Agile QA Transformation for BICS

Short Description

Over a 15-year partnership, Tieto Tech Consulting transformed BICS’s Quality Assurance into an automated, Agile-driven ecosystem covering many software domains of BICS. By introducing test automation, unified QA practices, and CI/CD integration, BICS bridged the development and QA teams, sped up releases, achieved over 80% test automation coverage, and ensured performance stability across the client’s software ecosystem. 

Summary 

Goal: Modernize the Quality Assurance (QA) function at BICS to ensure the reliability and scalability of its multi-domain telecom software ecosystem. Transition from manual, waterfall-based testing to an Agile, automation-driven QA model to accelerate releases, reduce downtime, and maintain consistent service quality worldwide. 

Solution: Tieto Tech Consulting led a full-scale QA transformation, evolving from a single-expert engagement into a managed QA service covering many BICS domains. The team introduced Agile methodology in QA process, implemented an automated testing framework, standardized QA practices and documentation, and established a centralized QA Center of Excellence with domain-specific expertise. 

Benefits: in one year already achieved over 80% test automation coverage, 5x faster release cycles, hundreds of man-days saved annually, regression testing time cut from 5 days to 0,5 1-2 days depending on the application, unified QA standards, improved collaboration between departments, consistent software quality across all products. 

Services Delivered: Testing advisory, QA modernization, test management and automation, CI/CD integration, managed QA service. 

About the Client 

BICS, part of Proximus Global, is an international communications enabler with the leading physical backbone network of 120+ access points-of-presence worldwide, participation in 20 submarine cables, and 700+ direct routes, offering top-notch connection quality. The company provides operators worldwide with 60+ solutions, covering Roaming & Signaling, IoT, Messaging, Voice Core, Cloud Communications, Billing, Fraud Detection, and other telecom industry areas. 

Business Challenge 

As a global telecommunications leader, BICS operates a complex ecosystem of multi-domain software solutions that must deliver uninterrupted, high-quality services to millions of end users worldwide. Ensuring reliability, scalability, and delivery speed across such a vast system has been crucial and demanded a fundamental transformation of BICS’s Quality Assurance (QA) approach. The company faced several interconnected challenges: 

• Outdated QA practices and documentation, which limit visibility and control over quality across diverse telecom domains. 
• QA process was not yet properly transformed into Agile resulting in long release cycles, delayed feedback, and communication silos between development and QA teams. 
• Limited test automation led to excessive manual regression testing, slower time-to-market, and a higher risk of production issues. 
• Inconsistent QA processes and fragmented toolsets across teams and products are causing issues in collaboration and scaling. 
• Growing portfolio of complex solutions for Roaming, IoT, Cloud Communications, and Voice Core, which requires a tailored QA approach and continuous reliability. 

To keep its global leadership and ensure “always-on” service quality, BICS sought a trusted QA partner to: 

• Modernize and standardize QA practices across all product domains 
• Introduce Agile methodology and transform the QA mindset company-wide 
• Build a test automation framework integrated into the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) 
• Bridge the gap between development and QA to accelerate delivery without compromising stability 
• Provide long-term QA leadership, expertise, and scalable team capacity. 

Building on its long-standing partnership with Tieto Tech Consulting, BICS initiated a QA transformation as part of its broader shift to Agile development. With an already substantial QA team in place, Tieto Tech Consulting took the lead in guiding this transition - driving Agile adoption, strengthening automation practices, and continuous quality improvement that underpin BICS’s global software reliability. 

Solution & Business Value 

To address BICS’s need for scalable, reliable, and agile QA operations, Tieto Tech Consulting led a complete modernization of the company’s Quality Assurance function, transforming it into a significantly automated, Agile-driven QA ecosystem. 

Key elements of the solution included: 

• Transition to Agile: Reorganized QA processes to proper Agile methodology by embedding QA within development cycles and ensuring continuous feedback loops. 
• Introduction of Test Automation: Designed and implemented a test automation framework tailored to BICS’s diverse telecom domains – reducing regression testing time from weeks to hours and accelerating release cycles. 
• Unified QA Practices: Standardized documentation, reporting, and test management tools, creating a single source of truth across teams and domains. 
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Bridged the gap between development and QA, ensuring shared ownership of quality and faster issue resolution. 
• Scalable QA Organization: Built a dedicated QA Center of Excellence with specialized roles – including an Automation Lead and Test Managers, - driving innovation and continuous improvement. 

As a result in 1 year, BICS achieved: 

• Over 80% test automation coverage across key telecom domains for key applications and new developments (Roaming, IoT, Cloud Communications, Signaling, Capacity). 
• Faster release cycles, enabling 1–2 releases per month instead of 1–2 per year. 
• Hundreds of person-days are saved annually through regression test automation. 
• 5x-10x reduced regression test duration across Roaming, Signaling, Cloud Communication, IoT, and other domains. 
• Automated tests triggered after each code commit, with automated regression execution lasting under 10 minutes per application. 
• Reduced downtime and higher service reliability for global telecom customers. 
• A sustainable QA culture, ensuring future scalability and adaptability. 
• Safe refactoring and software improvements thanks to instant feedback from CI-integrated test pipelines. 
• Unified and standardized documentation and QA practices across all teams, establishing a single knowledge base for ongoing scalability. 

Through this long-term partnership, Tieto Tech Consulting enabled BICS to focus on innovation in global communications while maintaining unwavering confidence in software quality and performance. The success of this collaboration is reflected in the ongoing partnership between BICS and Tieto Tech Consulting, which has been extended until 2030. 

Technical Details 

The QA transformation journey between BICS and Tieto Tech Consulting evolved over several years - from a small pilot engagement to a full-scale partnership that now covers all BICS’s software domains worldwide. 

The collaboration began in 2011 with one Tieto Tech Consulting QA expert supporting BICS’s Voice Core products. The success of the initial cooperation quickly built trust and led to a gradual expansion of responsibilities. As the engagement matured, BICS delegated more QA functions to Tieto Tech Consulting, recognizing the team’s telecom-specific expertise and ability to align technical quality with business goals. 

Today, QA at BICS is a shared effort, combining both BICS’s own QA professionals and experts from Tieto Tech Consulting. Through continuous process improvement, together we established a robust, self-sustaining QA ecosystem - one that supports BICS’s multi-domain environment while ensuring uninterrupted service delivery and customer satisfaction. 

Beyond process and tooling, Tieto Tech Consulting drove a cultural shift in QA toward Agile thinking, coaching QA specialists in Scrum fundamentals and aligning processes, metrics, and documentation with Agile best practices. 

Team and Expertise 

Tieto Tech Consulting built a multidisciplinary QA organization of 27 professionals, combining strategic management and hands-on technical expertise: 

• 1 dedicated QA Manager 
• 5 Test Coordinators 
• 1 Automation Tech Lead 
• 13 Test Automation Engineers 
• 7 Manual QA Engineers 
• Frameworks and Methodologies 

Tieto Tech Consulting introduced a comprehensive QA framework rooted in Agile and automation best practices: 

• Agile Transformation: modernized QA process with Scrum-based workflows, enabling cross-functional collaboration and faster feedback loops. 
• Automation-Driven QA: implemented the Test Automation Pyramid, balancing unit, integration, and E2E tests for maximum efficiency and minimal redundancy. 
• Continuous Integration/Delivery (CI/CD): Embedded automated testing into BICS’s CI/CD pipelines – making the execution part of the “Definition of Done” for every user story. 
• QA Metrics Framework: Defined sprint- and story-based metrics, traceability matrices, coverage reports, and quality dashboards for transparent stakeholder reporting. 
• Unified Documentation: Migrated fragmented QA documentation into Confluence, establishing two standardized spaces – one for shared QA knowledge and another for domain-specific data.

Technologies and tools 

• Languages and frameworks: Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, SpringBoot, React 
  Automation Frameworks: HtmlUnit (for JSF-based front ends), Playwright, React Testing Library, SpringBoot Test 
• Performance Testing: k6, Gatling 
• Back-End & Front-End Automation: Customized automation frameworks aligned with BICS’s application technologies (Java/SpringBoot, React.js) 
• Test Management: Jira + Zephyr for Jira plugin (replacing HP Quality Center), fully integrated with Agile boards 
• API Testing: Postman, selected for its compatibility with BICS’s telecom APIs 
• Documentation: Confluence 
• Reporting: Jira and Zephyr dashboards tailored for both technical teams and management audiences.