How {n}.bora tackles complex testing challenges with Appsvio Test Management

Introducing {n}.bora

IT services consultancy, {n}.bora, drives digital transformation for clients from multinational organizations to small, one-person outfits. Rather than providing templated boilerplate solutions, the UK-based company works to help every customer achieve core outcomes through lasting change management.

The consultancy needed the right test management tool and approach to keep complex project needs on track across a diverse client load.

The Challenge: Keeping test management visible, traceable, and organized for clients

The consultancy wanted to build more efficient and repeatable processes to implement test management across client engagements. “The idea is to focus on doing the actual work rather than just managing it,” explains {n}.bora Director Peter Hastings. But their existing testing management approach slowed them down. Spreadsheets quickly became clogged with too much information, all of it in different formats. They needed:

• Greater customer visibility to show how they crafted testing plans and provide updates when tests were complete.
• Traceability to demonstrate that tests would prove initial requirements.
• Organization to keep projects in the same format with a strong workflow for assigning tasks to testers.

To keep serving clients well and take on increasingly complex projects, {n}.bora needed a new tool.

Solution: An affordable, accessible tool that balances simplicity with functionality

Peter’s first requirement for a new test management tool was that it be a part of the Atlassian ecosystem. He considered some of the established tools like Xray and Zephyr, but they were massive and incredibly expensive.

“I needed the tool to take the actual people who would be using the tool on a journey,” Peter said. “I wanted something that wasn’t going to scare them away but had a good, simple approach that was also flexible.”

While vetting test management solutions, he looked closely at the level of support vendors provided. Appsvio Test Management (ATM) was a strong contender for a few key reasons:

• The level of documentation provided clearly explained how the tool worked.
• The published roadmap laid out where the product was heading, which told Peter that ATM was going somewhere.
• The {n}.bora team could try the tool via a free entry point. When they moved to a paid subscription, the price would reflect the team size, instead of a standard minimum cost floor.

Peter and the team began testing ATM for free. Right away, the tool impressed them with its quick setup and project configuration.

“Literally, it took 15 minutes to get from configuring the system to creating our first test case. The entire onboarding process was super simple.” — Peter Hastings, Director, {n}.bora

In the six months since adopting ATM and becoming a paid customer, the {n}.bora team has streamlined their processes and achieved complex outcomes for customers.

Result: Higher detection, focus for testers, and tangible client results

{n}.bora’s new, standardized approach to test management with ATM noticeably benefits the team, testers, and customers.

Process enhancements and improved outcomes

Right away, ATM delivered the organization Peter was looking for. Appsvio’s clear documentation let the team quickly learn about different ways to use the tool and assess which approach would fit them best. The step-by-step wizard helped them refine their process, while the tool’s flexibility reassured users that they weren’t locking themselves in and could change the configuration if they needed.

These operational improvements have also driven impressive transformation for test management outcomes. Since adopting ATM,

• {n}.bora’s detection rate has gone up by 94%
• Leakage has gone down by 75%
• Reuse has gone up by 150%
• Coverage has increased by 300%

ATM’s Requirements Traceability Matrix made it easy to show that tests would prove initial requirements were met.

Clarity and focus for testers

Peter says that ATM’s biggest benefit for testers is the ability to know exactly where they are in their workload. “We can allocate projects across multiple testers so they can be confident they’re not duplicating efforts,” he explains.

With test management handled in ATM, testers can stop, start, and come back to test executions as they will, and they can also flexibly create their own test plans.

“ATM takes away the pain of making sure testers put things in the right place.” — Peter Hastings, Director, {n}.bora

During testing, the tool shows them a straightforward panel that guides them through each test in their current queue. This feature focuses testers and keeps them going.

Plus, with each test they complete, they can watch the progress bar grow, which delivers a dopamine boost. “Other tools tend to hide or over-complicate these kinds of features due to their complex set-ups, but ATM puts these helpful user features front and center,” says Peter.

Delivery of complex client needs

Within the first six months of adopting ATM, {n}.bora completed multiple projects that would’ve been impossible use their old test management approach.

For one client engagement with high levels of change, the consultancy set up automations in Jira and ATM for test cases and assignments to write test scripts.

“If we hadn’t had ATM, we wouldn’t have been able to manage that client project.” — Peter Hastings, Director, {n}.bora

Another complex client engagement involved financial calculations and metrics, all with different behaviors based on preset criteria, generating thousands of test cases. Where the old method of test management couldn’t have scaled, the new ATM-enabled approach allowed them to successfully meet the challenge.

Continuous improvement with ATM

Within just a few months of using ATM, the {n}.bora team Have been able to standardize their test management structure, which frees them up to evaluate their processes, consider what’s next, and keep getting better.

“The six-month milestone is definitely an opportunity to us to say, ‘We’ve learned how to use ATM now—maybe we can use it even more,” says Peter.