes. The new product was entirely web-based and would completely automate the mortgage brokering process and allow agents access to the system in real time from anywhere. The client’s internal team of testers, while experts testing with the legacy system, were not effectively experienced with web-based applications. With the release to production date pending, the client was now challenged with the task of finding highly skilled quality assurance software testers with a specialized set of skills and experience with web-based mortgage software.

PQA’s Impact: The client inquired through industry channels for the name of the company most capable of helping them meet their pressing business needs. They were referred to us. With our reputation as a reliable partner and our track record of proven experience, PQA was the right choice. We worked with the client to form the core group of testers performing user acceptance and production acceptance testing to certify the functional integrity of the final production system. In addition, as part of PQA’s business model of value-added service, we also observed the client’s current testing methodology and completed a process improvement analysis, enabling them to improve their existing QA methodologies to more effectively direct future testing projects.

Results: The new product was successfully certified and released company-wide within the client’s project objectives. PQA has developed a strong working relationship with the client and continues to support ongoing customization fixes and aid in the client’s process improvement initiatives.

Client Opportunity: Our client is a Fortune 500 leader in easy-to-use database software for business professionals. A worldwide leader whose cross-platform application enables millions of customers to manage every aspect of their business, our client needed to maintain their competitive advantage in the database software market by releasing the newest version of their popular product on time.

Challenge: With the release date quickly approaching, the client realized they needed to augment their testing team. Faced with the possibility of additional recruiting, hiring and training demands to guarantee their product’s scheduled release, the client was tasked to meet this challenge without compromising their project objectives; specifically, deadlines, budget and quality.

PQA’s Impact: After carefully examining all of their options, the client chose to partner with PQA. Working together to develop an effective strategy that aligned with the client’s project objectives, PQA was able to ramp up quickly, test across a number of platforms including Windows XP, Windows Vista and MAC OSX 10.4 and 10.5 and work within the client’s bug reporting processes. With some of the most experienced and skilled professionals in the QA software testing field, PQA’s extensive testing spanned functional and automated black box testing, integration, network, localization, regression, platform, conversion, stress and performance testing, as well as bug regression and functional specifications review. In addition, PQA was readily available as required by the client at various points during the software development lifecycle. Providing proficient skills in a flexible manner, PQA updated, modified and created test cases and scenarios to cover the product’s new features ensuring their successful integration with legacy features. All of these services were provided with PQA’s quality-centric business model.

Results: The client’s product release was a triumphant milestone, completed on time and on budget. It also led to a close working partnership between PQA and the client’s SQA team. The initial engagement with this client began in 2005 – this latest project is the third successful engagement in three new releases of this Fortune 500 Company’s popular product.