Case Studies

Client

CardScan, Inc.
Authors and Developers of CardScan

Case Study

"What was unique about qaSignature was that they provided a service, not only a tool. They were the only vendor that would take responsibility for the deliverable for a fixed cost. I was very skeptical at first... They said they could do something that no one else said they could do, and they said they could do it in a month. It sounded too good to be true."

"Since we started working with qaSignature, our QA team is able to focus on testing new features and we're comfortable that when something breaks qaSignature will catch it."

"The big savings is the time not doing testing manually. The automation found problems that manual testing could not find."

Dexter Sealy, VP of Engineering

Company:

CardScan, Inc. is the developer and marketer of electronic solutions for capturing and managing contact information. It helps individuals and organizations gain more business by accelerating the capture, access, and accuracy of business contact information.

Product:

CardScan, Inc. utilizes both a software and hardware solution that scans users business cards, reads the printed information, and captures them into an electronic address book. Services integrated into the product allow for automated updates of the information and make it accessible anytime, anywhere over the web.

Challenge:

The company had unsuccessfully tried to build an automated test solution in house. They knew what type of solution they needed, and most importantly they had an awareness of how to best evaluate a solutions vendor. CardScan, Inc. sought a vendor that could provide cost-effective and efficient results.

Concerns:

CardScan, Inc. was concerned that they would not get the results and solutions they were promised.

qaSignature Solution:

  • Created a suite of automated tests on 65 Virtual Machines, integrating a combination of:
    • Operating systems (Windows 2000, XP)
    • Languages (English, German, French, Spanish)
    • Products (Personal, Executive)
    • Versions of CardScan application (upgrades from 7 previous versions)
    • Third-Party solutions (ACT!, Outlook, Outlook Express, Palm, LotusNotes, GoldMine)

Results

  • CardScan, Inc. has achieved a savings per release of between $166,000 and $208,000 (4-5 testers @ $80/hr for 3 months). With 4 releases per year, that is an annual savings of $664,000 - $832,000.
  • The Automated test takes 12 hours to complete and supports more frequent testing. The same test done manually takes 20 person weeks.
  • Reduced "Time To Market" by 3 weeks.
  • Achieved Return Rate of 2%. The average rate for this industry is in the 10% range. The return rate is possibly the most important measure of the quality of the product.