Major European Telco in Germany

The Challenge

A critical application: The client’s testing challenge related to a business-critical application system for provisioning fixed and ADSL service for both domestic and business customers. The company leases bandwidth from Deutsche Telekom on behalf of these customers, and developed this application to estimate and track customers’ requirements, and to provide services accordingly. The application needed ongoing maintenance and enhancement, with regular release cycles. Its reliability was critical to the service provided to the client’s many customers. The challenge the client faced was to set up a testing team to carry out verification
and validation of the software to the high standard required. In addition to the main provisioning system, there was a large set of related applications to be maintained.

The need for an external resource: The client made a strategic decision to bring in external resources to help address this challenge. The first reason was that it did not have enough in-house experience. The second was that, while it needed a testing team of 20 at peak periods, at other times of the year the need was lower; an external provider would enable the client to manage these peaks and troughs more efficiently and flexibly.

The Solution

Why Sogeti? Sogeti was selected because of its focus on, and track record in, testing. Sogeti has the proven ability to deliver exactly the right resources for the job in hand, increasing the number of dedicated testers quickly whenever required. Some of our consultants worked with the client for over two years, which provided continuity and reflected a high degree of confidence in Sogeti.

Automation: The client’s own testing team was new so no methods or tools were already in place. So, as well as designing and executing some tests manually, Sogeti provided and used a range of methods and tools including:

• TMap®—Sogeti’s own methodology for structured testing
• A suite of test management tools
• Silk Performer and JMeter for load and performance tests
• JUnit for test automation.

Separately, other Sogeti staff carried out ticket tracking for about 15 other applications associated with the main provisioning system, using the JIRA ticket tracking tool. Collaborative approach: Working with the team leader of the client’s verification and validation team, Sogeti’s onsite co-ordinator orchestrated a mixed team of external and internal staff. Sogeti’s team members also transferred the necessary skills for using the most appropriate tools and methodologies to the client’s staff, so that over the course of the assignment, there was an increased consistency and industrialization of test execution across the whole team. Hands-on involvement: Sogeti carried out unit and system testing (including load and performance tests) from planning and scripting, through to execution.

The Benefits

High-quality applications: Efficient testing meant that this critical group of applications achieved the required level of reliability.

Shorter timeframe: Automated testing and careful co-ordination of a mixed team reduced the test execution timeframe, lowering costs and reducing time-to-market.

Flexible resourcing: Sogeti’s flexibility in providing resources allowed the client to adapt to different levels of demand. Sogeti worked with the client management team to plan testing demand on a quarterly basis, and using this high-level framework, was able to quickly deliver resources virtually on demand.

Efficient, thorough testing: Sogeti’s support meant that, from the outset, the client testing team had access to, and used, the latest automation and management tools and techniques.

Skills transfer: By collaborating with Sogeti, client staff became more competent in the use of these tools and techniques, resulting in improved testing performance.