EDINBURGH – 8 May, 2018 – GreySpark Partners, a leading global capital markets consulting firm, announced the launch of its new Programme Test Management & Quality Assurance service offering, a suite of testing related services designed to help financial institutions and vendors de-risk their software implementations, produce better outcomes and improve their quality assurance processes.
“It is now becoming the norm within financial services firms to engage in software testing for in-house built solutions across the entire SDLC, rather than just simply testing software in the final phase of its development. Quality assurance processes are also increasingly being seen as a way to add value and help differentiate an organisation’s products or services,” said Charlie Andrews, Lead Consultant who is heading up the service offering.
This offering brings together the following series of testing activities, which can either be implemented as an entire set, or on an individual basis:
Requirements Validation Review – The review validates Requirements Specification documentation against agreed criteria so that it can be assessed as ‘fit-for-purpose’ prior to code development and testing. This ensures that there is a single shared understanding of the required deliverables across the Business, Development and Test Teams. Importantly, the review also acts to identify inherent defects whilst these are still on paper, prior to the Development phase.
Creation of Test Policies/Test Strategies/Test Approaches – GreySpark works with clients to produce overarching documents that specify, at an organisational, programme or project level, the backdrop testing framework, testing methodology and processes and activities to be followed by the engaged functional areas. Stakeholders thereby have full transparency of the test phase, including the purpose of any third-party vendor engagements.
Test Readiness Activities –
- Training – Primarily aimed at business users seconded to a UAT test team, GreySpark-led training provides the necessary testing techniques and knowledge required to successfully navigate a UAT project phase. Practical post-training and onsite support to ‘bake in’ the learnings are provided.
- Test Environments – Help with the set-up and configuration of environments is delivered along with subsequent confirmation that both are ‘fit-for-purpose’ for use within the test phase.
- Test Data – The sourcing, confirmation of representativeness and population of test data within the test environment is completed.
Programme Test Management – The planning, control and co-ordination of the entire test process across all the projects within a programme is holistically managed. Joined-up oversight and cohesive management of all testing activities undertaken, including those of any onshore or offshore third-parties together with appropriate MI and KPIs, is provided.
Test Automation Consultancy – Automated tests can be completed faster than manual ones and can be run repeatedly at any time of day. GreySpark consultancy services covers tool selection, cost benefits analysis, proof of concepts and tool implementation support following purchase, to ensure that all the required infrastructure and standards are in place to facilitate the tool’s continued usage.
Testing Maturity Analysis – GreySpark will provide the correct framework for assessing the maturity of the existing test processes within an organisation and the identification of any specific weaknesses and shortfalls within the testing practice which require remediation. This service will help improve testing effectiveness and likely reduce projects’ time to market.
These six service offerings are specifically tailored to address the key testing and quality assurance challenges currently facing financial services firms. As a service provider to both financial institutions and FinTech firms, GreySpark is uniquely positioned to identify and fully understand their clients’ actual test requirements.
“Rather than supplying a ‘one-size fits all’ generic approach to software testing services, GreySpark instead tailors its service offerings to fit a client’s requirements, which allows us to partner much more effectively with them,” says Asif Abdullah, Director and Principal Consultant for GreySpark, Scotland.
For further information, please e-mail info@greyspark.com or visit https://greyspark.com/solutions/programme-test-management-quality-assurance/
