a1qa

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for a national economic research institute that conducts research and analysis on economic performance and makes strategic recommendations around ways to improve competitiveness in the global marketplace.

What is your position?

I am a deputy executive director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with A1QA?

We have what we call a case management system for one of our own customers, and they would perform the quality assurance for the finished product. We sometimes deal with quality assurance ourselves but, in this particular case, we were tight on time and resources, so we decided to find a partner with the skill set to do it for us.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They integrated themselves directly into the development team that was working on the application. Depending on our needs, we had between five and ten testers included in our development team because we had more than one project going on with them. We wanted to be sure that we had folks that had prior experience testing a case management system.

As we explored different areas, we also moved toward mobile development as well. We needed folks that had experience testing mobile applications, and then folks that could also do automated testing on their part. They tested both on Android and iOS devices. We also expanded the scope of their involvement to include technical writing, which has worked out well so far.

How did you come to work with A1QA?

When we realized we had a need, our procurement rules were a little bit different than they are today, so we just went online and searched for several firms that could do quality assurance testing for us. A1QA came out of the search engine that we used back then. What really helped us is that, when trying to establish the scope of work and getting the quotes from other vendors took forever, A1QA was very responsive to get something back to us. They not only provided a reasonable quote, but they also gave us a sense of how they would approach working with us. They really made a good argument and were very responsive, which made it easy for us to make a decision and to go with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The only number I'd be comfortable to say is that, on a yearly basis, we spent more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked about 12 months on the application before it was prepared to go live. We are utilizing their resources more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

That would be hard because what we provide right now is kind of a turnkey solution for our customers. Our customers are not really ever exposed to the QA [quality assurance] aspect of what we're doing, they're more like embedded as part of our group, and I don't have anything right now. That is something that we are considering as we're utilizing more of their resources so that we can make a good argument that we do have something that's worth spending money on. Right now, I do not have anything like that.

Having incorporated A1QA testers, they were more focused on developing value-added code than doing the rework of bugs that needed to be fixed. There's also a certain confidence that we have, that we have some good QA testers that are working with us. If the developers are missing something early on, everybody is feeling confident that there is a good chance it will be caught in the QA phase, which makes our product better and makes everybody feel better about what we're doing.

How did A1QA perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management, we are using the Atlassian Suite product that they have. That's one nice thing that A1QA has been able to do. They can plug-in into whatever we're using without us having to change any of our business processes.

What distinguishes A1QA from other providers?

One of the big strengths that we've seen with them is that we're working with them on a time and material basis. Whenever we had some projects that came last minute to us, and suddenly we had to scale up, A1QA been able to match and scale up their resources as well. We don't have to worry about whether the QA team can handle the workload if we find enough developers and the resources to do the work here. That has been something really nice. Some of the other vendors that we've worked with in the past required a substantial amount of notice before we could scale up our engagement with them. With A1QA, they've been able to match us on pretty much all the needs that we've ever had.

Is there anything A1QA could have improved or done differently?

I would say nothing that comes to mind right now. Being more competitive from the pricing point of view would be nice, but I would not say that they are the most expensive people out there.

BACKGROUND

I am the Director of ALTORI LLP

ALTORI LLP is an official representative of Schaumann, a company that has been a leader in the German feed additive market for many years. Dealing with sales of the vitamins and feed and feed additives for all categories of livestock, feed acids, probiotics, biological and chemical preservatives, and other related products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• quick launch of the website
• migration to a new ERP system

SOLUTION

Referral

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

2-5 Employees

acceptance testing reports, list of defects reported into JIRA, test cases saved in TestRail

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We accelerated product order processing times by 30%, and the website launched five days ahead of schedule.

We are fully satisfied with the company's management; communication was timely and prompt.

Virtual Meeting

The biggest impression left by the company comes from the people, the team, and their approach to the work. Everyone is highly focused on results and works in our best interests as the client.

I think no.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of QA operations at Product Madness, a leading global mobile game studio specializing in top-grossing social casino games. We deliver entertaining and responsible gameplay experiences to millions of players worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with a1qa?

We needed support with our QA operations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

a1qa provides functional QA for server and client operations, automation, and performance testing. The team also delivers test reports, automated test scripts, and performance analysis documents.

How did you come to work with a1qa?

a1qa was already working with our company when I joined.

What is the status of this engagement?

Ongoing engagement for the better part of a decade.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quality of our Products is the best testimony to the success of our partnership.

How did a1qa perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project managers and customer success specialists are always ready to help.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The entire organization is very passionate about QA and is always going the extra mile to ensure standards are met. The pace they can source candidates at has also been impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Greater proactivity in identifying improvement opportunities would make an already strong partnership even stronger.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the QA Lead of Bally's Interactive

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A1QA provide great testers (Manual & Automation) to suit your companys needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Release on time
• Find high priority bugs

SOLUTION

How did you find a1qa?

Referral

Why did you select a1qa over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from a1qa were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Feature acceptance testing
• Writing & maintaining test cases
• Sanity & Regression testing
• Automation framework for Web & native apps
• Defect reporting & retesting

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Project(s) delivered on time 
• High priority defects found & resolved before launch & regulator approval
• Great communication whether in virtual calls or messaging/email
• Worked with internal team without any issues

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

• Worked alongside internal teams to ensure we tested the priority each Day & Week of the project
• Issues raised communicated out so any blockers were prioritised appropriately
• Provided Holiday cover so we had enough resource at all times

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?

• Their work ethic was great.
• Felt like & were part of the team rather than "outside" help
• Clear communication 

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of the QA department of an education and research platform.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our platform is built to cater to the needs of schools, higher education, corporate training, alternative credentials, and sports teams, offering solutions for teaching and administration, learning and research. 

From infrastructure to applications, our platform elevates learning experiences, empowers educators, and drives research breakthroughs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• all-in-one platform for education and research. With expertise in machine intelligence and data science

SOLUTION

How did you find a1qa?

Referral

Why did you select a1qa over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• 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.

Complex system(s) quality, usability and reliability assurance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With a1qa’s support we managed to:

• Ensure failsafe software operation by ironing out issues that could negatively affect user experience.
• Meet tight deadlines despite the increased workload.

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

We manage the project ourselves, but I can vouch that a1qa’s communication, problem-solving, and risk management skills contributed to ensuring streamlined workflows and avoiding any disruptions in project delivery.

What was your primary form of communication with a1qa?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Swift communication to quickly solve any arising questions.
• Fast onboarding (approximately 2 weeks) on each subproject to ensure efficient investigation into our IT products functionality.
• Swift provision of QA activities and seamless switching of QA engineers between diverse software solutions to always meet set timeframes. 

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

No, we are happy with the level of service provided by a1qa and continue cooperating with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a leading global real estate services and investment management company. As a Senior PM and Consultant, I manage software projects with a focus on improving Usability and Efficiency of mission critical systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire A1QA?

We hired A1QA to perform manual testing and test automation of one of our public-facing websites. 

What were your goals for this project?

Regular, stable, and high quality releases

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Referral

Describe the project in detail.

A1QA performed manual testing and test automation of a public-facing website. They helped our internal team with test documentation, helped define the scope of test automation, and created a test automation solution, with the help of which our internal team did not have to depend on a QA provider. Since then A1QA team have been maintaining the scripts and expanding the coverage of the system. 

What was the team composition?

It varied from year to year, depending on our needs. A1QA is flexible with resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They fit well into our Agile processes and help release new portal versions on time and of proven quality.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Proactive, flexible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No