Software Testing as a Managed Service An Engagement model to extend business operations

Transcription

1 Software Testing as a Managed Service An Engagement model to extend business operations Author: Harmanjit Singh Chopra (Project Test Lead) Co-Author: Saroj Patnaik (GM - Testing)

2 Author s Biography Harmanjit Singh Chopra (Author) has more than 8 years of experience in Software Testing and is working as Project Test Lead in Fiserv Global Services (FGS), Noida. His core competency is automation testing and focuses on other areas like performing feasibility analysis of different applications for automation, creating automation plans, continuous improvement in automation framework, quality control activities, automation knowledge sharing, conduct QTP trainings, leading & mentoring automation engineers within the organization. He is QTP, Six Sigma Green Belt, and ISTQB certified professional. He has written white papers for 10 th & 11 th Annual International STC Conferences and attended them as well. Saroj Patnaik (Co-Author) is General Manager (Testing) at Fiserv Global Services, Noida. He is a PMI, Prince2, ABA and CSQP certified professional having more than 17 years of IT experience in consulting Testing Projects and having extensive experience in implementing Test Automation Framework using HP and IBM suite of product. On his recent engagement as Testing Practice Manager with Fiserv Global Services, he has been developing many turnkey automated solutions for various customers of Fiserv. Some of his key implementation includes ALM implementation using SpiraTeam/HP ALM Quality Center 11.0, End-to-End Service testing using HP STM/Soap UI Pro, Performance Testing best practices for a Batch Process System of a large financial product, Applying Risk Based Testing using HP Quality Center and many more.

3 Take away for the Audience Managed Service The Concept Attributes of a Managed Service Model Considerations Benefits Managed Software Testing Service Pragmatic Approach Rewards: Not Without Their Challenges Conclusion

4 Managed Service The Concept Managed Service is a service delivery engagement model for outsourcing day-to-day activities as a strategic method for improving and optimizing operations From IT perspective, these activities range from outsourcing IT infrastructure, networking, server installation & maintenance, database management, back-up & data recovery services to software testing (QA), software implementation at client s end, quality control group, configuration management, production support, etc The person or organization that owns or has direct oversight of the organization or system being managed is referred to as the client or customer

5 Managed Services The Concept Contd The person or organization that accepts and provides the managed service is referred to as the vendor or managed service provider In other words, the vendor runs a service for a customer based on an agreed outcome (generally measured as SLAs and KPIs) The key is to manage the outcome rather than effort/resources 5

6 Attributes of a Managed Service Model Benefits can be reaped from a managed service model by having a balanced proportion of the following attributes- True partnership Mature service level agreements (SLAs) Mature program governance Flexible to business changes Innovative team structuring Cultural compatibility between client & vendor Business & IT experienced management Focus value rather than cost Multi-vendor involvement for best-of-breed approach/solution Product independent 6

7 Considerations As clients realize that managed service is the right business solution for their organization to deliver business results, they must consider the following items- Choosing the right vendor is vitally important. The vendor must have the skills, capabilities and attitude required to manage the engagement Managed Service is all about relationship management and must be based on TRUST; clients need to know and trust the vendor they are entering into a relationship with The Vendor s lead manager must understand operations as well as business. This person, who sits at the management table, needs to understand risk management and know how to deliver services Everyone at the vendor company, especially senior management, must be service oriented; they must remain interested in the client s business over the long term, not just during the contracting period Managed Service is not a one-shot deal; a continuous improvement and best practices focus must be instilled in the behavior of the service provider and inherent in the expectations set out in the contract 7

8 Benefits Predict cost Increased business value improved software quality and reduced time to market Reduced overall cost reduced staff cost, hardware cost and overhead cost Free up management bandwidth to focus on core business or explore more business opportunities Enable improvement in processes by leveraging the mature processes of the vendor Enable creation of knowledge management framework Allows customer s internal IT staff to focus on core competencies Gain access to best-of-breed tools at reduced cost Provides control and flexibility over the IT systems without the pain/cost of running them 8

9 Managed Software Testing Service At all times, software organizations need to deal with two major challenges increase savings and improve software quality As a result, different departments and staff within the organization often find that they need to do more with less Despite this, customers always expect good level of software quality which takes priority over cost issues In such situations, the managed software testing services provided by an internal or external service provider pave the way for an improved cost/benefit ratio during testing These services are generally provided by independent service providers who not only have wide-ranging expertise in testing but also have industry knowledge and an understanding of their customer s business They are also able to present attractive financial proposals to their customers

10 A Pragmatic Approach 10

11 Rewards: Not Without Their Challenges The outcome of a managed service is rewarding but it has its own share of challenges which includes- Transition from a service provider or from an in-house arrangement Loss of control & regain knowledge from incumbent team Migration of existing staff to the new arrangement Mitigating the risk of switch-over Defining & implementing a business-driven commercial arrangement Establishing program management office & governance structure Identifying & managing operational risks Vendor is unable to demonstrate business value 11

12 Conclusion Managed Services provide organizations with an opportunity to improve the quality of their software and processes at the same time saving on costs By removing the burden of software testing, managed services play an important strategic role in enabling organizations to focus on running their businesses rather than developing / maintaining their software systems Managed Service Providers (MSP) apply their testing expertise and industry knowledge in a cost effective manner 12

13 Questions?

14 Thank You