SQS India: The Testing Specialist Date:   Wednesday , August 28, 2013 Testing is one of the larger areas in India for many IT companies. Even though there are a host of uncertainties in the American and European markets and the IT industry in general is under pressure, testing has always done relatively well because it is an indispensable procedure that companies cannot let go of. The industry is on an upward growth trajectory and leading the game are pioneering companies such as SQS India, a subsidiary of SQS, a publically listed testing German company which is a global leader in independent testing. The 500+ employee strength company provides value-added software testing activities that include functional, performance, automation, security and system testing as well as project management. Based in Pune, SQS India is headed by Gireendra Kasmalkar (Giri), MD & CEO. The company came into being when Giri’s successful independent testing company VeriSoft was acquired by SQS in July 2008. The combined capabilities of the global leader and Giri’s company have built an organization that specializes in testing including the entire breadth and length of testing. “We do not restrict ourselves to any specific technology stack and have projects going on various platforms,” explains Giri. SQS as a group is focused on enterprise customers however SQS India additionally specializes in product companies. Their customers have some of the largest names in banking, insurance, retail and logistics, energy, utilities, telecom and manufacturing verticals. “Looking at these verticals you will see that it is not a technology play at all, it’s the testing specialization and methodologies, formal processes that we bring to the table and depending on the customers we are ready to serve them with that,” explains Giri. Standing out of the Crowd SQS India partners with Siemens’s PLM software Teamcenter, a world leading product. With their work on the product SQS left a lasting impression on Siemens and today they are global partners. “They actually promote us to their customers. We are the only partner they mention in keynotes at global conferences,” adds the CEO. SQS India is also a rather well known name in the game testing arena. Working for clients as big as Warner Brothers, the company has worked on the very famous ‘Batman: The Arkham City’. The credits mention every member of the SQS team who worked on the project. SQS has been highly innovative in the way they deliver their services as well. “We have a Test Automation FaQtory, a trademark term. The idea was to deliver highly scalable automation to our customers. We created an assembly line with different skill sets making sure the business experts do not have to do automation and automation experts were able to work even without business expertise,” says a proud Giri. SQS India is unlike any other Indian testing company as it has a strong onshore presence in the European market. The company has grown tremendously so far but Giri believes that the real growth is about to come. The company currently has a lot of strength onsite which brings with itself domain knowledge, program management, project management and credibility with the customer. Unlike other Indian companies who predominantly focus on offshore, SQS offers an optimal onshore-offshore mix. The company plans to leverage the same and is slated to see more success in the years to come.