ASTAQC CONSULTING

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the business manager of Embracing Future Potential, a network of websites that act as job boards advertising roles in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We wanted to set up consistent testing on our websites to identify any issues/bugs that appeared and react to them as soon as possible. We chose to do this on a platform named Ghost Inspector, which ASTAQC CONSULTING set up and managed on our behalf.

SOLUTION

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

We searched Upwork and found various vendors, and selected ASTAQC CONSULTING after interviewing them

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

Their team was responsible for creating automated tests across our network of 7 websites, reporting the issues/bugs that arose, and creating new tests or adapting existing tests to ensure they don't reappear.

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

We worked directly with a testing engineer, who was our single point of contact

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We never had any automated test on our sites before, therefore this project saved us countless hours in manual testing and picked up issues/errors with our sites that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were very happy with the workflow between our teams, we could log into the platform and view the tests and were sent notifications that outlined any issues they reported. We were in constant communication with the lead testing engineer through upwork. We were always kept up-to-date, and they were extremely reactive.

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

The level of personal service we recieved, our lead engineer was always reactive to anything we asked of him, and always carried out any tasks to the highest standard.

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

We do not have any recommendations for improvement, we're extremely satisfied with the level of service we receive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I handle the Outsourced QA for the application testing. Deskpro is a comprehensive helpdesk product. Deskpro works with things like email, chat and voice, and includes features like knowledgebase articles and files and downloads. Admins can configure custom templates, triggers, webhooks, user groups, auth and SSO, etc. There are also mobile apps for iOS and Android. Deskpro's agent and admin interfaces are single-page apps that run in the browser. Deskpro is a large product with many different features and with hundreds of configurable settings. It is very flexible. This flexibility means that QA is a very important part of our release process. Someone needs to test the product and have the skill and instinct to test it in ways that might not be immediately obvious.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We were looking for a Manual QA tester of our product. The role included:

• Testing new features to ensure they do what they are meant to do, and they work as one would reasonably expect.
• Testing bug fixes to ensure bugs are actually fixed, and that no new bugs were introduced
• Some manual QA at a release level to check for major regressions that are not picked up by automated tests
• Validating customer bug reports.
• You will get a bug report, then replicate the issue on a test environment to verify the issue and clarify steps to reproduce for the engineers.

SOLUTION

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

We chose the QA engineer via their proposal on Upwork, they showed that they understood how testing had to be done, and they had the ability to understand the diverse testing techniques that were needed for the project.

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

We were looking for someone to work with us for the long term. Deskpro is a significant and complicated product, and QA tester had to:

• Learn about our product thoroughly.
• Begin to understand how features fit together and can be used together
• Tester was required to have an instinctive understanding of how a change in one product area could potentially cause a problem in another area. Deskpro is highly configurable and sometimes, seemingly unrelated combinations of configurations could result in unexpected or undesirable behaviour
• Tester had to know how to push software to edge cases to catch bugs that might have been missed. For example, error scenarios (e.g. invalid input) or extreme cases (e.g. uploading an logo 100000x100000 in size) etc
• ester had to understand security challenges with web-based software (e.g. XSS), and be mindful of security implementations of any feature (e.g. how permissions are often very important)

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

We have been working with 1 manual and automation tester.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They've been with us for over 4 years now and continue to help us test complex functionality and regression of all features before release. They've also helped us build cypress-based automated tests.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It is based on daily communication, we use a communication channel where their engineer works with our team as a member of our team.

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

Their tester has the skill that is very important for our project. They have the ability to understand how a highly configurable product like ours needs to be tested for every small change and they go beyond the limit to find a way out.

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

We would want them to introduce Security testing as a regular check.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of a food based e-commerce application where we have brought the home based food online, making it possible for people to enjoy the same food at the comfort of their home which they used to when they were with their mothers or grandmothers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING, and what were your goals?

Initially we were doing the business locally with the help of mouth publicity, but eventually we started getting request from people outside of our reach physically thus we wanted to build a platform which could take care of this. Since our products are home made, organic, mainly consisting of dry foods and pickles, we had to make it from scratch. Which for us was a big ask, after trying out few ready to use platforms we decided to hire a team of experts to do this work for us. We choose Astaqc after reviewing 6 teams, we found the team at astaqc to be always ready to help and available with in 24 hours of the query.

SOLUTION

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

After reviewing the proposals from several team, we found they already had a matching experience and they knew about our line of business and were really patient in explaining the whole process, they also made the process of payment comfortable for us.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We provided them a basic requirement from our side, with some reference sites, that's all. They took it from their by creating a detailed project outline and explanatory documents which helped us identify the actual needs and what we wanted to achieve in terms of functionality and user needs. After finalizing the requirements their team started working on the project.

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

There were 6 people working on the project, 1 Project Manager, 4 developers and 1 QA engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We found out that the system they built was from the start mobile friendly which was never a requirement specified by us but they took care of it and most of our requests now comes from there. We are now considering of creating a mobile app to deal with the same.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Their Project Management team has been communicating with me regularly, they generally plan a weekly check in with our team and provide a monthly walk-through of the latest development that is made on the site. They demonstrate the functionality along with the tests built to support the system, their ability to create test with continuous development has increased our faith in their work.

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

Their response time, every time we have a query or a change request, a representative would always set up a call within 24 hours and respond to our queries.

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

Yes, i think they need to work on their team enhancement, because I have to hire a separate team for mobile project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO at an IT company headquartered in Russia. Our company has about 30 employees and we develop web and mobile applications and in general, we help startups to launch MVP.

Our clients are from the USA, UK, China, Canada, and other countries of the world. It is important for us to provide our clients with an excellent product, service. Therefore, we pay great attention to the project architecture, code quality, testing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We needed to do extensive testing for the financial projects.

What were your goals for this project?

Their goal was to identify all errors in the web application, as well as find security vulnerabilities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reviewed 4 candidates and made our choice based on detailed reports provided, ease of communication, and interaction.

Describe the project in detail.

We already had a completed project and we needed advanced testing, which would allow us to find the latest bugs and security problems. The vendor offered us various testing methods, including automatic and manual, which satisfied us completely. Also, good detailed bug reports as well.

What was the team composition?

We had three QA Engineers:  manual, automation, and security.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Several unusual errors were found in the loading pages, and several vulnerabilities were found in relation to brute force.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was a pleasure to work with the team. No communication problems.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I liked the bug reports. And also that the team did not stop only at simple scripts for finding errors.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would be great if the vendor provides a separate page for running automated tests, and we don't need to run them ourselves.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Trip69.com is a smart travel solution where travel meets the technology and helps the world stuff their eyes with wonder. I'm a co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We hired them for application and web testing.

What were your goals for this project?

Their goal was to check the load capacity and make it a bug-free interface before the launch date.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They managed to get it through our various IT partners. ASTAQC has been working with many of them.

Describe the project in detail.

Trip69.com is a smart technology solution to engage travelers and handpick the best travel places. It is also a smart engine to help domestic car vendors to provide their services to the B2B travel Agents across the country.

What was the team composition?

There were three in the team. A lead application tester, senior engineer, and junior engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far so good. We are still working on the product and timely testing by ASTAQC under the guidance of Mr. Avanish has been commendable. I guess, we still have a long way to go together, and I am certain that ASTAQC will add value to our product as it has been doing till now.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were efficient and constructive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their genuine and no bluff games approach with the timeline was impressive. Their efforts to keep it all alive as if their own product, is what brings them closer to many of reference works too.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always a scope of growth everywhere. And we have had a lot of friendly conversation regarding the same with Avanish.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My Agency, Sejal Shah Design is an interior design firm working with clients from throughout the country, I get leads via my social profiles and my website. I am the Principal Designer and the Director of my agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

Our agency was created in 2015 and ever since then all our leads management was done via calls, messages locally. I was having trouble managing my leads using contemporary phone-based management and wanted to get a website built to make the whole process smooth.

We hire Astaqc Consulting to help us build the project as well as test it thoroughly because we did not want our clients to come across any glitches, which would harm our luxury brand greatly.

What were your goals for this project?

Make the leads management easy and hassle-free, make it possible for us to manage the site once the team hands it over to us, the site should be elegant and classy which would appeal to our clients, and last but not the least it shouldn't have any issues.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had searched online for someone who would be professional in this work and would provide the highest quality for the work. Astaqc Engineering team took up the responsibility of maintaining the quality of my site, they were prompt to respond and took time to understand my requirement, they made sure I was happy with what they were offering before they even started the work.

Describe the project in detail.

After choosing them we found out that they were specialists in testing which is their first job, thus they did a lot of meetings with me to understand my requirement completely, I provided them with my designs as I wanted the site to look particularly how I wanted it.

Initially, it was challenging for them to accommodate my requirements because implementing it using the cms platform(WordPress) that they were going to use was a little tricky but they managed to find a solution for that. Ultimately they took around 3 months' time to finish this site and handed me over the complete project.

Additionally, they created a set of tests including security and performance that they set up on the cloud for me and I just have to check the results once in a while to be sure everything is good. Now I have a monthly maintenance subscription from them where they make changes to my site as per my requirements as I continuously update my portfolio, but it's not at all a trouble for me.

What was the team composition?

Astaqc team composed of a Project Manager who was dedicated to my requirements and queries along with 2 development members working on the design and coding aspect. The team also had 3 testing engineers, working on the stability, security, and performance of my website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After 3 months of work, the initial website was launched, which had all the features that I had asked for, they also made sure I do not have to keep paying for any subscription by fully customizing how my clients communicate to me via my site.

I can now easily manage my leads via the whole automated process setup. My sales have gone up by 400% in the last 6 months just because I am able to manage my active leads in an efficient way.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their project manager was my point of contact, so I did not even have to think about how to reach out, I always had his number and he was available to answer or work on any query of mine, this made the communication very effective because It was challenging for me to communicate directly to the development team and understanding how they are doing the work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to go out of the comfort zone to help me and my business succeed was stellar. Their job was just to build the platform and hand it over to me, but they took this as an opportunity to make my business successful which eventually paid out really well and I am glad to share my views about their work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They can work on their business outreach because I found them just because I was looking for a local company where I can actually go and explain my needs. They should definitely expand their business outreach to other countries.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of SareFood.com LLC, a meal delivery platform. We connect customers to local chefs in and around the St. Louis metro area to provide preferred meal delivery services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We’re an e-commerce company. As part of our quality assurance practice, we wanted to hire an outside consultant to test our website, transactions, features, etc., and to give us input relating to site bugs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I reached out and told them about our business and requirements. We had a few sessions around expectations. As their team completed tests, they sent us emails with links to the test cases. These cases describe whether the test passed or failed.

Our team worked with them on several smaller projects as well. They recently completed testing on a subscription process on our website and are on standby right now. I let them know if there’s work and there most likely will be. Based on the test results, the next step is to fix the bugs and then test again.

What is the team composition?

There’s one person coordinating the work and 1–2 testers depending on how complex the work was.

How did you come to work with ASTAQC CONSULTING?

I talked to several different companies I had found online. I felt the founder and owner of ASTAQC CONSULTING was knowledgeable and sincere in his approach so that’s why I gave him the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $6,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I'm pleased with their work. Our development team likes working with them because they’re friendly. When we need something, they jump on it quickly. I haven’t had any situations where they were complacent or non-compliant about working on our requests.

How did ASTAQC CONSULTING perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve met all the deadlines so far. I haven’t had a situation where they committed to a date and were grossly wrong about it. They’re pretty on top of things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like how they’re always available. There’s a time zone difference but they make themselves available. Their response time is always within 24 hours or less.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could teach their customers how to do more automation testing. We can’t do manual testing all the time. I’m pretty sure they have the knowledge and experience but maybe they could be a little more assertive when it comes to selling their automation services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Reach out and let them know what your expectations are. Make sure they understand what it is you want. I’m pretty sure they’ll deliver.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run a software development agency. We're a software development agency and we're continuously rolling out new Softwares.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING?

We use the services of Astaqc Consulting in testing of our products. Our products include Mobile apps for IOS and Android, Web apps built with latest technologies, applications for Apple TV, Roku TV, Firestick TV & Android TV

SOLUTION

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

After an initial round of testing with several vendors, we chose Astaqc based on these critical factors: 1. Their response to our queries, 2. Their ability to understand the product requirements and convert them in to a thorough list of tests, 3. The return on investment with the fast paced testing they do for us. 4. The consistent and transparent communication with in the team.

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

Astaqc Consulting's team is responsible for all the types of testing we require on all our products, we use their services for testing of Mobile apps on real devices ranging from Latest IOS to androids & tablets. They've been writing and executing tests for us, logging the bugs and making sure they're fixed by the development team.

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

We've used 5 team members from Astaqc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their testing improved our app quality, we've had some negative feedbacks on the quality of our apps in past thus the help of Astaqc in bringing out the quality in app really paid off.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We use slack for daily communication and Zoom to discuss for any calls, they're generally available during the work hours and on request during the outside work hours.

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

They're a QA team that has built their work culture based on helping the client, this means every time we have a request or a challenge, their team is there to help.

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

They're constantly working with new tools and technology, which comes in very handy. But may be a tool of their own where everything is centralized would be good to have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of WealthifyMe, WealthifyMe is your personal investment manager with a commitment to helping more and more people plan for their financial future. No matter what your goals may be, at WealthifyMe, we are invested in you. Apart from being financial help we also build Algorithmic bots that help find the best stocks in current market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ASTAQC CONSULTING, and what were your goals?

After having done the research, we needed someone who could build this website for us and maintain it. We got the reference of Astaqc from a former colleague who had used the services of Astaqc and recommended them to us. We made it clear what we needed and from their on Astaqc, under the leadership of Avanish who has always been available has done really wonders for us in this role.

SOLUTION

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

They decided that we need to use an established service like Wix with an inbuilt CMS and other features that we could use ourselves without needing an expert to do every small thing. Therefore we decided to move along with Astaqc, and they followed the process of creating the design, then developing the site, and ultimately testing it on all browsers.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The word given to astaqc was to handle End to End development of our website and maintaining it. Astaqc used Wix for building the websites, Figma for the initial designs and GhostInspector to make sure we have tests running on site daily that ensures our site is always up and running.

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

We hired the team and they had 4 people in total and the lead. 1 designer, 2 developers and 1 tester.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

With in 3months we had the first draft of our site ready and we were ready to go live.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They used detailed conversation and process with tools like slack, Notion and Figma, where all the communications and changes were drafted. Apart from that they used Wix for development.

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

Their ability to work independently and deliver on time.

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

May be they could have added something like github to maintain the code versions, but not sure if that was possible with wix.