Client Overview
A leading US health insurer covering millions of people with its various medical plans, which include PPO, HMO, point-of-service (POS), indemnity, and consumer-directed products. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides healthcare related benefits through the workplace, including healthcare products and services, group disability, life and accident insurance, disability, workers' compensation case management and related services. Its revenues are derived principally from premiums, fees, other revenues and investment income. The Company operates in six segments: Health Care, Disability and Life, International, Other Operations, Run-off Retirement and Run-off Reinsurance. Internationally, the company sells life, accident, and supplemental health insurance in parts of Asia, the European Union, and Chile and provides health coverage to expatriate employees of multi-national companies.
Business situation
Requirement:
Client, in partnership with one of the technology giant, has undertaken a strategic initiative to rebuild its technology platform. Part of this multiyear program, a new call center application is to be developed. This new state-of-art technology call center application will eventually replace its existing old technology based application and intends to serve most of the LoBs. Also, unlike current multi screen information spread application, the new application is expected to present most of the information in 360 degree view, which will help answer 90% of the calls and reduce the call answering time 1/3rd of the current time taken.
As a part, L&T Infotech is providing testing leadership from Client perspective.
Client requirements
- Design an enterprise wide program test strategies
- Bridge gap between Client processes and vendor methodology
- Plan, guide, and coordinate various testing activities
- Ensure balance between release calendar and program timelines
Challenges:
Business Challenges
- Changing requirements, Time critical commitments
- Diverse Vendor Methodologies- Entire application designed, developed and hosted by large service provider using proprietary methodology. This enforces great challenge in mapping client's methodologies with vendor methodology in every stage of PDLC.
- New technology, new processes- New technology generates lot of risk and challenges due to lack of knowledge and processes to client.
- Lack of business/domain knowledge in Vendor
- Multi-stream programs
- Build test environments for SA, PVS, and UAT.
- Strict Performance SLA
- Test Data creation - Create test data mimicking variety of real life scenarios
- Data migration from old application to the New application
- Overall File management System
Technical Challenges
- Coordination among multiple independent teams working (Various Divisions, Technology Vendor, EQM group, etc.)
- Complex and humongous test data creation mimicking real life scenarios, data unavailability, and data integrity
- Highly demanding timelines and Business commitments
- Testing processes (Functional, PVS, Usability, Security, regression) and Defect management process)
- UAT guidelines and end user training
- Environment setups , Exceptions, and various approvals
- Aligning vendor methodology with Client processes
Solutions
- Built an enterprise wide program test strategy: To design testing approach, various risks and mitigations plans, Establish testing milestones, defect management, UAT, PVS and overall test management activities, milestones, roles and responsibilities, testing phases and environments.
- Risk based testing approach - The approach for project to plan and prioritize its overall testing based on business and IT priorities. It also will help the project to alleviate any risks associated with this huge testing endeavour.
- PVS Testing approach – Work with vendor and PVS group to build and drive PVS plan and activities
- Test Data creation – Discuss and consolidate data requirements from BA, SA, Vendor test team, Work with data community to create test data for various types of testing (Function, SA, PVS, UAT)
- UAT guidelines and processes - This will help in planning UAT activities in future.
- Special focused approach for every type of testing (Functional, SIT, PVS, and UAT) - this has helped to get specific outcome (in terms of defects and quality) from every type of testing.
- Bridging gap between Client's processes and IBM methodology - This has helped immensely in orchestrating and aligning various testing activities with clients' releases.
Engagement Summary
- Provide Strategic program wide test consultancy for whole testing pyramid
- Across enterprise testing coordination
- Increased test coverage & improved test quality by suggesting & implementing best practices for Testing (UAT, Usability, PVS, System & Integration, Test Automation)
Benefits
- Provided End-to-end testing consultancy in various stages of the program
- Brought in various best practices and creative ideas that helped improve overall quality and get improved test coverage
- Established various good planning processes to get better planning
- Bridged the gap between vendor methodology and client processes
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