Software Quality Systems AG

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Software Quality Systems AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as LSE:  SQS
Industry Information technology
Founded1982;37 years ago (1982)
FounderHeinz Bons, Rudolf van Megen
Headquarters
Cologne
,
Germany
Key people
  • Diederik Vos, CEO
  • René Gawron, CFO
  • Ralph Gillessen, COO
  • Martin Hodgson, Executive Director Management Consulting
  • David Bellin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Products Software testing
Managed services
RevenueIncrease2.svg €320.7 million (2015)
Number of employees
4,600 (2015) [1]
Website www.sqs.com

SQS rebranded to Expleo on 6 February 2019. [2]

SQS Software Quality Systems AG is a consultancy company based in Cologne, Germany. The company describes itself as the largest independent provider of software testing and Quality Managed services. It provides end-to-end business process quality assurance for software based systems.

Cologne city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth most populous city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. With slightly over a million inhabitants within its urban area, Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the Rhineland. Centred on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas.

Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the software product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software implementation. Test techniques include the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding software bugs, and verifying that the software product is fit for use.

Managed services is the practice of outsourcing on a proactive basis certain processes and functions intended to improve operations and cut expenses. It is an alternative to the break/fix or on-demand outsourcing model where the service provider performs on-demand services and bills the customer only for the work done.

Contents

The SQS Group was founded in Cologne in 1982 and has approximately 4,600 employees. SQS maintains offices in Germany, the UK, the USA, Australia, Egypt, Finland, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and the UAE. In addition, SQS maintains a minority stake in a company in Portugal.

In 2015, SQS generated revenues of €320.7 million. SQS is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) and has a second listing on the Open Market on Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt.

London Stock Exchange Stock exchange in the City of London

London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London, England. As of April 2018, London Stock Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$4.59 trillion. It was founded in 1571, making it one of the oldest exchanges in the world. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. It is part of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995. It allows smaller, less-viable companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market.

Deutsche Börse AG or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to global capital markets. It is a joint stock company and was founded in 1993. The headquarters are in Frankfurt. As of December 2010, the over 765 companies listed had a combined market capitalization of EUR 1.4 trillion. On 1 October 2014, Deutsche Börse AG became the 14th announced member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative.

Business activities

The company's main business activities involve the provision of products and services within the scope of software quality assurance, software quality management and software testing. All services form part of a consultancy concept that covers the entire software lifecycle. Further SQS services include managed testing services, management services for the long-term outsourcing, offshoring and homeshoring of software tests, tool solutions[ buzzword ] and high end engineering in test systems and embedded systems. The company particularly focuses on the following activities: test management, test environment analysis, internet and web testing, SAP system testing, test asset management, health checks, performance and load tests and test automation. By taking on the role of an independent quality manager, SQS assesses existing testing processes and provides recommendations and solutions[ buzzword ] that are tailored to specific customer requirements.

Software quality assurance (SQA) consists of a means of monitoring the software engineering processes and methods used to ensure quality. The methods by which this is accomplished are many and varied, and may include ensuring conformance to one or more standards, such as ISO 9000 or a model such as CMMI. It is a set of methods that try to ensure the quality of all projects in the software process. This includes standards and procedures that administrators may use to review and audit software products and activities to verify that the software meets standards. According to ISO/IEC 15504 v.2.5 (SPICE), it is a supporting process that has to provide the independent assurance in which all the work products, activities and processes comply with the predefined plans and ISO 15504.

Software quality management (SQM) is a management process that aims to develop and manage the quality of software in such a way so as the best ensure the product meets the quality standards expected by the customer while also meeting any necessary regulatory and developer requirements, if any. Software quality managers require software to be tested before it is released to the market, and they do this using a cyclical process-based quality assessment in order to reveal and fix bugs before release. Their job is not only to ensure their software is in good shape for the consumer but also to encourage a culture of quality throughout the enterprise.

Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity that is or could be done internally, and sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another.

The company operates in many different business fields, including banking, finance, insurance, automotive & manufacturing, retail & logistics, telecommunications, gambling, energy & utilities and public sector.

Bank financial institution

A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates credit. Lending activities can be performed either directly or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial stability of a country, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.

Finance Academic discipline studying businesses and investments

Finance is a field that is concerned with the allocation (investment) of assets and liabilities over space and time, often under conditions of risk or uncertainty. Finance can also be defined as the art of money management. Participants in the market aim to price assets based on their risk level, fundamental value, and their expected rate of return. Finance can be split into three sub-categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance.

Insurance equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another in exchange for payment

Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.

SQS clients include Barclays, BP, Credit Suisse, Daimler, Deutsche Post AG, Dresdner Bank, Eurobet, Eurogate, MessageLabs, Phoenics, T-Mobile, T-Systems and Zurich Group. It counts half of the DAX 30, nearly a third of the STOXX 50, and 20% of the FTSE 100 companies in its client base.

Barclays British multinational banking and financial services company

Barclays plc is a British multinational investment bank and financial services company, headquartered in London. Apart from investment banking, Barclays is organised into four core businesses: personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management, and investment management.

BP British multinational oil and gas company

BP plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the world's seven oil and gas "supermajors", whose performance in 2012 made it the world's sixth-largest oil and gas company, the sixth-largest energy company by market capitalization and the company with the world's 12th-largest revenue (turnover). It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has renewable energy interests in biofuels and wind power.

Credit Suisse Swiss multinational banking institution

Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the eight global "Bulge Bracket" banks providing services in investment banking, private banking, asset management, and shared services. Credit Suisse is known for its strict bank–client confidentiality and banking secrecy practices.

Another important facet of the company’s business activities is its education division, in particular its courses for the ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualification Board) and ISEB (Information Systems Examination Board), HP Tools Training, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Training and practical and specialist test courses including Agile Testing, Performance Testing, Test Analysis, Test Management and Test Automation. The ‘iqnite’ conference is among the leading quality management conferences. [1] [ failed verification ]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Company Profile". SQS. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. ↑ https://expleogroup.com/news/assystem-technologies-becomes-expleo/
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