OVERVIEW

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, data management is paramount for media and publication companies. This case study delves into the journey of a prominent US-based media and publication company that, for the past 15 years, relied on Oracle as its backbone for data storage and management. As data volumes grew and complexities multiplied, they recognized the need for a more scalable, user-friendly, and cost-effective solution. This led them to embark on a transformational migration to Snowflake, a cloud-based data warehousing platform.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

The client faced numerous challenges in their data storage and management

• Complexity
  The Oracle database has evolved over time, becoming increasingly complex with numerous tables, stored procedures, and triggers. The challenge lies in seamlessly migrating this intricate structure to Snowflake while ensuring data integrity and functionality are preserved.

• Performance Issues
  The Oracle database struggles to manage the growing data volume and concurrent user demands, resulting in noticeable performance bottlenecks. Addressing these performance issues is crucial to maintaining user satisfaction and productivity.

• Cost Concerns
  The client is troubled by the mounting expenses associated with maintaining their on-premises Oracle infrastructure. They seek a cost-effective alternative in the form of a cloud-based solution, aiming to optimize their expenditure while enhancing scalability and efficiency.

BITWISE SOLUTION

The client chose to partner with Bitwise to orchestrate and execute the Oracle to Snowflake migration, leveraging our cutting-edge accelerators and expertise to streamline the process.

OVERVIEW OF THE BITWISE MIGRATION PROCESS:

THE RESULT

The Oracle to Snowflake migration modernized the client’s data infrastructure, enhancing data accessibility, and lowering operational costs. This strategic move positions them for future growth and agility in a dynamic digital landscape.

SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS OF DATA MIGRATION FOR BITWISE CLIENT

• Improved Performance
  Snowflake’s cloud-based architecture brought scalability and robust performance, effectively handling large data volumes and concurrent user demands, ensuring seamless operations.
• Cost Savings
  Transitioning to a pay-as-you-go cloud model substantially reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs associated with Oracle, providing cost-efficiency and budget optimization.
• Simplified Management
  Snowflake’s user-friendly interface simplified data warehouse management for the IT team, streamlining tasks and reducing complexity.
• Enhanced Analytics
  Data analysts and business users reported significant improvements in query speed and data accessibility. This empowered better decision-making through more efficient data analysis and reporting processes.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

OVERVIEW

In today fast-paced business environment, insurance companies must continuously update and maintain their software to meet customer demands. Automated testing solutions are crucial in this process as they allow for quick and efficient identification and resolution of software issues, resulting in the delivery of high-quality software.

A leading insurance company approached Bitwise for assistance in automating their Claims application. The Java-based and responsive application required a streamlined testing process to ensure software quality. Bitwise’s team of experts worked closely with the insurance company to understand their needs and provide a tailored solution.

BUSINESS CHALLENGES: THE LACK OF A STREAMLINED TEST AUTOMATION PROCESS

The insurance company faced the challenge of ensuring the quality and reliability of its Java based Claims application without a streamlined test automation process in place. This led to inefficiencies in the testing process and a higher risk of software issues. The company sought out a solution that could address these challenges and meet their requirements.

• Faster Test Automation Solution: The company required a solution that could automate testing processes quickly and effectively, reducing the time taken for manual testing.
• Cross-Browser Testing on Major Browsers: The Claims application needed to be tested on major browsers to ensure compatibility and performance across all platforms.
• Ease of Maintenance: The company needed a solution that was easy to maintain and update, as they would need to regularly update the Claims application to meet customer demands.
• Usage of Open Source Tools: The company preferred a solution that utilized open-source tools and technologies, to keep costs low and maximize return on investment.
• Faster Frequency of Regression Testing: To ensure the quality of the Claims application, the company needed to conduct regression testing at a more instantaneous frequency. A customised test automation solution was needed to support this requirement.

THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE: WHY BITWISE

The client company looked for a solution that would offer sustainable cost-effectiveness, enhanced maintainability, and improved efficiency. Bitwise, with its extensive experience in delivering cutting-edge technology solutions and expertise in the financial services domain, was the ideal partner for the company. The company chose Bitwise as their technology partner to deliver a comprehensive and flexible solution for its test automation needs.

The core advantages that the company considered in choosing Bitwise as its partner were the company clear understanding of data and digital solutions, expertise in niche technologies, resource efficiency, and proven methodologies. Bitwise’s experience in delivering one-stop solutions and its talent pool of experts in niche technologies made it the ideal partner for the company test automation project.

THE SOLUTION: IMPLEMENTING A ROBUST AND EFFICIENT TEST AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK

To address the challenges faced by the insurance company, Bitwise implemented the following solutions:

• The use of Selenium WebDriver with the Page Object Model (POM) pattern allowed for a clear separation of concerns in the testing framework, making it easier to maintain and update.
• SauceLabs was utilized for cross-browser testing, allowing for tests to be run on multiple browsers to ensure compatibility.
• The framework was developed using Page Objects, making it easier to create and manage tests.
• TestNG was used to manage tests and ensure easy execution. Regression tests were executed on the continuous integration (CI) pipeline, allowing faster and more frequent testing.
• Extent Reports was used to generate comprehensive test reports, providing valuable insights.

With these solutions in place, Bitwise was able to provide the insurance company with an efficient test automation framework to improve the quality of their Claims application.

IMPACTFUL RESULTS

The implementation of the Selenium WebDriver with the Page Object Model Pattern and the use of SauceLabs for cross-browser testing, along with the utilization of TestNG and ExtentReports, resulted in significant improvements for the insurance company. The test automation framework was developed with ease and speed, reducing manual testing efforts by 70%. Moreover, the low maintenance and low training requirements for QAs made the solution even more effective.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

OVERVIEW

In today fast-paced and ever-evolving digital landscape, payment services companies need to ensure that their systems are reliable, secure, and compliant. Testing is an essential part of this process, but with the increasing complexity of API environments, manual testing can be time- consuming and error-prone. Test automation provides a more efficient way to test APIs, ensuring that they are functioning as expected and meeting the necessary requirements.

This case study describes the implementation of a test automation framework for a payment services company’s RESTful/SOAP APIs. The company required a solution that was scalable, cost-effective, and utilized open-source tools. With the increasing complexity of its API environment, the company needed an efficient way to test its APIs. Test automation ensured that these challenges are addressed and allowed the company to streamline their testing processes, reduce the risk of errors, and improve the overall quality of its APIs with faster time to production.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

The client faced several challenges in testing its RESTful/SOAP APIs. The primary challenge was the need to reduce manual testing and bring in a scalable test automation solution.

Another challenge was to keep the costs low while ensuring the framework meets the company’s requirements. Therefore, the client was looking for a solution that utilized open-source tools, which would minimize licensing and maintenance costs.

The company was continuously adding new APIs to their environment, and the framework needed to accommodate these changes without requiring a complete overhaul of the testing process. This meant that the framework needed to be modular and flexible enough to handle different types of APIs and test scenarios.

Addressing these challenges required a careful approach that took into account the specific needs of the client. Our test automation team worked closely with the client to design a framework that was scalable, cost-effective and utilized open-source tools.

BITWISE SOLUTION

Our SDETs performed a comprehensive analysis of all the RESTful/SOAP APIs under consideration to ensure that they meet the functional and non-functional requirements of the system. This analysis included a review of the API documentation, testing of the API end points, and an assessment of the APIs performance, scalability, and security.

To create tests for these APIs, we evaluated several open-source tools and helped in automating the testing process. These tools were used to write test scripts that could be executed as part of a continuous integration (CI) process to validate the APIs for proper responses.

Our ingenious team performed a successful POC (proof of concept) by integrating these API test scripts into a CI process and validating their responses using automated tests. This POC demonstrated that the APIs were functioning as expected and could be effectively tested using automation.

Our expert team developed an API Test framework using node.js, Jasmine, and Mocha to meet the testing requirements of RESTful APIs. The framework has been designed to be reusable, and scalable. This design allows the framework to be easily extended, maintained, and updated as the APIs evolve over time.

In terms of test reporting, the API Test framework has been integrated with mochawesome reporting library to generate comprehensive reports that provide insights into the test results. These reports provide detailed information about each test case, including the test status, duration, and any errors or failures that occurred during the test run enabling the business stakeholders to take the right decisions. Additionally, the framework has been integrated with test management tools leading to faster finalization of test results.

KEY RESULTS

Bitwise developed a custom and scalable open-source test automation framework that met the client’s requirements, resulting in a 60% reduction in manual testing efforts and a positive return on investment for the client.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

OVERVIEW

In today digital age, payment services companies must ensure that their applications can handle heavy loads while maintaining optimal performance. A leading payment services company faced challenges with continuous and rapidly growing user loads and a lack of awareness of best practices in a cloud environment. They required a performance testing solution that could provide feedback on performance monitoring while simulating heavy user loads on the application. Bitwise, a leading provider of digital transformation services, leveraged BlazeMeter/JMeter on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to derive effective performance testing solutions. As a result, timely optimization and tweaks were made to the application code to handle the desired user load.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

The client required a testing solution to evaluate Performance Monitoring and simulate realistic user loads.

• The client’s app faced continuous and rapid user growth, needing a load-handling solution and performance feedback.
• They sought to identify and address bottlenecks impacting app performance and get comprehensive reporting on the server.
• The client lacked benchmark results, processes, and knowledge of best practices in a cloud environment to evaluate and optimize app performance.

BITWISE SOLUTION

• Bitwise created a comprehensive performance test plan that covered a variety of parameters to evaluate the application performance under different scenarios. This included load testing, stress testing, endurance testing, and volume testing.
• Our experts used Blazemeter / JMeter to generate distributed loads focused on different regions due to the global presence of the client. This allowed for realistic user loads to be simulated and evaluated in a distributed environment. Throughout the performance test, our experts not only monitored application server statistics but also focused on performance server (tool side) statistics. This approach facilitated effective analysis of issues, whether they were related to the application or the performance testing tool itself.
• By designing scalable load patterns, we covered different testing scenarios, such as Load, Stress, Endurance, and Volume. These load patterns allowed for the application’s performance to be evaluated under different loads and conditions.
• Disaster Recovery plan: Bitwise developed a Disaster Recovery plan that leveraged load shift to different servers on the cloud. This allowed for the application to be tested in different environments, including backup and recovery scenarios.
• Our qualified team of engineers standardized the Performance Cadence process across multiple teams to ensure that the testing process was consistent and efficient. This helped to streamline the testing process.
• We provided comprehensive documentation of the results and implemented a verdict-driven sign-off process to ensure that it aids the decision-making process for the client. By doing so, we ensure that the client is well-informed of any open issues and risks associated with the performance of the application.

Ultimately, by investing in performance testing, we helped the client to provide a better user experience, minimize downtime, and ultimately achieve their business goals.

KEY RESULTS

• Cost-effective solutions and effective technology usage: The performance analysis conducted by Bitwise helped identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement in the application’s performance. By optimizing the application performance, the client was able to achieve more with their existing infrastructure. Additionally, the use of tools like Blazemeter/JMeter allowed for efficient testing and reduced the overall cost of testing.
• Bitwise created performance scripts to test the Load Balancing and Disaster Recovery aspects of the application. This helped to ensure that the application could handle high volumes of traffic and maintain its performance during peak usage periods. By identifying and addressing potential issues before they arose in production, the client was able to avoid downtime and ensure that their customers had a positive experience using the application.
• Our talented team generated custom dashboards to provide the client with effective performance monitoring metrics. By consolidating all key results, defects, and statistics from the performance tests into these custom results dashboards, Bitwise was able to derive a verdict. This verdict helped the client decide whether to move the code to production or take a step back and fix the application code before proceeding to production. Ultimately, this led to an enhanced and stable user experience.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE REPORTING METRICS

OVERVIEW

In order to achieve their goal of enhancing data accuracy, scalability, and faster availability, the leading global research and advisory company partnered with Bitwise to migrate their on-premise application to Azure. The client wanted to improve their reporting and analytics applications by ensuring that users have access to timely data and uninterrupted data availability for business intelligence functions. Bitwise provided a solution to migrate the client’s data to the cloud efficiently and reliably, using Python- based ETL and data validation accelerators.

WHY BITWISE?

Bitwise offers solutions to businesses facing challenges with migrating their data from on-premises systems to the cloud. With the increasing demand for improved flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, many companies are moving their data to the cloud, but this process can be complex and time-consuming. Bitwise has aligned with the global market vision for efficient ETL and data migration and has developed Python-based ETL and data validation accelerators that are cloud-agnostic and can work with popular cloud platforms like Azure, GCP, AWS, and more. These accelerators can read on- prem databases and file sources, making it easier to migrate data to the cloud. The accelerators developed by Bitwise can generate meaningful validation reports for faster defect management, integrate with CI/CD tools like Jenkins and TeamCity, validate millions of records, and automatically generate validation SQLs. These features can significantly reduce the time and effort required for the migration process. In addition, Bitwise’s accelerators focus on data validation and code/script comparison and DDLs, ensuring that the migration process is comprehensive and reliable. As a result of our effective solutions, we have recorded an average of 45% savings across multiple migration projects. Our accelerators have proven to be successful in reducing effort and cost, making them a valuable asset to businesses looking to migrate their data to the cloud efficiently and reliably.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

Bitwise client faced several challenges in testing a large number of tables that were part of their ETL process. Some of the key challenges include:

• The client needed to test more than 1100 tables, which is a significant number. Manually testing each table is time-consuming, and it is not feasible to manually test all tables within the available time and resources.
• Manual testing had been limited to a small dataset, reducing its effectiveness and potentially missing undiscovered issues.
• Appropriate ETL testing automation tools were required for accurate and efficient testing of all tables.
• Data quality and referential integrity issues were complex and required attention to ensure accurate and reliable data. Data type differences between Oracle and Synapse were causing ETL errors, truncated data, and special character issues and had to be resolved to maintain consistency and accuracy.
• A flexible and intelligent testing strategy was required to test production data for incremental loads each day, considering that CDC loads run at different times for both DB systems.

BITWISE SOLUTION

To address the challenge of efficient database testing, our testing experts implemented a range of solutions.

• We created automation scripts to eliminate the need for manual data comparisons, saving considerable time and effort. Additionally, we developed a DDL mapping script to compare the structure of on-premises and cloud-based database systems, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
• To catch errors early, our team prioritized DDL validation over data validation. This addressed typical issues resulting from erroneous DDL mappings such as special character conversion, data accuracy, and truncation. This approach ensured accuracy and consistency while minimizing the risk of issues in production.
• Our team assisted the client in adopting an optimal data type testing strategy to achieve good performance and save space in the database.
• We grouped test cases in test plans and executed them in parallel, reducing testing time while ensuring thorough coverage of all necessary test cases.
• To minimize the risk of issues in production, testing was planned and coordinated in lower environments. We focused on base tables first, correcting errors caused by code issues so that they don’t spread to dependent tables. This approach helped to ensure a more stable and reliable database system, minimizing the risk of errors and issues in production.

KEY RESULTS

• Implementation of automation scripts and optimal testing strategies resulted in accelerating the testing process.
• Manual testing efforts were reduced by 60-70% due to the use of custom automation tools, and the UAT defects were reduced by 98-99%.
• The result was fully tested and defect-free tables were delivered with 100% test coverage.

These outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness of the measures taken by Bitwise in improving the quality and efficiency of the testing process.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

In the fast-paced and highly regulated finance industry, maintaining stringent security standards is paramount to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance. As financial organizations embrace the agile principles of DevOps to streamline their software development and deployment processes, the need for robust security testing becomes even more critical. This case study focuses on a financial organization that faced the challenge of establishing an end-to-end security testing setup for continuous compliance. To address this, Bitwise offered a comprehensive security testing solution integrated with DevOps, enabling the organization to enhance its security posture while ensuring seamless compliance throughout the software development lifecycle.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

Bitwise client sought to establish a security testing process in accordance with the mandates of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Payment Card Industry (PCI). Their overarching vision was to ensure continuous compliance while maintaining a robust feedback mechanism. The primary challenges encompassed:

• Identifying and resolving potential security vulnerabilities within their financial applications was crucial. This necessitated comprehensive security testing to mitigate risks such as unauthorized access, data breaches, and application-level attacks.
• The organization needed to protect their frontend user interfaces, middle-ware APIs, and backend databases from persistent threats.
• Staying aligned with industry standards and regulatory requirements mandated by PCI and RBI was imperative.
• The organization lacked streamlined processes to assess vulnerabilities and ensure the security of its applications and services.

BITWISE SOLUTION

Bitwise provided the financial industry client with a robust security testing process integrated with DevOps to ensure continuous compliance. The key elements of the solution included:

• Bitwise developed a comprehensive security test plan that adhered to industry standards such as OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project), PCI (Payment Card Industry), and RBI guidelines.
• We utilized tools like Sonar Cloud and Fortify on Demand (FOD) to perform SAST (Static Application Security Testing) scans.
• Our team of experts employed tools like OWASP Zap and Burp Suite for DAST scans.
• Bitwise conducted comprehensive penetration testing to assess the security of both the API and UI applications.
• Bitwise established a standardized process for conducting Security Testing Cadence, ensuring that applications and services were systematically evaluated for vulnerabilities.
• Bitwise performed vulnerability assessments on the scan reports generated by security testing tools. They diligently reported identified defects and vulnerabilities, providing clear and actionable insights for remediation. A verdict- driven sign-off process ensured that security concerns were appropriately addressed and resolved.

KEY RESULTS

• Bitwise implemented a robust security testing process focused on achieving 100% compliance for the client.
• We uncovered and tracked the resolution of critical security defects in client applications, forming the foundation for smooth DevSecOps operations.
• By delivering theft-free code, applications, and services, Bitwise generated clean reports for RBI/PCI audits. Their comprehensive security testing process, aligned with industry standards and guidelines, ensured thorough coverage of OWASP, PCI DSS, and RBI requirements.

With a meticulous approach to defect resolution, Bitwise minimized security vulnerabilities, protecting against unauthorized access and data breaches.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

Rapid release cycles require the professionals and technology in the business process to work together, including the testers. For organizations that have already adopted DevOps in large part, the release frequency is increasing from months to hours, making it a gigantic task to manually test each time. In order to keep up with the pace of change, it is necessary to automate the testing at each step. The test results guide the team in determining whether to progress to the next testing phase, approve the code for deployment to the production environment, or address any issues by identifying and fixing defects and rerunning the automation suite.

Continuous Testing Introduction – Key Features

Continuous testing model today can be deployed right from developer running unit test to Test engineers running a full fledged step wise test execution of Smoke, Functional and regression tests. It’s typically used as a way to ensure that a system is working properly, but it also plays an important role in production environments by providing an early warning system when problems occur. One effective way to achieve this is by integrating a rapid smoke or sanity test suite into the DevOps pipeline, which allows for regular health checks of the application. This also enables the roll-back mechanism to be triggered in the event of any issues, helping to maintain the overall stability and reliability of the system.

In development, continuous testing drives better code quality by eliminating defects before they happen. It also provides more accurate and timely feedback about the quality of software teach stage of development and deployment. Continuous testing allows developers to make changes quickly, with fewer errors, which means fewer bugs will make it into production—and fewer users will encounter them during their use of your product!

Continuous testing helps you maintain quality across all stages of development and delivery by taking advantage of modern tools like automated tests and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD)

Why should Continuous Testing be a part of SDLC?

There are several reasons why continuous testing should be included in your software development lifecycle (SDLC). Continuous testing helps improve quality throughout the entire lifecycle because developers have immediate access to feedback about the quality and can plan a mitigation strategy accordingly.

Some of the key features of Continuous testing include:

• Software tested continuously on the run
• Instant feedback and quality check
• Rapid fixes before the final release
• Shortening and amplification of the feedback loop
• Automation-induced savings in hours
• Builds confidence in stakeholders about the quality of the product
• Quicker decision-making for the next steps based on test results

Bitwise offers best-in-class testing and automation solutions that help businesses increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. We integrate continuous testing into our DevOps pipelines, ensuring that test cases are included at every stage of the pipeline.

Find below some of the top-notch solutions offered by Bitwise for an efficient Continuous Testing approach:

Incorporating automated smoke testing into the Continuous Integration (CI) process helps developers ensure that the code they write is completely stable. We then add regression suites for each stage of development, which allows us to run tests against a specific version of the software at any time during development. This enables us to catch bugs early and quickly identify them as they enter our production environment.

We use virtual machines (VMs) and multiple virtual environments to run smoke and regression tests leading to parallel executions, resulting in optimized quality and velocity while reducing cost and effort.

Achieving continuous testing requires an agile approach, which means that the software is built in such a way that it can be tested with regular updates throughout its lifecycle. Here the system components are constantly being modified and updated to meet new requirements.

Why does Bitwise club Shift Left and Shift Right Approach in Continuous Testing Methodologies?

Our continuous testing model clubbed with our emphasis on the Shift Left approach where QA test cases are leveraged by Development partners to increase unit testing coverage, aimed at ensuring lesser defects are detected during QA functional/regression cycles. The main aim is to ensure the quality of the product is maintained and improved over time.

We pay equal heed to shift / strengthening right, where the emphasis is on Failover, Performance and Security tests for complete Quality Engineering.

We emphasize early detection of defects as a quality strategy. Our strategic quality model combines early defect testing with automation and continuous delivery, to provide high-quality assurance.

Continuous testing is a core competency of Bitwise. Regardless of whether your are building a cloud-based project or an existing legacy system being migrated to the Cloud, Bitwise has focused on continuous testing approaches for enhanced Quality Engineering at every layer of the application – be it Data, API/Service or GUI. This includes custom-built automation accelerators and tools that can be used to ensure quality across all layers of the system.

Bitwise has been an industry leader in the next-gen data-driven digital world for 25+ years. We come with deep expertise in Consulting, Application Delivery and Maintenance. With our IT services, we have helped several start-ups to Fortune 100 companies speed up their time-to-market and deliver high-quality products.

Do you want to know how Bitwise can assist in bringing velocity to your business operations with comprehensive testing solutions? To find out, get in touch with our experts at: Contact-us Page

Amit Grover
Senior Project Manager

Has experience of 13 years working on Test Engineering/Quality Engineering/Quality Assurance projects. Experience in leading variety of custom test automation solutions covering areas like ETL, UI and API test automation aligning with the customer need ranging from Test automation using open source technology, test automation leveraging famous tools in the market inclusive of the non-functional aspects of the applications

Connect on LinkedIn

Janhavi Nichal
Project Manager

14+ years of experience in Test Engineering field across several domain like Payments, Publishing, Health care. Experience in running end-to-end Test Engineering Projects providing Process & Custom Automation solutions across all areas including Data, Middleware, UI.

Connect on LinkedIn

Bitwise offered a comprehensive solution for maintenance and enhancement to the payments giant. This allowed the company to focus on its core business activities, knowing that its payment systems are in safe hands.

A Look at the Challenges Faced by the Client

One of the leading companies in the card payments industry was in need of a cost-optimized solution that would provide 24×7 production coverage with a 99.99% uptime.

The system needed to be supported and maintained, with real-time application performance monitoring from code level to customer experience. Additionally, the system needed to monitor the processing of dispute data for different card brands, as well as the health of business transactions, servers, and databases.

The requirements also included support for infrastructure activities such as certificate renewal, migration, data and code refresh, and general consultation resolution.

This posed a significant challenge for the company, as the system needed to be maintained and supported efficiently to minimize downtime and potential financial losses. Bitwise experts were able to provide an effective solution that met these requirements and delivered outstanding outcomes for the client company.

How did the expert team of Bitwisers provide a comprehensive solution to the payments company?

Bitwise offered a Disputes Management System, an enterprise application deployed on cloud environments. It handles financial transactions and any flaws in the system could also result in financial loss. Some of the most important aspects of this comprehensive solution are given below.

24×7 Production Coverage to Ensure SLA Compliance

24×7 production coverage ensures that systems are monitored and issues are addressed promptly to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs). With this coverage, we provided an efficient solution to avoid financial losses and reduce downtime, so our client can provide a high level of service to its customers. With our AIML model working around the clock, SLAs are met effectively and customers receive the expected level of service.

Reducing Functional and Technical Debt through L1,L2 and L3 Models

Functional and technical debt refers to the accumulated shortcomings in a system that can lead to inefficiencies and increased costs over time. By using the L1, L2 and L3 models, businesses can reduce this debt and improve the overall health of their systems. These models provide a systematic approach to identifying areas of improvement, planning preventative maintenance efforts, and reducing financial impact, manual overhead, and customer experience issues. By continuously focusing on reducing functional and technical debt through these models, we helped our client ensure its systems are efficient, cost-effective, and provide positive customer experience.

Streamlining Card Brand Disputes Monitoring with Custom Dashboards

Card brand disputes can be a tedious and time-consuming process, involving manual reconciliation of data and constant monitoring of critical streams. To address these challenges, we developed custom dashboards to provide real-time monitoring of card brand dispute data. These dashboards not only simplify the process of data reconciliation but also automate support activities, alerts, and critical streams to streamline the entire process. The implementation of our custom dashboards greatly improves the efficiency and accuracy of card brand dispute management. With their user-friendly interface and real-time data updates, these custom dashboards will become an indispensable tool for our client to streamline their card brand dispute processes.

Streamlining Processes with Developed Utilities for Tedious Tasks

Streamlining processes is crucial for improving efficiency and reducing manual effort. Therefore, we developed utilities to automate tedious and on-demand activities that can help teams save time and increase productivity. These utilities can automate tasks such as data entry, report generation, and system monitoring, freeing up team members to focus on higher-value activities. With developed utilities, our client’s team can reduce errors, improve accuracy, and standardize processes.

Preventing Disruptions with an Alert Mechanism to Identify Failure Points

Preventing disruptions in systems and services is crucial for maintaining a high level of availability and avoiding negative impacts on customers. Our effective alert mechanism is designed to identify failure points that can help teams quickly detect and mitigate issues. The alerts can be triggered by specific conditions, such as threshold violations or unexpected behaviour, and are sent to the appropriate team members in real-time.

Keeping a Close Eye on API Health with Custom Dashboards

Monitoring API health is critical for ensuring the smooth operation of systems that rely on APIs. The custom dashboard specifically designed by Bitwise can provide real-time visibility into the performance and status of APIs. The custom dashboard can include key metrics such as response time, error rates, and capacity utilization, and provide alerts for any threshold violations. With a clear and comprehensive view of API health, teams can quickly respond to any issues, proactively maintain the reliability and performance of their API-driven systems, minimize downtime, and ensure a consistent and high-quality user experience.

Maximizing Efficiency through Automation of Regular Support Activities

By leveraging our management system to automate regular support activities such as ticket routing, status updates, and resolution tracking, companies can help streamline these processes and reduce manual effort. Additionally, implementing dashboards and alerts for critical streams can provide real-time visibility into the status of support operations and help identify potential issues before they become major problems.

Using Wiki as a Central Store for all Key Information

With our maintenance system, one of the top-ranked payment companies in the world has a central store for all key information as it is crucial for effective collaboration and information management within a team. Using a Wiki as the central store can provide a single source of truth for everyone in the team, making it easy to access and update information as needed. The Wiki can be used to document processes, policies procedures, and other important information that is relevant to the team’s work. By using it as the central store everyone in the team has access to the latest and most accurate information, which can improve decision-making, reduce duplicated effort, and streamline communication. By implementing it, teams can improve the way they manage information and support each other’s work.

Reducing Financial Losses due to System and Manual Error

In an effort to mitigate financial losses arising from system and manual errors, we implemented a series of automated checks throughout the dispute life cycle. These checks, deployed at critical stages such as Incoming Disputes, Pending Financials, Settlement, and Outgoing Responses to card brands, have yielded several benefits for our clients.

Firstly, by ensuring no case is pending for creation or linking, our clients are better equipped to address disputes in a timely and efficient manner. Additionally, these checks have eliminated the chances of disputes being ignored, which can lead to significant financial losses.

Moreover, the automated checks ensure that decisions and confirmations are being received and linked in a timely manner, thereby reducing the risk of financial loss. By properly balancing cases from a financial standpoint, settlement issues can be avoided altogether.

Overall, our automated checks have not only reduced the potential for financial loss but have also saved valuable manual efforts and mitigated the potential for human error.

Active Collaboration for Priority Issue Resolution

Bitwise offered active collaboration to quickly resolve priority issues by working closely with clients, vendors, and user communities. Our approach involved clear communication, open channels of information exchange, and regular feedback loops. With active collaboration, we can reduce response time, improve the quality of service, and provide a better customer experience. Bitwise builds trust and strengthens relationships, leading to long-term success in resolving priority issues.

Weekly Status Reporting for Higher Management

Weekly status reporting is a crucial tool for higher management to stay informed and up-to-date on the progress of a project or team. It provides a concise overview of key achievements, challenges, and future plans, allowing higher management to make informed decisions and ensure the project stays on track. To streamline the weekly status reporting process, we established a clear structure and format, ensuring that all relevant information is included and presented in a consistent manner.

Bitwise facilitates the creation and distribution of these reports, reducing the time and effort required to compile them. With the help of our weekly status reporting, organizations can provide their higher management with the information they need to make informed decisions and run the project smoothly.

Key Outcomes

• Achieving Real-Time Monitoring of Card Brand Disputes Processing
  With the implementation of Bitwise’s solution, the client company can now have real-time monitoring of the processing of dispute data for four different card brands. This allows for quicker identification of issues and resolution disputes, reducing the potential for financial losses.
• Ensuring System Stability and Application Availability through Continuous Tracking
  The Bitwise solution includes tracking system stability and application availability, ensuring that the Disputes Management System is running optimally at all times. This also helps to identify potential issues before they become problems, reducing downtime and improving the overall customer experience.
• Staying Ahead of Problems with Proactive Alerting
  The solution provides an alert mechanism that identifies failure points, allowing the client to stay ahead of potential problems and minimize the impact of issues on the system This results in a more efficient and effective process for resolving disputes, improving customer satisfaction and educing the potential for financial losses.
• Efficient Monitoring with Custom Dashboards
  Bitwise has developed custom dashboards for the payments company to monitor the health of the Disputes Management System. These dashboards provide real-time monitoring of critical data and alerts, significantly reducing the time spent on monitoring the system.

Active Collaboration for Priority Issue Resolution

Bitwise provided a comprehensive solution to the client’s requirement for maintenance and enhancement of their processes through a Disputes Management System. By offering 24×7 production coverage to meet SLA compliance, we reduced functional and technical debt through L1, L2 and L3 models. We also assisted in streamlining card brand dispute monitoring with custom dashboards, streamlining processes with developed utilities, preventing disruptions with an alert mechanism, and monitoring API health with custom dashboards.

Our experts at Bitwise also helped maximize efficiency through the automation of regular support activities, using a Wiki as a central store for all key information, and active collaboration for priority issue resolution. These solutions helped the Fortune 500 payments company to improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and customer experience of their system.

OVERVIEW

The client partner is a leading provider of payment processing services for merchants, independent organizations and various financial institutions located across the globe. The company offers payment processing solutions for credit and debit cards, gift cards, etc. Being one of the Fortune 1000 companies, the client faced several challenges such as the need for a uniform platform to support and monitor the three-tier application with a Web, Reporting and Database component across various regions globally. The expert team of engineers at Bitwise offered a solution to the client’s challenges, which resulted in improved system stability, additional applications under support with a nominal increase in resource count, improved turnaround time for incidents and end-user requests, and high customer satisfaction.

CLIENT CHALLENGES

The first challenge that the client faced was the need for a uniform platform to support and monitor a three-tier application with web, reporting, and database components. The client operates globally, and their application is used in multiple regions. This means that they needed a platform that can support their application in different regions while maintaining consistency and reliability.

To solve this challenge, the client needed to identify a suitable platform that can provide the necessary support for their application in all regions. They also needed to ensure that the platform is scalable and can handle the load of their application.

The second major challenge was the need to merge the applications of a newly acquired company. This means bringing in all the applications and environments under one umbrella. This was a complex process that required careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth transition and minimal disruption to the business operations during the process.

The third big challenge was the need to cross-train the resources over age-old technology. This means building the expertise required to maintain the application and remove redundancy. The age-old technology may not be supported by the vendor anymore, making it difficult to find resources with the required expertise.

BITWISE SOLUTION

Bitwise offered a solution to the client partner’s challenges, which resulted in improved system stability, additional applications under support with a nominal increase in resource count, improved turnaround time for incidents and end-user requests, and high customer satisfaction.

• The solution involved expanding the existing scope to cover the new applications post-acquisition. The team now supports over 3500 jobs Vs. over 2500 jobs initially, providing additional applications under support with a nominal increase in the resource count.
• Bitwise implemented a training plan focusing on cross-knowledge within the same technology domain, ensuring efficiency and reduced dependency. The training plan allowed the resources to build their expertise in age-old technology, reducing redundancy and improving efficiency.
• Bitwise provided 24×7 end-to-end application support along with onsite on-call support covering US, UK, and APAC regions. The on-call support ensured that any incident or end-user request was addressed promptly, resulting in improved turnaround time and high customer satisfaction.
• Bitwise implemented a process to reduce the IM ticket queue count by closing aged tickets. Additionally, Bitwise introduced a user template for reporting IM for faster turnaround, allowing the resources to address incidents or end-user requests promptly.
• With the handover and warranty support process for new installs, we ensured close coordination with development teams, resulting in improved system stability.
• Our team of Bitwise experts proactively identified job failures and applied permanent fixes, thereby improving system availability. Corrective and preventive actions and measures were put in place, resulting in improved system stability. Bitwise identified 37 process improvements, saving 600 hours and resulting in reduced manual intervention.
• Proactive identification of job failures and applying permanent fixes to improve system availability and implementing corrective and preventive measures to enhance system stability. These measures include automated monitoring, detailed logs, regular testing, system audits, ongoing staff training, and the use of best practices and standards for system design and management. By taking a proactive approach to system management, we prevented downtime, reduced the frequency and impact of disruptions, and improved system reliability and performance.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED

With an in-depth look, we will evaluate the challenges faced by this financial services company in providing effective EDW production support, as well as the solutions implemented to overcome these challenges. We will also examine the various aspects of EDW support, including monitoring, incident management, problem resolution, change management, and release management.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CLIENT

• The client’s Enterprise Data Warehouse serves multiple lines of business, including Campaigns, Payments, Banking, and Rewards. These LOBs required timely and accurate data processing and analysis, putting pressure on the data warehouse to deliver results within tight timelines.
• Due to the high volume of data and complexity of the system, the client was struggling to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the timely delivery of data and analytics. The missed SLAs were having a negative impact on business operations and decision-making.
• The Ab Initio graphs used by the client had grown to over 16,000 in production, and the client needed to ensure that the system could handle this ongoing growth while optimizing’s resource usage.
• The executive committee lacked visibility into the overall status of the project, which made it difficult for them to make informed decisions about resource allocation, budgeting, and timelines.

Overall, these challenges highlighted the need for the client to find ways to optimize their Enterprise Data Warehouse and Ab Initio systems, while also providing better visibility into project status and performance.

BITWISE SOLUTION

• By providing consolidated support, our team ensured round-the-clock availability so that all the business lines are addressed quickly, minimizing the impact on operations.
• With over 16,000 Ab Initio jobs, we maintained and supported client’s complex and extensive data environment efficiently.
• By monitoring job performance and identifying potential issues before they occur, our EDW production support provided early warnings to stakeholders, allowing them to take corrective action before any SLAs were missed.
• By employing automation, we reduced the risk of human error and freed up team members to focus on more critical tasks. It helped the team to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• We created a centralized repository of information that team members can refer to when addressing issues or implementing changes. By building this knowledge base, we helped the team to improve consistency and reduce the risk of errors.
• Over time, data environments can become cluttered with redundant or unnecessary code. By identifying and removing this code, we optimized the client’s system performance and reduced processing time.
• Reporting helps stakeholders to understand how the support team is performing and whether SLAs are being met. By providing detailed reporting, we helped the client by offering transparency and ensuring all stakeholders were aware of support activity and performance.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED