A new Quality Assurance and Testing Framework Agreement

~ Written By Yannis Kafantaris

A New Agreement

The current Home Office Test, Design and Consultancy Services contract (TDCS) expired on March 31^st and it has been replaced with a new Quality Assurance and Testing for IT Systems Services agreement. The creation of this new framework has been the responsibility of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). CCS is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office responsible for creating policy and offering advice to improve commercial and procurement activity. Crucial to the government’s long-term economic plan, it gives greater visibility and control over all aspects of commercial performance, from market engagement through to contract management. This new framework will exist in tandem and complement other cloud and digital agreements including G-Cloud, Digital Outcomes & Specialist, Cyber Security Services and transformation enabling services.

As the World Quality Report 2016-17 shows, quality assurance is increasingly becoming an area of focus in the Public Sector. This is clear, with the percentage of the Public Sector’s overall IT budget allocated to Testing rising from 25% to 33% in 2015-2016, and it is expected to reach 40% by 2018. There is also an increasing focus on automation with 28% of all test cases already being automated and a desire to increase this to benefit from the reduction in human error, time and cost savings it brings. The new Quality Assurance and Testing agreement is the ideal approach to ensuring that Public Sector organisations receive the assistance they need to fulfil these testing goals quickly, from the best providers in the market place.

Greater Agility

The primary aim of this agreement is to help Public Sector organisations adopt a more Agile approach to purchasing specialist QA and Testing services. For specialist QA and Test suppliers, it provides a much more central route to market with clearer requirements and a smoother tender process, and it is available to all Public Sector department buyers. It’s another essential component in the move away from frameworks, towards a fully managed end to end digital service. By giving better access to QA and Testing services and encouraging their integration into Public Sector Digital Transformation at an earlier stage, the new agreement is set to help Public Sector organisations expedite their digital journey and provide higher quality software and services for a superior Customer Experience.

8 Service Areas

The QA and Testing services have been divided into eight lots:

1. Test, Design & Consultancy Specialists
2. Automation, Agile & Dev Ops
3. Load & Performance Testing
4. Functional Testing
5. Infrastructure Testing & Environments
6. Operational Acceptance Testing & DR
7. QAT Management
8. Strategic QA Consultancy

Sogeti’s Role as a Test Partner

By partnering with Sogeti we work as an extension of your team, and can help you to adopt the right principles, improve product quality and enhance overall project delivery. Our approach is to continually add value by creating a test strategy designed to achieve the 3 goals of higher quality, faster delivery and a more cost-effective way of working.

Sogeti offers access to a global testing practice of 13,500 experienced and career focused test and quality assurance professionals, with over 600 based in the UK. Flexible and cost-effective, our teams are already facilitating Public Sector Digital Transformation by implementing cutting-edge QA and test strategies to support design, development, testing and implementation for a significant number of local and national government agencies, councils and Public Sector organisations.

Sogeti has a reputation for having created some of the most widely-used and ‘best in breed’ frameworks such as TMap®, TPI®, PointZERO® and CAFÉ - Capgemini’s Automation Framework. We are also recognised for our innovation centres and global Centres of Excellence, and our research into quality, mobile, digital, and the Internet of Things by our research lab VINT and the thought leaders that make up SogetiLabs.

Digital Assurance

Providing a seamless, high quality interactive experience across multiple channels, without a doubt, creates the need for a more comprehensive IT strategy - one that supports the complexities of the new digital landscape. Whether you are introducing, redesigning or improving your digital services, partnering with Sogeti can help you to deliver measureable and scalable results with confidence.

Note: Services will be available from the Crown Commercial Service Quality Assurance and Testing for IT Systems Framework Agreement from 1^st April. You can express your interest in the framework today.