Release automation reduces testing time by 80%

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Release automation reduces testing time by 80%

DevOps implementation and release automation improved testing time, product quality, and global reach for a leading multi-level marketing company.

Client
A leading multi-level marketing company
Goal
Shorten the release cycle and improve product quality
Technology Tools
Amazon CloudWatch, Elasticsearch, Bitbucket, Jenkins, Amazon ECR, Docker, and Kubernetes
Business Challenge

The client's Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) applications were built using substandard code branching methods, causing product quality issues. The absence of a release process and a manual integration and deployment process were elongating release cycles. Manual configuration and setup of these applications were also leading to extended downtime. Missing functional, smoke, and regression test cases were adding to the unstable development environment. The database migration process was manual, resulting in delays, data quality issues, and higher costs.

Solution
  • Code branching and integration strategy for defects / hotfixes in major and minor releases​
  • Single-click application deployment, including environment creation, approval and deployment activities​
  • Global DevOps platform implementation with a launch pad for applications to onboard other countries​
  • Automated configuration and deployment of COTS applications and databases​
  • Automation suite with 90% coverage of smoke and regression test cases​
  • Static and dynamic analysis implementations to ensure code quality and address configuration issues​
Outcomes

Automation of release cycles delivered the following benefits to the client:

  • Release cycle shortened from once a month to once per week
  • MTTR reduced by 6 hrs
  • Downtime decreased to <4 hours from 8 hours
  • Product quality and defect leakage improved by 75%
  • Testing time reduced by 80%
  • Reach expanded to global geographies
  • Availability, scalability, and fault tolerance enhanced for microservices-based applications
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DevOps solution improves scalability by 5x

LIFE SCIENCES

Automated app & infra deployment improves scalability

Automated app and infra deployment with DevOps implementation help a leading medical company launch applications in new geographies, improve time-to-market, and reduce the total cost of ownership.

Client
North America-based fertility and genomics company
Goal
Expand business reach, reduce time-to-market, and support critical compliance
Technology Tools
.NET 5, Vue.js, AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Transfer Family, Amazon RDS, Amazon EKS, Amazon Route 53, Amazon CloudFront, Terraform, GitLab
Business Challenge

The client wanted to expand its reach to Canada, Europe, and APAC regions to meet the requirements for a 10x increase in their user base. Legacy application infrastructure and code built on the old tech stack, with high technical debt, were slowing down the rollout of new features, making the client less competitive. The infra-deployment process was only partially automated, stretching the time-to-market to three months. The total cost of ownership was relatively high. HIPPA and PII compliance were also not supported.

Solution

Iris modernized the application into microservices, built the infrastructure using Terraform and automated its provisioning and configuration.

  • Application developed using .NET 5 and Vue.js
  • Architecture transformed into cloud-native
  • AWS Managed Services, including Secrets Manager, AWS Transfer Family, RDS, EKS, Route 53, CloudFront, and S3, configured using Terraform
  • EKS Cluster and associated components provisioned via Terraform
  • App pushed to container registry using GitLab pipeline
  • Secrets (API keys, database connection strings, etc.) and app images moved to EKS Cluster using S3 Bucket Helm
  • Static code analysis, coverage and vulnerability scans integrated to ensure code quality and reduce configuration issues
Outcomes
Our DevOps solution enabled the client to achieve significant benefits, including:
  • Application launch in Canada and Europe; Asia Pacific release in the pipeline
  • HIPPA and PII compliance
  • 5x scalability improvement from weekly average usage
  • Time-to-market reduced from three months to 3 weeks
  • Total cost of ownership lowered by 50%
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Order management platform transformation

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

New platform transforms transactions processes

Platform transformation and multi-cloud integration improve multinational publishing company's order management, time-to-market and performance.

Client
Multinational publishing, media, and educational company
Goal
Improve order management and transaction processing capabilities
Technology Tools
AWS EKS, Kong, Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), Salesforce CRM, Jenkins, Sumo Logic, Datadog
Business Challenge

The client's order management platform was complex and had scalability issues, causing poor customer experience and loss of revenue. The platform was hosted on Oracle cloud, with data stored in different repositories. Services were also hosted in the Oracle cloud, which used the BICC extract to fetch information about order details from Oracle databases. The low performance of customer-facing applications was causing latency and very high transaction processing time.

Solution

Team Iris transformed Oracle-based SOA services into six microservices and migrated them to AWS EKS for autoscaling with self-healing and monitoring capabilities.

We developed services for publishing data to Salesforce CRM for quick order processing and conversions. The BICC system for diversified information and order history was enabled with real-time integration between Oracle Fusion and materialized views for data consumption.

Post migration, these services were registered in Kong for discovery, and a CI/CD pipeline was created for deployment using Jenkins. Sumo Logic was used for monitoring the logs, and Datadog was used to observe latency, anomalies and other metrics.

Outcomes

The order management platform transformation delivered the following benefits to the client:

  • System performance improved by 70%
  • Transaction processing capability increased by 4x
  • Order processing capabilities were enhanced by 200%
  • Total cost of ownership (TCO) was reduced by 30%
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Quality engineering for Blockchain-DLT platform

Quality engineering for Blockchain-DLT platform

Banking & Financial Services

Next-gen Quality Engineering for Blockchain-DLT platform

Quality engineering implementation helps a digital financial services client smooth the legacy migration of its Blockchain-DLT (Digital Ledger Technology) platform by advancing automation coverage and patch delivery efficiencies.

Client

A leading digital financial services company

Goal

Blockchain- DLT platform assurance with improved automation coverage

Tools and technologies

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS), Docker, Terraform, Helm Charts, Microservices, Kotlin, Xray

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client's legacy DLT platform did not support cloud capabilities with the Blockchain-DLT tech stack. The non-GUI (Graphic User Interface) and CLI (Command Line Interface)-based platform lacked the microservices architecture and cluster resilience. The REST (Representational State Transfer) APIs-based platform did not support platform assurance validation at the backend. Automation coverage for legacy and newer versions of the products was very low. Support for delivery patches was insufficient, impacting the delivery of multiple versions of R3 products each month.

SOLUTION

Iris developed multiple CorDapps to support automation around DLT-platform functionalities and enhanced the CLI-based & cluster utilities in the existing R3 automation framework. The team implemented the test case management tool Xray to improve test automation coverage for legacy and newer versions of the Corda platform, enabling smooth and frequent patch deliveries every month. The quality engineering process was streamlined for the team's Kanban board by modifying the workflows. Iris also introduced the ability to execute a testing suite that could run on a daily or as-needed basis for AKS, EKS, and Local MAC/ Windows/ Linux cluster environments.

OUTCOMES

The Blockchain-DLT reliability assurance solution enabled the client to attain:

  • Improved automation coverage of the DLT platform with 900 test cases with a pass rate of 96% in daily runs
  • Compatibility across AWS-EKS, Azure-AKS, Mac, Windows, Linux, and local clusters
  • Increased efficiency in deliverables with an annual $35K savings in the test case management area

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Tech stack automation expedites script development by 3x

Tech stack automation expedites script development by 3x

Manufacturing

Tech stack automation expedites script development by 3x

Manual processes across the multi-technology stack were severely affecting the script development cycles in terms of time, effort and cost. Iris application agnostic Test Automation framework and DevOps integration helped the client reduce the script development time and cost significantly.

Client

A leading building supplies manufacturing company

Goal

To support 30+ applications stack for UI, E2E, APIs, performance, mobile automation along with DevOps pipeline integration

Tools and technologies

.NET Core, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, WMS, JavaScript, Angular, Foxpro, C#, Selenium, SpecFlow, RestSharp, Nunit, Mobile Center/Emulators, Allure, Jira, Azure Pipeline, GitHub

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client had technology stacks comprising of diverse technologies that were difficult to manage. Substantial manual effort and time were spent on integrating the checkpoints, elongating the development process. Validating end-to-end business flows across different applications was the prime challenge. Reporting processes were also scattered across the entire application stack, making it vulnerable.

SOLUTION

Iris developed a robust application agnostic Test Automation framework to support the client’s multiple-technology stacks. Following the Behavior-driven Development (BDD) approach to align the acceptance criteria with the stakeholders, we built business and application layers of the common utilities in the core framework. Our experts identified E2E business flows to validate the downstream impact of the change and automated the entire stack through the shift-left approach. Azure DevOps integration enabled a common dashboard for reporting. The client attained complete version control to track production health and enforce strong validations.

OUTCOMES

Iris Automation solution enabled the client to surpass several business goals. The key outcomes of the delivered solution included:

  • ~65% Increase in automation coverage
  • 100+ Pipelines for in-scope applications across multiple environments
  • 3700+ Test Automation scripts execution per sprint cycle achieved across applications
  • 3X Faster script development of behavior-driven test cases 
  • Multi-day manual test effort reduced to a few hours of automated regression 
  • 70% Reduction in effort

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IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

Insurance

IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

Existing applications and business systems of a Fortune 500 Insurance Carrier were inadequate to meet customer expectations. Iris business systems transformation solution enabled the client to deliver a consistent customer experience, improving acquisition and retention significantly.

Client

A leading American Fortune 500 Insurance Services Provider, offering insurance, investment management and other financial products and services across the Americas and 40 other countries

Business Drivers

To advance business agility and customer experience through modernized business systems

Technologies and Frameworks

C#/.NET, JAVA, DevOps, Python, NodeJS, App Services, Managed Application Support

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client’s existing business applications, systems, and support services were in stasis and not delivering the much-needed value to the insurer and end customers. Due to the lack of enterprise application portfolio strategy, business functions were onboarding applications in a silo. The net impact was that the insurer’s revenue and market share decreased. Longer turnaround times and outdated UI were discouraging customers. On the other hand, prospective customers were also opting for modernized options available in the market.

SOLUTION

Iris delivered app development and managed services across Annuities, Life Insurance, Group Insurance, Retirements and the Global Enterprise Service groups that decide the platform for all business units. Our services spanned around Enterprise Collaboration portal, Financial Wellness platform, Mutual Fund platform modernization, Oracle EBS development and support, and Retirement Annuities platform management. We also executed a scaled Agile program and ran multiple Scrums within the enterprise development and support landscape. Iris tech experts established DevOps and scaled Agile Framework within the client organization and enabled a team of over 150 professionals globally to support business operations 24X7.

OUTCOMES

Iris has been working around the application portfolio for over three years. We have helped the client deliver an exceptional experience to employees and end customers through active service support. Key outcomes of the delivered solution included:
  • Infrastructure availability increased to 99%
  • Optimized maintainability reduced the KYC process time by 75% 
  • Customer response time cut down by around 40% 
  • Promoter score incremented from 5 to 9 out of 10 
  • Customer retention improved by nearly 80% 
  • Customer acquisition increased by 65%

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Cloud transformation increases business agility

Cloud transformation increases business agility

Standards & Membership

Global Standards organization increases business agility

Existing applications supporting the business were built on monolith architecture with high technical debt. Iris transformed over 15 years old monolith applications into microservices with automated integration and cloud deployment to deliver faster MVPs.

Client

A non-profit global organization responsible for developing and maintaining standards, including barcodes with over 115 local member organizations and over 2 million user companies

Business Drivers

To deliver MVPs in shorter cycles, reduce Mean Time for Ticket Resolution (MTTR), and lower the total cost of ownership

Tools and technologies

C#/.NET Core, Python/DJango, NodeJS/Express, Azure WAF, Azure APIM, App Services, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Monitor, Application Insights

Global Standards Business Challenge

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client had a suite of legacy applications to generate barcodes that are scanned globally over 6 million times a day. These applications were built on monolithic architectures using heavy-weight application servers and outdated technologies. This architecture was causing long development cycles, making the organization less competitive. Developers’ productivity was also dropping due to high technical debt.
Global Standards Cloud Solution

SOLUTION

Azure cloud offered some of the foundational features like container orchestration, app engine, integration, API gateway, monitoring and others, making cloud-specific modernization a natural choice.

Modernization strategy involved reverse engineering of on-premise applications, domain-specific grouping the product backlogs by, adopting domain-driven design, and using open source cloud-friendly software with CI/CD pipeline. We transformed the applications to a .NET core framework using cloud-native design principles on Azure cloud. The solution was developed using Azure App Services, front door and service bus following the agile development approach with two-week sprints.

Global Standards Cloud Outcomes

OUTCOMES

Iris helped the client realize multiple business benefits, including higher agility, resiliency and cost-efficient IT operations. Key outcomes of this cloud modernization engagement are:

  • Reduction in Mean Time for Ticket Resolution (MTTR) by 30%
  • Increase in application and infrastructure uptime to 99.9%
  • Real-time visibility of application and infra metrics
  • Enabled bi-weekly MVP delivery

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The power of in-sprint automation

The power of in-sprint automation

Automation

The power of in-sprint automation

A large securities firm sped up time-to-market with end-to-end test automation on the cloud.

Client

A leading securities trading firm.

Goal

Build a cloud-based automation framework to test client’s trading platform.

Tools and technologies

C#, Ranorex, TestRail, Simulators and Selenium.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client had a legacy trading platform that had grown and evolved over time. The platform consisted of a stack of 33 applications, built on a variety of technologies and architectures. Testing new features and additions was proving to be a big challenge. A simple change in one feature would warrant a verification of the complete application. To ensure that any change does not affect other functionality, the client needed to do extensive regression testing and verification. This was a cumbersome process with over 20,000 or 30,000 test cases being checked and executed manually. The trading firm had to deploy over 20 people to carry out this exercise. The client had tried to automate the testing process with a variety of tools but was not able to get the efficiencies it wanted. In addition, the client had multiple squads working on different apps, functionality and features. Each squad used its own automation suite. It was becoming a challenge to co-ordinate the work of the different squads and ensure that changes made by a squad did not impact the overall functionality of the platform. Iris’s brief was to design and deploy a common cloud-based test automation framework for the client’s trading platform to ensure that it could launch new features faster.

SOLUTION

Using its cloud-based ready-to-deploy test automation framework, Iris sped up the deployment of new features for the client’s trading platform. The cloud solution, based on Amazon Web Services (AWS), featured continuous testing of multiple products on a common framework layer. It allowed for complete capacity planning of spinned cloud instances and need-based shutdowns. Iris executed the project using acceptance test driven development (ATDD), a methodology that involves collaboration between customers, business teams and development teams. The teams jointly created the user stories and put down the acceptance criteria for any feature or functionality. Then tests were designed within the common framework to check if the feature met the acceptance criteria. What was unique about the approach? Typically, automation is introduced towards the end of a development cycle. You would find that, in most projects, developers bring in automation in Sprint 4 for features developed in Sprint 1, 2 and 3. As a result, return on investment isn’t maximized. Our team introduced ‘in-sprint’ automation, enabling 90% test automation with every sprint. This resulted in more efficient and faster testing, and cost savings for the client.

OUTCOMES

The client’s deployment speed improved significantly with 90% faster execution in each sprint cycle and 80% faster script development. The cloud-based solution is 100% configurable for on-demand execution on AWS, which reduced the client’s cloud infrastructure costs by 70%. The new ability for complete capacity planning through the use of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) for spinning up cloud instances helped the client achieve end-to-end (E2E) automation of regression/ functional test cases.

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An agile sprint for financial data

An agile sprint for financial data

An agile sprint for financial data

How Iris helped a mega sportswear brand’s global operations and financial reports go flexible, agile, and analytical.

Client

Among the world’s largest manufacturers of sportswear, the client sells its products in more than 120 countries and employs more than 13,000 people.

Goal

To significantly reduce turnaround time and ease associated with report creation.

Tools and technologies

Microsoft SQL Server’s Analysis Services (SSAS), Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Boomi AtomSphere, and Power BI.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client’s finance department was using standard SAP reports which limited the flexibility to slice and dice data or add fields to reports. Modifying or creating new reports was either difficult or expensive. Top management, including the CFO and financial controllers, were finding it difficult to create a high-level, integrated view of the company’s finances. The existing process required data transposition between various systems, including the SAP and Oracle systems. Much of this data was extracted and consolidated manually, which was time-consuming, and took around a week.

SOLUTION

Iris executed a distributed Agile framework for the client’s global delivery model. Our solution pulled data out of the client’s SAP ERP system using Dell Boomi adapters, and leveraged SSIS (SQL server integration services) to transform it into enriched data. This data was mapped and made actionable through interactive PowerBI Tableau dashboards. With the help of a custom-made finance data model, a data warehouse was created. The easily shareable data cubes not only replaced all legacy reports, but also reduced the number of SAP user licenses.

OUTCOMES

With the availability of Power BI dashboards and the capability to slice-and-dice financial data, client managers now have a better view of operations and accounting flows. The data consolidation allows users to create need-based reports without additional licenses. The automation of the entire process from data extraction and transformation to publishing of analytical cubes has enabled the client teams to significantly reduce time required to produce reports – from days to a few minutes. They have been able to achieve a 95% reduction in time and effort.

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Deliver personalization via report automation

Deliver personalization via report automation

Asset Management

Deliver personalization via report automation

A leading asset management firm personalized offerings by automating processes to glean customer insights.

Client

A leading asset management firm based in the U.S.

Goal

Help asset managers deliver personalized solutions to establish differentiation.

Tools and technologies

AquaData Studio, Java, Perl, Python, Spring, Hibernate, VRS, PostgreSQL, Composite and MS SQL.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Asset management firms face challenges such as a generational shift in the demographic and new patterns of investment behavior. They also face changing regulations, and aggregators with low-cost products who are thinning the pool of investible funds. Our client wanted to differentiate itself by offering customer-centric solutions that are flexible and adaptable. But its existing systems presented several challenges:
  • Its front, mid and back office functions needed a lot of manual effort
  • Business rules were inconsistent and data duplication was rampant
  • User experience on the platform needed significant improvement
  • Clients were unable to get a holistic view of their accounts
  • Data validation was consuming a lot of manhours

SOLUTION

We partnered with the asset manager to deliver better digital experiences to all its stakeholders. We created a robust data ecosystem and used advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence/machine learning or AI/ML, intelligent automation, cloud computing and test automation.
  • Our team streamlined and integrated the client’s front, middle and back office functions. We helped the client integrate their back-office solutions with their custodians, reducing complexity in information exchange, eliminating reconciliation and increasing operational efficiency by more than 75%.
  • We automated the creation of more than 7,000 reports.
  • Improved experience for retail and institutional clients by automating the generation of complex compliance and strategic reports.
  • Developed a strategic reporting module that gave customers a holistic view of their accounts and holdings.
  • Set up a business data validation team offshore.
  • Enabled self-service option for bespoke reports.

OUTCOMES

Our solution helped the client significantly improve front-end experience for customers; reduce manual effort and costs in the back office; and improve overall operations efficiency. Highlights of the outcomes:
  • Automated the exhibits process with 75% increase in throughput
  • Our report automation solution reduced manual effort by 70% and improved monthly artefact generation throughput by 40%
  • Reduced manual effort for customization in client profile management by 60%
  • Achieved $50,000 savings monthly in data validation for client profile management

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