Sweeping DevSecOps/Agile Transformation Galvanizes Release Velocity for a Healthcare Leader  

Client overview 

The Client is a leading US-based provider of innovative data analytics and technology-enabled cost-management solutions to the healthcare payor system. Headquartered in New York City, the company has a workforce of more than 2,600. As the trusted partner of 700 million healthcare payors in the commercial health, government and property & casualty markets, our Client identifies over $22 billion in savings annually.  

New rules need a new game plan, and fast  

The release of the No Surprises Act (NSA) upended the healthcare industry with new regulations and patient protections. To gain compliance and stay competitive, our Client urgently needed to speed up release velocity for features, upgrades and products. Knowing traditional software development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies would be too slow and cumbersome for the challenge, the Client was ready for change. They hired three different vendors at three separate times to come up with a faster, more agile solution, but all efforts failed.  

Qualitest had enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the Client for 6 years, consistently delivering Quality Assurance services with positive outcomes. During that period, our company had been moving beyond testing towards shift-left principles, adopting an automation-first mindset and incorporating DevSecOps transformation—DevOps with integrated security engineering–and Agile practices. In the past, our services were part of the Client’s end-of-cycle testing; now we were ready to help build something new from the beginning.  

“[Qualitest’s] Agile coaching has gotten great reviews. The application teams have been well prepared for and excited by the transition. Great job on presenting and implementing the concepts of DevSecOps and QE.”   
— Client SVP  

Changing minds, shifting left 

We assembled an expert team who had topnotch technology skills, knew the healthcare domain and understood organizational culture and change dynamics.  Constant, close collaboration between the Qualitest and Client teams informed the project every step of the way and helped instill the mindset shift needed to overcome some initial resistance to change.  

We started with the joint development of a plan prioritizing investment in senior tech talent, upskilling of current staff and identifying the right tools towards technology transformation. 

• We brought in tech leaders, including DevSecOps evangelists and Agile coaches, to rehaul the Client’s development framework.    
• We enlisted automation experts to upskill the Client’s existing team towards continuous automation. The workforce transformation programs to upskill were governed by a robust change management initiative. 
• The Qualitest teams formed strategic partnerships with Client teams to expedite the release cycle. Key to this initiative was the introduction of a “shift-left” approach, which emphasized early action and intervention to foster transformation in development, testing and operations across the enterprise. 

“Qualitest has been a true partner in implementing and rolling out our DevSecOps transformation.”  
— Client CIO  

Key benefits  

The result of extensive Qualitest-Client collaboration was a seamless Agile transformation and DevSecOps adoption that met the Client’s original goals and went beyond. It addressed widespread internal skepticism on adoption of Agile methodologies and established an Agile mindset and cultural shift across the organization. This organization-level approach was critical in building the delivery transformation that continues to reap positive outcomes for the Client through quicker, more adaptive responses to market demands. It also assured continuous improvement with the installation of Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines and implementation of NextGen automation technologies.  

• Release velocity increased 600% over 12 months. 
• In-sprint automation increased 60%.  
• DevSecOps adoption was accelerated by 200%. 
• Operational costs were cut in half as productivity increased 3x. 
• 150 engineers were upskilled over 12 months, creating a ready-made workforce trained in repeatable DevSecOps solutions for sustainable transformation. 
• Shift-left accelerated release pace and lowered costs, as earlier defect detection left fewer defects to be found and fixed at later, costlier stages. 
•  7 configurable/flexible CI/CD pipelines were installed, automatically initiating testing as part of code checking, ensuring testing is continuous and quality improvements built into the earliest stages. 

Today the Qualitest team supporting the Client has collaborated on solutions that focus on building and enabling Agile, DevSecOps, Digital Engineering and Quality Engineering capabilities.