Xerius is a group of organizations that operate a business counter, a social insurance fund, a mutual insurance association and an approved payer of the My Family growth package (the former child benefit). The enterprise counter provides businesses with administrative support when they start, change or cease operations. The Social Insurance Fund protects and supports more than 175,000 self-employed persons and business managers. The Mutual Insurance Association specializes in supplementary social insurance for the self-employed and My Family takes care of the payment of the starting amount and the growth package for families. Xerius is headquartered in Antwerp and the organization has 370 employees, 55 of whom work in the IT department.
Need for efficiency, structure and professionalism arount testing
Before the arrival of Brightest, Xerius needed more efficiency, structure and professionalism when it came to testing. Most of it was done manually and unstructured, test automation was not properly thought through and was implemented far too early.
The cooperation started with an audit of the organization on testing and quality, a Brightscan. Brightest examined how software quality was organized at Xerius and where the pain points were. They provided a comprehensive report with solutions and a roadmap to fix them. Brightest was then given a GO to effectively implement and roll out these solutions, and this is how our good cooperation started.
Phase 1: Shift Left
Business unit manager Joke Gijsbrechts started this assignment by introducing the Shift Left principle to bring structure and efficiency within the agile development teams regarding testing & quality. The business/POs were also closely involved. In a later phase of the project, together with colleague Frederique De Winter, she restarted the implementation of test automation. As a customer, you immediately notice the expertise they have in-house.
We chose Brightest because of their specific expertise in software testing and quality.
Dirk De Bast
CIO of Xerius
The choice of Brightest as a partner
“The choice of Brightest as a partner was primarily made based on their specific expertise in software testing and quality. In addition, their approach is also very much in line with my personal vision in terms of implementing new technologies and way of working. As a CIO, I am looking for a partner/supplier that helps and supports me through the whole process”, says Dirk De Bast, CIO of Xerius. Joke Gijsbrechts started by creating a good foundation, even if it meant taking a few steps back by pausing Brightest test automation implementation, among other things. Then follow-up steps were taken in a phased and controlled manner, which ultimately allowed us to move forward faster and more efficiently than would have been possible before. In short, Brightest supports you from A to Z.
To sum up Brightest in 1 word or sentence: top professional
“If I had to summarize my cooperation with Brightest in 1 word or sentence, it would be top professional. We have one contact person to whom we can turn with all questions, communication is consequently very smooth”, says Dirk De Bast. Xerius and Brightest are riding the same wave, making software quality a priority.