Deep Pool Financial Solutions, an investor servicing and compliance solutions supplier, was looking to build key performance indicators to track its software tests, failures, and successful fixes to pinpoint the specific areas for improvement in its client software. Deep Pool was unable to access the large amounts of data that its project management software provided, so it used AWS to access, manage, and analyze that data more efficiently.
During a larger migration to the AWS Cloud, the company discovered Amazon QuickSight, a cloud-native, serverless business intelligence (BI) service that powers interactive dashboards that let companies make better data-driven decisions. With QuickSight, Deep Pool could democratize access to this unused data and pinpoint areas for improvement in its software development processes, thereby improving the overall quality of its software.
According to Brett Promisel, Chief Operating Officer for Deep Pool, the company wanted to manage the data that it was collecting from a BI point of view to help it make more informed decisions. Because word of mouth and high-quality software are critical in Deep Pool’s industry, the company wanted to add additional rigorous quality controls to its product development and testing so that it continues to provide top-notch, stable software that its clients can rely on.
In this post, we share how Deep Pool boosted its software quality control using QuickSight.
Enhancing software testing to with data-driven insights
Continuous improvement is a hallmark of leading organizations. Deep Pool wanted achieve greater software quality and decided to improve how it monitored and managed its software testing processes using data.
Typical development processes involve extensive testing. First, the original developer tests the code, and then the code is unit tested. Next, larger groups test the code. For all this testing to be successful and result in product improvement, it needs to be measured and tracked so that developers can learn from it and implement improvements during the development process.
Using QuickSight for data-driven insights, Deep Pool has implemented significant software testing and control. It can now count the number of bugs found or tests failed and time how long it took to create patches and repair issues. It can also better track its work backlog and the progress of functionality requests. Monitoring this information lets the company know that it has successfully implemented improvements, because a decreasing number of bugs over time is a strong indicator of quality control.
Monitoring development to increase efficiency
Better software test management benefits two groups: internal teams and external customers. Deep Pool can now log and communicate important information, such as when a request is made, how it’s being resolved or addressed, and how it’s being tested. In addition to helping internal teams streamline their processes, the company can also use this data to track communications with customers, which are also stored in its project management software. Such knowledge helps the company determine whether customer requests are being promptly addressed and identify common trends that require action on a larger scale.
Seven development teams at Deep Pool independently write the code for the components of the company’s software products, and they must integrate those components to create the final products. With the granularity of the data that is provided by QuickSight, Deep Pool can thoroughly analyze the development and testing of these products. The company now has the ability to trace software bugs down to their original coding, which makes it simple to quickly locate and address any issues that come up. Deep Pool can also measure the results of those mitigating actions and determine whether its repairs were successful.
Attention to detail helps Deep Pool improve software quality, leading to better products and customers who are more likely to give positive referrals.
“Amazon QuickSight is extremely valuable to us when performing quality control. We can now expose our whole development team to how we’re managing databases and servers and measuring performance in a more optimal way,” says Promisel.
Deep Pool has successfully proven that it can use QuickSight to measure its quality control to improve its software and, ultimately, better support its customers. Since the migration to AWS, the number of software issues discovered and logged has dropped by 57%.
The increased quality control that has come from the company’s focus on accessing all its data and optimizing its use has led to better efficiency, which results in the ability to expand its growth without increasing its costs.
“We should be able to increase our customer base without adding the equivalent costs. Making sure we are as efficient as possible lets me manage that way,” says Promisel.
Expanding into more data sources
Deep Pool is also exploring how to expand its use of QuickSight to extract and use data from even more of its databases. In the future, it hopes to analyze its internal metrics, such as sales data, and its external client-related information, such as assets and holdings, to guide how it builds its client software and provides even more custom products.
Deep Pool is also committed to helping its employees be innovative and successful by investing in their futures and skill sets. It understands that well-trained employees can optimize the use of their tools, which results in better products. As such, the company will continue to invest in the training offered by AWS. Using cutting-edge tools and promoting its intent to invest in its employees indicate to Deep Pool’s customers that the company plans to stay innovative and ahead of the technological curve.
To learn more about how QuickSight can help your business with dashboards, reports, and more, visit Amazon QuickSight.
About the Author
Shruthi Panicker is a Senior Product Marketing Manager with Amazon QuickSight at AWS. As an engineer turned product marketer, Shruthi has spent over 15 years in the technology industry in various roles from software engineering, to solution architecting to product marketing. She is passionate about working at the intersection of technology and business to tell great product stories that help drive customer value.
