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“We are launching a certification programme in software testing”
A University of Pittsburg student, Vanaja Arvind,
Executive Director of Thinksoft Global Services (TGS), has rich domain expertise
and project experience in the BFSI sector. At TGS, she is spearheading the company’s
knowledge management initiatives.
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Domain is the foundation on which functional testing
can be done
Vanaja Arvind
Executive Director
Thinksoft Global Services
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In an exclusive interview with Express Computer, Ms Vanaja
Arvind, Executive Director, TGS, shares her views about the testing industry
and the company's business strategies. Excerpts:
What is your perception of the status of software testing
as an industry?
Software testing is now perceived as an area which has tremendous growth potential
and is considered higher in the value chain. Graduating engineers are also looking
for potential growth opportunities here. Software test automation is on the
rise, if we have to go by the number of queries that come from clients. However,
test automation is still a sunrise industry and will mature in the next 5-10
years.
Also, many segments are coming into existence such as testing divisions of biggies,
testing shops across the board, specialised or niche players with a domain expertise
and positioning etc.
What are the specific practices that make TGS an industry
leader in BFSI?
We had the vision to perceive the potential of software testing much ahead of
others and we based our business model firmly on that. We stood steadfast in
our belief in this area even during the periods of recession.
This enabled us to maintain the integrity and improve the strength of our core
competence and deliver value to our customers.
| The Thinksoft advantage |
| The Chennai-based Thinksoft Global Services (P) Limited (TGS),
a leader in business requirements assurance, is India's largest BFSI-focused
independent software testing company.
TGS has over 1 million person
hour independent testing project track record with the years of project
relationship with the largest banking players across the financial hubs
in Western and Asian regions - from the global conglomerate, Citi Group
to India's State Bank of India. TGS has been growing at a rate of 77%
over the last 3 years and has dedicated offshore Test Labs and offices
in New York, London, Singapore, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.
An ISO 9001:2000 certified
testing company, TGS is constantly building good knowledge management
practices - its repository of testing process and methodologies has helped
the company emerge successful in keeping the track record of handling
large independent testing assignments, maintaining high standards in execution,
coverage, quality, and confidentiality.
The Domain Focused Player:
Testing calls for extremely
in depth domain knowledge. Currently a 300-strong organisation, TGS has,
in the last twelve years, leveraged its considerable domain knowledge
and expertise to position itself as India's largest domain focused software
testing organisation providing requirements assurance services.
Its testing processes aims
at bridging the quality gap in outsourcing and help its customers mitigate
the risks of deploying defective software applications, thus ensuring
increased return on their IT investments.
TGS has built up an enviable
track record of successful project deliveries spanning the United States,
Europe, India and the Asia-Pacific regions.
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To what extent does domain focus help a testing company
standout?
Domain is the foundation on which functional testing can
be done. The credibility of testing organisation lies in the fact that it can
test on behalf of business/operational users. It is impossible for a project
manager or test engineer or an business analyst to gain expertise over banking,
telecom, health and embedded products to replace the business/operations users
in testing the functionality. Hence focussing on a specific domain adds value
and confidence to the customers.
What are the domain strengths of TGS?
Over 30% of our employees come with the domain background in our chosen vertical.
We also maintain a panel of consultants who are experts in specialized BFSI
domains such as Core Banking, Credit Cards, Securities/Trading etc.
We have expertise in financial application products with
global reach/market share. We have also tied up with domain-focused organisations
in securities, insurance, etc to provide domain support in our projects. Test
automation is another domain where we have gained considerable expertise and
across all business verticals.
How do you perceive the cost war in the wake of growing
competition?
For our existing customers - we are the preferred testing vendor and we do not
face competition from other vendors who quote low rates without bringing any
value-addition. But it is a major concern that coupled with increasing resource
costs, the cost war is reducing the margins considerably. To remain competitive
we are taking several steps on the HR front. We are pursuing tie ups with institutions
to produce more trained people. We are also coming out with certification programs
which will increase the trained resource pool. We will be launching the certification
programs by the end of this year.
Our thought leadership position in the industry should, to a certain extent,
support us to gain against the competition.
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