Indium

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company provides clinical systems to conduct clinical trials or flagship products. We sell our products to CROs [Clinical Research Organizations], big pharma, and numerous start-ups in the biotech world. Our platform is not treatment specific, so any clinical trial can use our system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Indium Software?

We were using a 10-year-old open source software, and it had some “technical deaths”, which made it easy to produce regressions. To avoid these regressions as we modified the code, we tried to automate the test framework.  

We came up with an automated test environment, based on JBehave and Serenity, to create a framework to develop test scripts that can run on their own, and report failures if the results did not match to what is expected.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have conducted three projects so far. The initial project was a manual testing for the validation of the product, which is part of 21 CFR Part 11, a regulation imposed by the FDA. This was to make sure that the clinical system is fit for its intended use. The project lasted four to five months, running thousands of test scripts manually. When we decided to automate those test scripts, they were the obvious choice to hire.

We started with six developers, but we ended up working with four. They used Java language, JBehave, Serenity, and of course JavaScript.

How did you come to work with Indium Software?

My CEO gave me the contact of their CEO about four years ago. They had an office where we were located at the time, I met him, and we hit it off. They understood what I was talking about and they had the right level of expertise in the areas we needed. We have conducted 3 projects with them.

How much have you invested with Indium Software?

We were investing about $11,000 a month in the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

Unfortunately, the latest project had to be stopped due to financial reasons. We recently restructured the company and hired a new CEO, and we are now focusing on sales and revenue. We were investing about $11,000 a month in the project, so now it's temporarily on hold.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They automated about 220 test cases, but they didn’t work on the product itself. They just worked on test script libraries which we can’t measure any quality from.

What makes them special is the fact that they were always willing to receive feedback and get some additional expertise they didn’t have on the initial team. I’m very pleased with the way they reacted to the issues. We will be using them as soon as revenue and budget allow it.

How did Indium Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is one of their strongest points. We had meetings twice a month, and I received updates from the team lead every day. We communicated back and forth interactively using Skype, so both development teams were constantly communicating. It was very well managed.

What did you find most impressive about Indium Software?

They take feedback well, react to issues when encountered, and provide solutions. They made sure things got addressed, and they did that extremely well. That is very encouraging, and that’s the reason why I’m going to continue using them.

Are there any areas Indium Software could improve?

In the beginning, there was some expertise missing in some of the key technology areas. They should’ve made sure that the team had the key technology background and level of expertise required for the project.