Quality Assurance

At Blue Beacon Consulting, we recognize the importance and value of a comprehensive approach to system quality. As such, we address quality and performance across all phases of the system development life cycle. Our best practices feature pragmatic processes that help companies improve the way they institute quality. We also infuse quality into every phase of the development life cycle, from concept through implementation and deployment. As such, functional defects and performance issues are found quickly, before business performance suffers or repair costs become prohibitive.

Services include:

• QA Process Assessment and Strategy
• QA Automation and Tools Implementation
• QA Process Execution

Our approach to application quality features several well-defined steps. We highlight system shortcomings and enable their repair. Moreover, we consider application quality from every perspective, emphasizing core business requirements, while including system characteristics such as performance, scalability, flexibility and manageability. In addition, our approach enables seamless integration among life cycle phases, including:

• Requirements tracking at each phase
• Test plan creation and execution
• Build and release planning
• Application validation and verification
• Configuration management
• Release management.

Additionally, we understand the complex issues involved with high-volume applications and architectures, and consider every attribute of an application to ensure that new technology solutions enhance competitive advantage.

QA Process Assessment and Strategy

System maintenance costs must be reduced to let IT focus on strategic business requirements. Streamlining quality assurance processes—which are often overlooked—is an excellent way to lower them. Blue Beacon’s approach to QA Process Assessment and Strategy features four well-defined steps, including comprehensive, thorough testing. The method, described below, highlights system shortcomings and enables their repair.

• Assess current QA processes and procedures using multiple dimensions.
• Identify future QA process goals, processes, procedures and organizational requirements.
• Develop a QA strategy and a plan to implement it (typically including quick hits).
• Deliver a documented set of recommendations, process improvements and strategy.

Assessments provide insight into the overall QA process and organization, and enhance efficiency, cost-effectiveness and support. They also foster seamless integration among phases of the software life cycle. Furthermore, Blue Beacon’s pragmatic processes and formulas identify and measure QA systematically, helping companies improve the way they institute quality. They also calculate tangible results from QA process improvements.

Well-tuned QA processes save millions, eliminate redundant processes and other inefficiencies, and enable tighter "feedback loops" for developers. Other benefits include more stable testing environments, end-to-end requirements validation, higher levels of automation, and ultimately, more satisfied customers.

QA Process Execution

With technology expenditures enduring pointed scrutiny, quality assurance is more critical than ever. Companies that invest in new tools and technologies expect them to work as promised, and to integrate with existing systems. Executives can no longer afford to gamble, and simply hope that their systems live up to their promise. Regulatory programs, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and the USA Patriot Act, have serious implications for lack of compliance.

Blue Beacon Consulting supports the entire range of testing roles and domains, helping clients determine, with exceptional precision, the capabilities and limitations of their systems. We help organizations perform the testing "blocking and tackling" fundamentals that, while not glamorous, are integral to marketplace success. We also find and repair numerous bugs and errors, and minimize the impact of those that do occur, keeping them from becoming serious problems.

Blue Beacon performs tests that deliver results clients need, quickly and accurately, ensuring business accountability. The precision Blue Beacon’s exhaustive testing enables is increasingly important in light of regulatory compliance issues, as well as companies’ own objectives to achieve superior levels of quality, such as Total Quality Management, CMMI or Lean Six Sigma. In addition, that precision provides technology executives with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that systems can manage the loads expected of them.

Operational Benchmarking

Best-in-class performance measurement is increasingly valuable when determining how to start improving the supply chain, or creating a performance benchmark to outline business imperatives for improvement initiatives. At Blue Beacon, we benchmark the financial performance of each of a company’s divisions, or the company as a whole, against its competitors, suppliers, customers, market leaders and industry averages—inside and outside its market segment.

With concrete, easy-to-understand metrics, reports and business case analysis, executives gain invaluable information about their own organizations, and their trading partners and competitors.

An Operational Benchmark provides information on best-in-class performance, year-after-year value generated and year one cash impact. Results enable clients to see precisely where they stand in numerous critical business areas.