An innovative collaboration with global software testing company Inspired Testing and the software quality team at Yorkshire Water, a major UK water utilities company, has earned recognition as a finalist for the European Software Testing Awards. This team has redefined testing services and delivered exceptional business value across complex organisational boundaries at the utility, earning it the nomination for Testing Team of the Year 2024.
The utility operates in a highly regulated industry where quality is paramount. It serves more than 5.5 million customers, delivers and maintains highly complex, integrated IT platforms and yet had no recognised quality assurance function five years ago.
“This is an industry where product quality is everything. Customers demand good quality, activists focus on poor quality, and regulators measure quality, all under the watchful eye of the media keeping the public aware of the utility’s quality rating,” explains Lesley Higgins, Managing Executive at Inspired Testing. “This is a highly complex technical environment, and the team’s achievements in transforming the business landscape is remarkable. This nomination highlights the power of collaboration and shared commitment to excellence.”
A disastrous software migration event led to the creation of a dedicated team to bring testing and quality assurance to the heart of the business. Now, every stage of a project’s life cycle has relevant quality criteria that must be met.
These changes have led to myriad improvements within the business and to the Yorkshire Water customers, most notably a reduction in quality assurance costs of £1 000 000 per annum. Inspired Testing plays a key role by providing expertise and guidance as part of a team guiding Yorkshire Water’s continuous improvement.
Key achievements include supporting the implementation of over 2 000 automated test scripts, contributing to £350 000 in savings, the reduction of downtime by 86% through test environment management initiatives, collaboration on AI-driven test innovations promising to realise significant cost savings, and contributing to comprehensive knowledge sharing.
Winners will be announced at the European Software Testing Awards in London on 19 November 2024.
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Inspired Testing
Inspired Testing is a global software testing company backed by the software and technology group, Dynamic Technologies. With an unwavering commitment to delivering tailored expertise, Inspired Testing offers a comprehensive range of software testing services, talent augmentation to strengthen teams, and strategic consulting to advance test environments. Its expertise includes AI-assisted Testing, Test Automation, Performance Testing, Manual-Functional Testing, Accessibility Testing, and Security Testing, along with specialised services such as Test Data Management, Data Testing, and Test Environment Management.
With over 300 employees, Inspired Testing has evolved into a thriving organisation, serving clients from its headquarters in the UK and delivery centres worldwide. Dedicated to staying at the forefront of industry trends and technologies, the Inspired Academy offers leading training programmes to upskill and keep both internal and external testing professionals relevant.
The Dynamic Technologies group company has 1 500+ staff and 9 group companies operating across multiple sectors in the UK, European, US, UAE, East African and South African markets. Dynamic Technologies provides a range of software and technology solutions, SQA and testing, cloud solutions, CRM, legal enterprise business solutions, skills development, and related core competencies. Our group companies comprise BPC Resourcing, CloudSmiths, DVT, Dynamic DNA, Emerald Consulting, Inspired Testing, InspiredXpert, Sincera and xSMTHS.