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Customer Story

TFS Release Management Eases Isah’s Testing Time

Business software specialist for the manufacturing industry reduces the time required for testing, greatly improving its workflow

Related services
Cloud, Microsoft Azure,
TFS/Azure DevOps Server

Industry
Business and IT

Company
Xebia

Founded in 1987, Isah develops business software specifically for the manufacturing industry, including machine and equipment builders and high-tech suppliers. Its solutions combine ERP, engineering, service, and project management. Worldwide, more than 700 manufacturing companies work with its business software. Its clientele also includes the medical sector, the semiconductor industry, food, and agriculture.

Why
Speed up the timeframe for testing results
What
Implement TFS release management
How
Enabledcompany’s software engineers to implement and configure the release management module, alongside their normal workload

Business Continuity, Modernized

Isah’s portfolio consists of numerous modules that require extensive testing before roll-out. While the company used automated tests, configuring the test environment and checking its results required substantial manual work. The tests were simply taking too long to run and Isah needed a scalable solution. Although Isah already worked with Microsoft’s TFS and employed a large number of software engineers, it still needed expert help making changes while managing its regular development workload. To speed up the timeframe for testing results, the company reached out to Xebia for guidance.

It’s Complicated…A Reality Check

The project’s first phase was far more complicated than expected as Isah had a large number of specific issues that needed attention. According to Tonnie Tholen, Isah’s manager of development, Xebia helped convert the XAML shadow builds to Build vNext, build the IOS app in the build pipeline, set up a server on Hyper-V, and restore an IsahExpert database on the server.

“Because we’re resolving the issues much more promptly, it involves less work and time. Needless, to say, our overall quality increased. In short, less work, shorter time to market, and higher quality.”
Isah
Jos van Baal Manager of Research and Development

Investments Eventually Pay Off

Xebia enabled Isah’s software engineers to implement and configure the release management module, alongside their normal workload. Isah has now applied automated testing facilities in approximately half of its modules and the testing is done at night, saving time. Xebia introduced a Scrum framework, greatly improving the workflow, as well as Azure DevOps. Testing more frequently, with shorter timeframes for acting upon test results has helped Isah raise the bar, achieving more with the same number of staff. “Once we’ve automated the testing cycle of all our modules, we’ll certainly reap the benefits of our investment,” said Van Baal.

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