Client profile

The customer is a privately held medical informatics company based in Jackson, providing innovative, electronic publishing products to medical professionals since 1990.

The customer used the services of Cigniti to conduct manual and automation testing of their product(s) and the customized applications that are delivered to their customers on long term basis. During the process, the customer involved Cigniti in Test Consultancy activities like Process Establishment, Tool Selection and Automation for all the application at the customer location and their customer support.

The challenge

The customer’s product was being upgraded with new features as value added services to its customers. Along with the changes to the base product, the customer was also serving their customers for the customized application that they had deployed.

The customer wanted a suitable automation tool for conducting the functional as well as regression testing – in an efficient manner. The product was complex in nature. The customized application is web based & accessible to customers easily. The customer had identified that there are very few tools that support the technology. Changes to the customized applications are being addressed quite frequently due to the changes in business requirements from their customers. Added to the scenario, the customer’s style of programming and other features on this application were not conventional. The customer wanted Cigniti to assess different tools that suit the technical scenario currently existing at their office.

Our solution

The automation solution involved the study of the application, assessment of different tools - both commercial & open source tools ex: QTP, Ranorex, Sahi, Lisa & Selenium, for the automation solution.

The study included different aspects about the tool for its suitability with respect to the following aspects:

• Features of tool to support the application technologies
• Limitations of the tool in supporting the application in IE only (The application is not supported on the browsers other than IE) – Selenium had a limitation with respect to ease of automation script preparation

Considering all the aspects, the team had identified Ranorex as the suitable tool for this requirement. Along with the tool assessment, Cigniti also proposed their recommendation to the customer in terms of usage of different tools in different applications, considering the Enterprise as a whole, the tool that can be used as of now and the roadmap for the future usage and the changes required for tool usage.

The next steps that were planned for the customer’s requirement are in progress and these activities include Test Automation Framework Design for this application.

Key highlights

A suitable tool was identified for customer requirements and the following recommendations were made:

• As a practice - advised client to make the product compatible for different browsers – Improving the acceptability and easy of operations
• Confidence was given to the customer about the test automation tools that support the customer’s requirements. The limitations that restricted the customer to automate the testing process were resolved by Cigniti
• Cigniti team took ownership of older product lines so that client can concentrate on new enhancements
• The Testing Team has started working in tandem with the Client’s development team and hence the relationship is established for a successful partnership

Client profile

The customer is a diversified health and well being services companies. They provide health plans for groups and families and also provide benefit coverage for employees who choose to self-fund their health benefits program for a few years. They contribute outstanding clinical insight with consumer-friendly services and advanced technology to help people achieve optimal health.

The challenge

The key challenges faced were:

• Ensuring that healthcare professionals are kept fully up-to-date with developments in clinical information, procedures, practices and research
• Extra functionality had to be added to process newer claims by generating them from within the system
• The claim-checking module needed to be enhanced to incorporate new business logic
• Demand for electronic interfaces is exploding. The integration platform needed to be very efficient to serve customers productively
• Freeing up internal resources for core business applications
• Saving time with robust exception management services

Our solution

In order to meet the challenges, the Cigniti testing team prepared a Test Strategy document which highlighted the various tasks to be performed. The Testing activity was conducted in two phases:

Phase 1: Comprehensive Testing in the first phase helped us understand the application and in preparing a Test Plan and Test Ware consisting of Test Conditions, Test Scenario’s and Test Cases. We then executed the Test Cases and identified the Defects and sent it back to the developers for fixing. Once the defects were fixed the application was retested to check that all defects were removed. Once this was confirmed we prepared the closure logs and the final test summary report.

Phase 2: Regression Test Process in the second phase. We identified the area of the application that our client wanted to have automated. We selected the right tool for the process. In this case we used Mercury Interactive Quick Test Professional (QTP). We prepared and executed the test scripts to make sure the existing functionality has not been regressed due to fixes. Finally we delivered a regression test pack to the customer to test future enhancements. In addition to that, we have delivered an Automated Regression Test Pack User manual to the user to run the scripts in the near future.

Key highlights

• Reduced Time-to-market - The automation of testing activities leads to faster execution of testing projects enabling high quality testing and reduced project timelines.
• High Quality - Established test methodologies, and experienced testing professionals ensure world class testing services.
• State-of-the-Art Testing Resources - Our dedicated testing center with state-of-the-art software testing tools assures effective execution.
• Focus on Strategic Priorities - Our proven test methodologies and multi-platform experience enable us to manage the testing process for achieving the business goal

Client profile

The Company is a leading technology and custom software development firm specializing in the design, development, implementation and support of database systems for business intelligence and integrated e-business solutions. The Company provides products and services in the areas of market research, marketing, advertising, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare and web design.

The challenge

The major challenges were:

• Setting up test environment with legacy and advanced version OS and varied browsers
• Stringent timelines

Our solution

Setting up test environment with right mix and match according to the scope provided

Testing the website in right bandwidth to avoid any network issues

Key highlights

Preparing much before the project and setting up test environment was very critical to the success of the project. Identifying the right bandwidth was the key to the success of the project.

Client profile

The Client has been associated with the E-Learning division of the United Nations/USA which develops E-Learning Products. The Client had adopted the story of Mock Examinations and started developing the Application. The Beta-Version of was released in May 2010.

The challenge

The key challenges were:

• Non availability of formal functional documentation resulted in the need of close collaboration with client’s development team for understanding, verification & execution of testing & the bug resolving process.
• Keeping a close track of all communication with the development team.
• Verification of the application report details against the inputs and values in database and other technology constraints related to application, requirements specifications and logic based professional compatibility.
• Working under firm time lines and the complexity involved in gaining domain expertise in very short span

Our solution

Cigniti was selected to perform manual testing of the product by client development team. We had to ensure that the overall quality of deliverables is achieved within the agreed timeline. A proper communication channel was established between the client and its development team to ensure that no gaps were left during the final testing. Day to day status reports were made to ensure that the Cigniti team is in line with the development team and Client’s expectations.

The Verification & Validation was done on the basis of the clients testing instructions & team, inline with knowledge transfer from development team.

Cigniti followed the following approach iteratively. Adhoc Testing approaches were used because of the deadlines in order to make an early entry into the market while ensuring the highest quality. The team spent time understanding basic German terminology and scenarios, shared their thoughts with each other and discussed the general approach and the work division.

The team then spent one day using the application before planning the testing strategy and in the process identified some of the risky areas of the application for testing. The work was then divided and the team started on testing the application. The team briefed everyday in the morning and debriefed in the evening.

As per the document, 10 modules were identified and were assigned to 5 testers. Each of them worked on different areas of those modules & reported bugs on daily basis.

Key highlights

• Increased efficiency of testing with the least knowledge transfer time. Cigniti’s domain expertise helped a lot in testing and improving the quality of the product.
• Close communication with development team from Cigniti made the dead line Achievable.

Client profile

The customer is one of the top retailers in Utah. They offer business solutions & services that enable retailers and suppliers to work collaboratively as strategic partners to reduce out-of-stocks, shrink, inventory and labor while improving profits, efficiencies, and customer service. Their innovative solutions provide trading partners a common platform on which they can capture, manage, analyze and share critical data, bringing greater visibility throughout the supply chain, giving them the power to make better and more informed decisions.

The Challenge

• Non availability of formal functional documentation
• Short duration for conducting the tests
• Co-ordination between the clients team and Cigniti

Our solution

The project was awarded to Cigniti after an initial Proof of Concept (POC) for a period of two weeks. The customer wanted the POC as the application involved complex functionalities based on various rules & user scenarios.

The POC involved

• Preparation of a Test Plan detailing the coverage of the POC.
• Understanding the application & identifying the user base scenarios for application. Develop test cases for scenarios.
• Testing the Feature functionalities, GUI elements in the application, exploratory testing.
• Finding defects in the existing application & reporting it to the customer and reporting it to the customer.

The Project started out with testing for one application to understand the business of the customer. Exploratory testing was carried out to understand the application & test cases were documented. These test cases were sent to customer on a regular basis for review. Currently, team is working on four different applications that involve various technologies from legacy CTree Systems to Web based systems to Java based Client Server applications.

Key highlights

• Documentation – There was no documentation of any kind with the customer. Test Strategy documents, Test Case documents, Test Data, bug reports, Test Summary Matrix were provided to the customer as part testing activities on a weekly basis.
• Test Management – The use of XStudio as Test Management tool was proposed to the customer and the existing test suite was sent to the customer as part of this process.
• Test Automation – Use of Open Source Automation tools like Selenium, Marathon were proposed to the Client with sample test cases for automation.
• Bug Analysis process – Cigniti’s team was involved in reproducing the defects reported to the Customer by their Clients, debugging the defects and conducting a Root cause analysis of such defects

Client profile

The Client is a one of its kind mobile technology company based in Hyderabad, India. The company was formed to take advantage of the growing demand for media and entertainment related services in the mobile space.

The challenge

Non availability of formal functional documentation resulted in requiring close collaboration with the client’s development team for understanding, verification and execution of testing and bug resolving process.

Keep a close track of all communication with the development team.

Verification of the application report details against the inputs and values in database and other technology constraints related to application, requirements specifications and logic based professional compatibility.

Working under critical time lines and a very short span of time to gain all the domain expertise posed a challenge.

Our solution

Cigniti was selected as the test team to perform manual testing of the product by client development team. The team had to ensure the overall quality of the deliverables is achieved within the agreed timeline. A proper communication channel was established between the client and its development team to ensure that no gaps were left during the final testing. Day to day status reports were made to ensure that Cigniti’s team was in line with the development team and Client’s expectations.

The Verification & Validation was done on the basis of the Clients testing instructions and team was in line with the knowledge transfer from development team.

Cigniti followed the following approach iteratively. Adhoc Testing approaches were used because of the deadlines to make an early presence in the market ensuring the quality. The team spent time understanding basic betting terminology and scenarios, shared their thoughts with each other and discussed the general approach and the work division.

The team then spent one day using the application before planning the testing strategy and identified some of the risky areas of the application for testing. The work was then divided and the application testing started. The team briefed everyday in the morning and debriefed in the evening.

As per the document, 16 modules were identified, and assigned those modules to 2 of the testers. Each of them worked on different areas of those modules and reported bugs on daily basis.

Key highlights

Increased efficiency of testing with the least knowledge transfer and Cigniti’s domain expertise helped a lot in testing and improving the quality of the product.

Close communication with development team from Cigniti made the dead line achievable.

Client profile

A large telecom company wanted to implement real-time monitoring across its organization.

The challenge

The key challenges were:

• Rendering large volumes on front end like AMF Protocols of Flex
• Parsing based on Configurable Rules using Regular Expressions
• Monitor logs with ten thousand records a second – 86 million per day using Flex, Blaze DS

Our solution

Cigniti was closely involved in all phases of the projects right from design, development, testing to delivery. We managed, monitored, searched and produced real time graphical metrics over multiple logs across various systems.

The technology used by Cigniti comprised Java, Flex, MySQL, Blaze DS, Apache Tomcat and Perl Scripts.

Key highlights

The major highlights of the project were:

• Read, Parse and report 10000 log lines per second
• Low foot print on Target Machines
• Alerting based on recognizing patterns and thresholds
• Run on business rules in real-time

Client profile

Many global organizations with a distributed workforce face the challenge of efficiently managing their employees. With a distributed workforce, they need to provide instant, secure and easy access to corporate and external information; as well as services for their employees, irrespective of their location. Trace fulfils these needs by offering an employee-centric web enabled environment.

Our clients - multiple small and medium technology companies - also wanted to implement this employee management software to reap its multiple benefits for their organizations.

The challenge

• Developing a framework for implementing tab/page driven permissions
• Minimizing page loads by devising work flow action using Ajax
• Cutting down development time by building common classes as APIs that can be re-used

Our solution

Cigniti developed an employee portal that IT consulting and software development companies can use to track employee time and manage:

• Projects
• Appraisals
• Immigration
• Communication
• Placements
• Invoices
• Expenses

We were involved in all phases of the project including requirement gathering, design, development, testing and ongoing maintenance. We used technologies like ASP.NET with Frame work 3.5, SQL Server 2008, Ajax and Web Services.

Key highlights

The software has been tested and certified by Microsoft for Platform Test. It runs on SQL Server; and allows page and tab driven user permissions.

Client profile

The Customer is India’s largest Registrar and Transfer Agent with a client base of nearly 500 blue chip Corporates, managing over 20 million accounts. It is a member of the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange & ranks among the top 5 stock brokers in India. With over 6, 00,000 active accounts, it ranks among the top 5 depositary participants in India, registered with NSDL and CDSL. It is registered as a broker with IRDA and ranks among the top 5 insurance agents in the country. Our Customer has also established itself as a broker who adds value in the realty sector. It offers niche off shoring services to clients in the US

The challenge

• Client wanted to adopt a cost-effective approach to meet their Performance testing needs.
• Client did not have expertise to set up the performance test lab.
• Client required server counters, where testing should be conducted remotely across internet. They wanted to correlate server side metrics (e.g. % Processor Time) with client side metrics (e.g. # of Vusers)
• Client wanted to analyze server log files for unique errors and the number of times those errors occurred while doing a performance test.
• Client did not have test data ready for starting the performance test

Our solution

The Cigniti team handled the client requirements for Performance testing with the aid of an open source tool, JMeter as a cost-effective solution. The tool is used for the execution of several scenarios of 150, 500, 1000 and 2000 Virtual Users, each to find out the performance related issues and provided the analyzed summary that helped in fine tuning the application

Cigniti utilized the experience of setting up a performance test lab to assist the client side personnel to create an appropriate test environment.

Cigniti used its proprietary report generator tool which takes raw data as input, evaluates it, plots required graphs and generates the report as a word document. We also utilized Windows Perfmon to collect the server counters and included them as part of the generated report.

Cigniti used its proprietary Log analyzer tool that understands the server logs and is capable of filtering unique error messages and number of times it occurred.

Cigniti utilized its experience in preparation of the test data and came up with the appropriate test data in a shorter span of time that helped in the smoother execution of performance testing.

Key highlights

The framework recommended by Cigniti helped the client execute the performance testing engagement successfully for the web based application at a notably lower cost.

Client profile

The Customer is the world's leading developer of learning solutions. They provide learning solutions to the top universities in USA. Their solutions are designed to enable organizational initiatives across industry verticals including Education, Government & Defense, Telecommunications and ICT, Pharmaceuticals and Health Care, BFSI, Airlines, Transportation, Logistics and Hospitality, Consumer Package Goods; and Manufacturing, Energy. They have proven their effectiveness at more than 60 Fortune 500 companies, leading educational institutions and government departments.

The challenge

• As the system involved peer – 2 – peer level interaction between the clients, simulation of virtual users came up as a challenge.
• There were no readily available open source tools for simulation of flash requests and using a proprietary tool like LoadRunner was very expensive.
• There was no possibility of collecting performance indicators from all (real) clients while stressing the load on the server with virtual users.

Our solution

Cigniti established the test environment where simulation can be done using real users rather than virtual users. Considering the cost limitation factor, Cigniti used virtualization for 500 concurrent connections and software robots for simulation of end user activities.

Cigniti conducted the Load Test with a proprietary framework, a free functional testing tool was used for designing scripts and end users’ activities simulation and scheduled later for generating the load. For calculating client side response time, we also recommended that the customer introduce a code snippet in the client application at begin and end of the scenario’s steps.

We scheduled batch files to push all the binaries to the virtual machines. The team automated the process for restarting of machines during the run using WMI/VB scripting and also automated the scripts to get data from all clients and servers. The team emulated the ramp up and ramp down by enabling the scheduling algorithm for each client run.

Cigniti prepared a proprietary report generator that takes input as raw data, aggregate it, plot required graphs and generates report as word document.

Key highlights

The proprietary framework recommended by Cigniti helped client execute the performance testing engagement for flash based client server application at a significantly lower cost.