Specialists in software QA rescue & coaching

At all organisational levels.
​For as long as you need us ... and no longer.

HIRE US!

About us

What we do

Assess, coach and mentor in software quality, providing tangible results for as long as you need us.

Who we are

50 years of learning and delivering high quality outcomes in all industries and development methodologies.

Why we do it

Software projects commonly suffer from a sub-optimum delivery approach and we enjoy bringing them back on track.

Why use us

We right your ship, equip you with a sustainable approach, and then move on, checking back in from time to time as required.

How we operate

Fractional leadership, coaching, and mentoring to all levels - executives, managers, individual contributors.

What we will NOT do

We will not 'land and expand' or stay forever, or automate all your testing, or recommend you hire an army of SDET's.

Our mission

"Reduce risk and improve the approach to software product quality."

How we can help

Quality Strategy

Define or re-define your product quality strategy.

Quality Rescue

Fix a broken quality team or product.

Continuous Improvement

Fresh ideas as your product landscape evolves.

Quality Hiring

Help find the right QA people.

Our beliefs

Whilst technology choices very much have a part to play in building quality products, what is fundamental to success is:

• the clear, unambiguous definition of what the product is and why there is value in building it.
• the detailed understanding of how best to produce it, and why
• the awareness from everyone about what to do when the unexpected occurs
• the flexibility of process and practice to be able to pivot based on new information
• the communication that ensures everyone is clear on their role and the role of others

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In our experience, the state of these fundamentals are generally what hampers progress in a team and organisation, and limits their ability to build products that customers will value long-term. 

We help clients discover how their organisation operates with respect to product quality, and where and how it can change to improve the outcome for their staff and end users.

What you'll discover about us

We respect the other QA/test consultancies in the industry; we do differentiate from them though :-

• We won’t automate all your tests for you.
• We won’t hire a new QA department for you and let them handle all your concerns about quality.
• We won’t supply a new tool and sign you up to an annual subscription.
• We won’t stay (what seems like) forever, we hope to make ourselves redundant to you asap.
• We will only advocate Continuous Delivery and deploying to production after every commit if we are convinced that is what your business needs.

Our view is that :-

• We will provide you with a view of your organisation’s approach to quality that you can understand, measure and track.
• We will help your people all become aware of product quality, what affects it, and how they can contribute to improving it.
• We will coach and advise such that your people can quickly lead on quality improvements.
• We will stop when you want us to stop, not when a contract has run its course.
• We will be there as little or as often as you choose.
• We will wipe our shoes on the way in and close the door on the way out 🙂

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Who we are

Kenny Cruden

Director

Bringing Kenny into your organisation exposes it to a rare wealth of experience of software QA and testing. With 27+ years in the industry, Kenny has worked with every size of organisation, and across a multitude of industries. 
Early in his career he worked in programmes using the waterfall methodology, alongside various ISO standards. For the subsequent 20 years he has learned and now enables and coaches from CXO level down using agile methodologies and iterative software development, fitting InfoSec and Regulatory Compliance in as well. 
From public to private sector, telecoms to medical industries, he is adept at building quality into existing practices and processes, minimising disruption along the way.

Stephen Brown

Director

Steve will enrich your organisation with 25+ years' testing, quality, and engineering experience.  Having held most technical and non-technical roles in software quality, Steve has also managed agile Software Engineering teams.  
Wide-ranging industry and software methodology exposure equips Steve to quickly add value to your organisation.
With a penchant for team ways of working that includes foreign languages, team dynamics, coaching, continuous improvement, and psychological safety, he has great impact on the adoption of enduring team improvements.