a1qa

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Technology Director of an insurance company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A tech-enabled full-service commercial insurance brokerage

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire a1qa to accomplish?

• Establish a streamlined and efficient QA strategy
• Introduce a dedicated BA workflow in the SDLC process
• Provide load testing, integration and security tests.
• Test automation
• DevOps and CI/CD automation

SOLUTION

How did you find a1qa?

Referral

Why did you select a1qa over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from a1qa were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Establish a streamlined QA workflow integrated into the agile SDLC lifecycle:

• Provide regression & integration testing of each release
• Introduce QA automation and CI/CD optimizations
• Provide BA analysis of all stories to be dev- and test-ready 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Product Quality has been upheld during complex software development, with little-to-none bugs reported by outside parties (internal/external clients)

Stories have been detailed with BA decomposition and analysis, allowing more efficient dev implementation cycle and less re-work/QA-cycles 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management has been excellent, with scrum process consulting and optimization of our dev lifecycle completed together with the vendor. They deliver items on time and up to our expectations.

The vendor response rate is good - with a thoughtful approach to our needs

What was your primary form of communication with a1qa?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Able to source high-quality talent and adapt the team to the varying needs of the business/dev lifecycle, work on creating appropriate solutions in complex timeframes/cost/requirement environments

Are there any areas for improvement or something a1qa could have done differently?

More in-person, AE oversight of the relationship as a whole to ensure we're fully aligned 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the executive

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Online Gaming and Sportsbook Platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire a1qa to accomplish?

• Establish a collaboration with a1qa for the development of the gaming platform.
• Provide assistance for automation testing.
• Undertake the development of a Native app and facilitate the migration from the old app to the new one.

SOLUTION

How did you find a1qa?

Clutch Site

Why did you select a1qa over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from a1qa were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Provided technical consultation throughout the mobile and games development process. 
• Assisted in setting up development environments and other infrastructure required for mobile and games development. 
• Offered continuous support for debugging, troubleshooting, and resolving technical issues encountered during development. 
• Collaborated closely with the development team to integrate backend services and APIs seamlessly into mobile and games applications.
• Conducted performance testing and optimisation to ensure smooth functionality and optimal user experience on various devices. 
• Implemented NFR measures and protocols to safeguard mobile and games applications against potential threats and vulnerabilities. 
• Offered guidance on best practices and emerging technologies in mobile and games development to enhance productivity and efficiency. 
• Provided ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure the stability, reliability, and security of mobile and games applications post-launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Platform has gone live!
• Increased user engagement metrics after launch but it's too early to measure such as session duration, daily active users, and retention rates. 
• Decreased bug/defects reports from end users, indicating some improvement on stability. 
• Recent apps have been successful within the stores, reflecting enhanced user satisfaction and experience.
• Reduction in some of the development time through the implementation of automation testing and efficient development processes. 
• Successful migration of the old app to the new app with minimal disruption to users and operations. 
• Achievement of project milestones. 
• It's early stage but good feedback so far, including internal teams, management, and customers.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Good Communication: Regular communication channels were established to ensure prompt response to queries, issues, and support requests from team members, stakeholders, and clients. 
• Problem Solving: Supported QA lead managers have identified and addressed potential issues or obstacles before they escalated, ensuring smooth project progress. 
• Resource Allocation: Resources were allocated efficiently based on project requirements, ensuring that the right people with the appropriate skills were available to provide support as needed. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholders were engaged throughout the project lifecycle to gather feedback, address concerns, and align expectations, fostering a collaborative environment. 
• Risk Management: Risks were identified, assessed, and mitigated in a timely manner to prevent disruptions to project delivery, ensuring that the project stayed on track. 
• Continuous Improvement: continuously monitored project performance and processes. 
• Documentation and Knowledge Sharing: Good documentation of activities, decisions, and support processes was maintained, facilitating knowledge sharing and ensuring continuity of support. 
• Adherence to Best Practices: best practices and methodologies were followed to guide project execution, ensuring consistency and alignment with industry standards

What was your primary form of communication with a1qa?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Encouraging collaboration, fostering supportiveness, maintaining friendliness, and demonstrating willingness to go the extra mile as needed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something a1qa could have done differently?

Our experience with a1Qa has been positive overall, and at present, we have no specific suggestions for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I manage the Software Quality Assurance team. We provide technology solutions to clients across the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire a1qa?

We started working with a1qa to provide performance testing on our platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The deciding factor was the level of experience a1qa brought, as well as their willingness to work with extremely tight timelines, around the clock to finish work before a fast approaching deadline.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

a1qa was tasked with creating performance tests, creating the physical infrastructure to run the tests, as well as executing the tests. In the first phase, a1qa created test scripts based on the requirements. Then they ran preliminary tests to ensure the load profiles observed were what was expected. After some tweaks to the scripts, they started running the tests as designed. During the tests, if and when a software issue was identified our internal team fixed the issues, after which a1qa continued running the tests.

This repetition of testing, identifying and fixing issues, followed by another round of testing continued until the system was able to handle the target load profiles. Once the initial deadline was complete, a1qa delivered the scripts to us, assisted us in creating the hardware infrastructure, with which we could run the tests, and they continue to this date to enhance our scripts as well as provide support when needed.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked and continue to work with four resources. Their Business Development Manager, their Senior Engineer Lead and two Engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We were able to find and fix all the issues before our deadline. a1qa was key to achieving this goal. Their expertise as well as willingness to work with such a tight timeline made this project a success. We continue to work with a1qa on enhancing our scripts to this date.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Given the tight timeline, we were in constant communication to ensure the deadline wouldn't slip. When a milestone was complete, the next phase began immediately. When there was a blocker, they reached out immediately. When we had a question or a request a1qa was available immediately. With their constant awareness, and their availability we were able to work cohesively.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

During the selection process, while other vendors were not confident that they would be able to deliver results in such a tight timeline, a1qa was willing to work with our team to achieve it. And I believe their attitude of willingness to work alongside our team made the difference, both in the selection process, as well as at the end when it mattered. Their extremely talented engineers understands difficult concepts quickly and were able to provide solutions fast.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I am not sure if a1qa could have done anything differently then or now. We recently started collaborating on other realms of testing as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of digital products at a global commercial real estate company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with a1qa?

We needed a team to cost-effectively help us with automated and manual QA.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired them to do QA for an external website application. Since then, we’ve had them do QA for some of our other applications that feed data into our website. Now, we’re starting to use them for even more applications.

What is the team composition?

We work with one project manager, three manual testers, and one automated tester. We also work with an account representative.

How did you come to work with a1qa?

I found them through online research. We found them and they seemed like they were high quality.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed our contract in September 2017, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They make sure our website is functional without any issues. Our application works as expected. a1qa does what they’re supposed to do.

How did a1qa perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really good at communication with my development team. We use Azure DevOps for project management. We communicate daily and have weekly standups via email and phone to make sure the right things are getting addressed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re quality people that work efficiently. They know their stuff and work to learn new features and functionalities as they’re being developed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re doing really well. That’s why we’ve been keeping them around for so long.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Regular meetings are important to keep your team efficient.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a software company that provides back-office software for schools and school boards.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with a1qa?

We were looking for help building a test automation framework and automated test cases so we don’t have to do as much manual regression testing. Prior to this engagement, we had zero automation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through a discovery phase where we learned about them and they learned about our specific challenges and what we wanted to achieve. They put together a demo of the things they’ve done and can do using our technology stack. After that, we had several other questions regarding how our teams would work together. Once that was done, we dealt with the commercial terms and what the business relationships would look like.

A1QA built for us the automation framework, reporting, integration with our build pipelines, and automated nightly runs.  In addition, we assign them automation scenarios which they then code and add to the suite. 

They also helped us migrate from Teamcity to Azure DevOps, and we also utilized them for performance testing and to build a PowerBI dashboard (using their parent organization - iTransition).

How did you come to work with a1qa?

We had referrals to three companies from private equity partners.  I interviewed all three and decided on A1QA based on a combination of technical skills and pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000 since we started our engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2018 and we continue to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We measure our QA automation and how much time it saves us during our normal release processes. That has grown from zero automation to about 60% of our application flows being automated, saving us thousands of hours every quarter (we release every two weeks). In reality we wouldn't run all the manual regression testing so by having automation we have faster releases and higher quality.

How did a1qa perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good at estimating work and communicating when things are slipping. Our teams chat daily.  Between the accuracy and communication they are easy to work with. They are good collaborators, and treat our work as a team effort as opposed to a vendor-client relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are technically very strong.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we wanted to expand to performance testing and PowerBI development we had to work with their parent company - iTransition.  The parent company is great, but we now had to work with different project managers instead of having a single point of contact. Not a big deal, but it would be helpful if they could streamline that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Product Owner at a software company, based in the Netherlands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire A1QA?

We introduced new components to our stack. The new functionality needed to be tested and part of GUI tests needed to be automated in a test framework. We did not had enough in-house capacity, so we needed to outsource these tasks.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have enough test coverage to test the functionality of the newly developed software

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

The project is to create test cases, automate tests and customized a test framework. A1QA provided a test analyst, who was member of our scrum team and participated in all team-related events.

What was the team composition?

A test analyst and a test engineer were allocated to the team and participated in all team-related events.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

within a few months hundreds of tests were created and a relative big portion was automated. This was according to expectation, since the specialists of A1QA could do this at a faster rate than the developers. Giving the developers more time to focus on actual development of new functionality.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. Reporting was weekly and always on time. Although we had a geographical distance, but with Teams and Parabol we managed to minimize the distance and were considered full members of the team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Clear communication, clear goals, thinking along about solution directions, actively engaged.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Product Manager at smartclip Europe GmbH, responsible for managing the development of our ad server's/broadcaster's user interface. As a company, smartclip deploys proprietary, custom-developed technology to distribute video advertising across all platforms and devices, controlled by ad servers.

Whether online users consume video on the web, on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, or on connected TV players – including smart TVs, game consoles, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players, advertisers and their media agencies can reach the exact target audiences they seek for their brand message.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire A1QA?

While steadily developing new features for our platform on a grand scale, we have always been testing them on 2 separate test environments. In addition to writing the specifications for each feature and making sure the developers get all the feedback they need, it got very time and resource consuming to act as the QA team as well, which is what we hired a1qa for.

What were your goals for this project?

At the end of a two-month trial period, we wanted to see definite improvements in the frequency of our feature releases. This should be achieved by being able to simultaneously write new specs, manage the releases and test all successfully developed features, instead of doing all those steps in succession by ourselves.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Another department of our company had already hired a1qa in the past for acceptance and integration tests of our mobile SDK. They gave them an extraordinary review as well, which led us to our decision.

Describe the project in detail.

a1qa has helped us set up the QA processes and make them an integral part of the existing team’s workflow, which caters to quality control early in the process, at the requirements stage.

The team performs functional and UI testing of our application, including but not limited to checking the database, the files exported, user access rights, etc. Additionally, to foster quality control and test results documentation, a1qa guided us through the process of choosing a suitable test management system that fully meets our needs.

What was the team composition?

Initially, we were assigned a QA manager to support us and serve as the main point of contact for both testing our software and consulting me regarding our QA workflow. Once we had settled on how we wanted the workflow to look like, we hired two additional QA engineers to support the manager in the active testing of our UI, while he is responsible for defining the test scenarios based off the individual feature's requirements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

In the 10 months of our ongoing relationship, we were able to keep up the pace of our two-week release schedule with only skipping a beat once. Taking our requirements for an appropriate tool to put our test cases and results down, the QA manager provided us with a whole catalog of possibilities and only stopped his efforts to find the perfect one when we were 100% satisfied.

When integrating and training new workflows, the manager is always eager to take in our input and proactively trains his two engineers, who precisely follow all instructions we gave the manager. All the feedback and test results we receive from a1qa's manager and engineers are accurate and brim with love for even the smallest details.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The QA manager that we were assigned initially was very communicative and provided me with at least daily updates. We used Slack for almost all communication. Overall, I was impressed by the timeliness of the team. Whenever the team identified a threat to our timelines, it was communicated immediately. When additional work was needed spontaneously, they jumped in without hesitation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

All my questions and feedback were answered immediately. All employees of the company I was ever in contact with tried their very best to fulfill our goals at the highest standard.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While there is always headroom for efficiency in software development, I do not think there is anything that could be improved about our relationship to a1qa.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Hammerhead Technology, a technology holding company. Our companies operate in their own technology subdomains serving various regional markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire A1QA?

We’ve partnered with A1QA on software QA and cybersecurity projects for several industries, including banking and government.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for a service provider that would deliver substantial value to our end-customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We first met an affiliate/sister company of A1QA while doing discovery for a separate project. We paid A1QA a visit and things progressed into a partnership.

Describe the project in detail.

We can’t provide more detail because of confidentiality agreements with our end-customers.

What was the team composition?

Over the course of several projects, we’ve interacted with project managers, service delivery managers, business development managers, QA engineers, and cybersecurity engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

So far, we have a 100% completion rate when working with A1QA. We always deliver on time to our customers, whose feedback has been positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We’ve put a smooth workflow in place after working together several times. Communication has never been a serious issue. We have frequent meetings and weekly progress reports for all our ongoing projects.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their technical staff is high quality compared to market standards. Additionally, their pure focus on software testing gives them an edge over shops with more diverse offerings.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The look and feel of their reports provided could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a QA manager for Sirin Labs, a company developing a smartphone with an integrated crypto wallet.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with A1QA?

We needed a partner to test our cold storage wallet, as well as the overall operation of the phone.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took over the QA process after the completion of an internal QA scrum involving four of our testers. A1QA verified and validated the current version of the wallet and the phone itself, working through different versions. They did testing cycles in a waterfall manner.

What is the team composition?

We worked with eight manual testers from their team, two automation testers, and a system performance tester. They also had a QA manager who oversaw their process, and a product manager who helped with any peripheral issues. We also worked with their HR manager, who helped us identify the best people for the task.

How did you come to work with A1QA?

We chose them from a list of three finalists because of their demonstrated competence and their eagerness for the task. We thought they could provide the best solution.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve spent about $400,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2018, and the project concluded in January 2019. We hope to work with the same team when we contract for the next phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They improved the quality of our product tremendously through their QA. They identified issues that our product team didn’t find. Also, their integration into our scrum process also helped our in-house team complete other tasks so that we could release our version for verification. We’d experienced a few timeline issues, and our version had fallen behind schedule. They integrated easily and didn’t slow down the existing work.

How did A1QA perform from a project management standpoint?

They became part of the team, talking to each developer in person, which allowed them to get the answers they needed and report bugs directly to the developers. It was though they were working locally with us, whether we were communicating through Skype meetings and chats, email, or Jira. They give their employee language lessons. At each step, they knew more and were better updated than I was.

Every week, they issued a progress report and a list of issues. We then solved issues through the following week and tried to find solutions for new challenges, of which we had a few. At the end of each testing run, they provided us with a full report of the validated version, with a quality grading.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They found good team members quickly and they were dedicated to our project. They didn’t treat our engagement as a task to be completed; rather, they helped us and they had a sense of responsibility. For example, we had an issue sending phone samples to Belarus. A1QA ensured the delivery of the phones, which is a complicated task due to regulation. They flew during the weekend to get the phones instead of waiting for deliveries. They also sent a team to Israel earlier in our engagement, before our SOP was signed. They wanted to understand our project so we could start on time, even though the engagement had been delayed by legal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we're completely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Treat them as a partner and be as open as possible. They can solve a lot of the problems that clients face because they’re a mid-sized firm that’s been in the market for several years.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Faberlic as a project manager for our biggest project. We’re an international e-commerce platform with a multi-level marketing structure.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with A1QA?

We’re moving from a monolithic architecture to a service-based one, so we needed a testing team. We don’t have an internal testing team, so preferred to outsource the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have new releases every three weeks. They perform functional, integration, and performance testing on our web platform, while providing us with all the testing documentation on an ongoing basis.

What is the team composition?

They’ve provided us with QA engineers. We’ve had 5–6 people in different roles, though we don’t have a project manager as it’s not needed. We have a manager in the testing team who acts as team leader.

How did you come to work with A1QA?

We went through a tender process. A1QA have a good reputation within the Russian market, and we’ve found that they have a really good internal structure. They share knowledge and train their staff, so we knew we wouldn’t have any problems; we knew we could give them tasks and they would deliver.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent more than $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2016 and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t had any issues with the testing at all. It’s been cost effective for us to use A1QA as we don’t need to train people or hire people; in fact, we don’t need to do anything. We’re more confident with our platform due to their testing work.

How did A1QA perform from a project management standpoint?

They have performed excellently from a communication standpoint. They work remotely, and we communicate over Skype, as well as using Jira and Confluence to share documents and tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a company, they have excellent communication. They provide training programs and like to see their team and employees grow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think I can give them any advice.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If it is an ongoing project, arrange an interview with the team that will to perform the testing.