Automation Consultants - Corporate OverviewThe Path to Software Automation

CUSTOMERSAC's customers recognise the need for quality solutions to complex problems. Companies such as BSkyB, HSBC, Invensys, Orange, T-Mobileand Vodafone regularly rely on AC's expertise.

Founded in 2000, Automation Consultants (AC) is an IT

services and software company with a mission to

improve the quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness

of IT systems development through automation.

AC helps companies optimise their business performance and customer service by employing

automation to the fullest appropriate extent. In this way AC enables its customers to increase

productivity and reduce cost.

Whether you require expert advice on the automation of a specific business process, require automated

test services, or have a bespoke software development project, AC has the right solution for you.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPSAs an expert in the IT services and software arena, AC has carefully selected a number of strategic partners to enhance its portfolio ofservices and products. AC partners, and companies with which AC is closely aligned, include:

CONSULTING SERVICESAC provides consulting services across the whole software development lifecycle. Withinany particular IT project, the software development and deployment process can bedivided into discrete stages:

AC identifies which stages may potentially be automated and advises the best way toautomate these. Once the customer has chosen what to automate, AC offersconsultancy to help select the most suitable tools and processes to implement theautomation and execute the project.

For software that has already been developed, AC provides a third-party automatedtesting service. AC specialises in providing this for mission-critical IT systems designed for large user populations.

TESTING SERVICESIn today's competitive businessenvironment, regular software andhardware upgrades are essential for acompany to maintain its competitiveposition. Fast, efficient and cost-effectivetesting of new and upgraded systems istherefore also essential. AC providescomprehensive functional and performancetest services for testing mission-critical ITsystems. This is done using industrystandard automated test tools and AC'sbespoke test harnesses.

AC's testing expertise includes:Functional Testing

• Test management including testimplementation, strategy andplanning

• Manual and automated test scripting• Automated test execution• Development of functional regression

test suites using automated test tools• User acceptance testing

Non-Functional Testing• Performance and load testing using

automated test tools• Batch testing• Resilience testing: Failover, backup,

disaster recovery strategies

• Systems management testing• Operations testing• Security testing• Bespoke test harness development

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTAC develops and deploys advancedsoftware products to improve businessperformance and customer service.

Call Data GeneratorIn the highly competitive mobile telecomsmarket, increasing demands are beingplaced on the billing systems that supportthe core business of network operators.Competitive advantage depends on beingable to roll out new services into themarketplace rapidly. Billing systems must becontinuously upgraded to support thesenew services, and each billing system

AC provides comprehensive

functional and performance

test services for testing

mission-critical IT systems

upgrade must be thoroughly tested beforebeing deployed. As new services andtechnologies are becoming available, thecomplexity of mobile call data is increasing,calling for greater testing expertise. Creatingtest call data manually is costly and error-prone, and it is often not possible to createthe large volumes of realistic data requiredfor performance testing. AC has developedthe Call Data Generator, a product thatautomates the creation of test data, to:

• Increase the precision and quality of testing by generating test data sets which accurately emulateproduction usage

• Give a substantial saving in time andcost in creating test data. This isespecially useful in performancetesting, where large volumes of testdata are needed

Bespoke Software Solutions In addition to the Call Data Generator,AC has developed a portfolio of softwaretools for automated testing. These products include:

• Automated call generation software• Citrix function libraries for load testing• Software licensing utility• Batch process analysis software for

billing systems• GPRS load injector• UAT configuration management

software• Automated user registration software

for web-based CRM systems• J2EE test harnesses for 3G products

PRODUCTION PERFORMANCEMONITORINGAC has significant experience in measuringand monitoring the performance of criticalbusiness systems in production, to ensurethat they are operating to service levelagreements. AC sets up industry-standardmonitoring tools which can identifyproblems even before they happen toprevent application downtime. AC pridesitself on configuring these tools to worknot only with modern systems but alsowith difficult legacy applications.

CONTACT US

Head Office:

Automation Consultants Ltd. Field Farm Barn, Sulhamstead Hill, Sulhamstead, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4DA

Tel: +44 (0) 1189 323 001 • Fax: +44 (0)1189 323 003 • Email: info@automation-consultants.com • Web: www.automation-consultants.com

About Automation Consultants

Founded in 2000, Automation Consultants (AC) is an IT services and software company with a mission is to improve the quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness of IT systems development through

automation. Committed to helping companies optimise their business performance and customer service, AC develops and deploys advanced software automation solutions. Customers include

BSkyB, HSBC, Invensys, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone. For more information, please contact www.automation-consultants.com or call +44 (0) 1189 323 001