Qentinel provides Comptel with much-needed DevOps metods
Software provider Comptel wanted to migrate its portfolio of products and solutions to a DevOps-based environment and DevOps metods. Qentinel’s professional services and extensive knowledge of DevOps methods ensured a rapid start to agile development processes. The end result was a universally functional product- and platform-agnostic environment.
Comptel is a software provider that develops a range of background applications for teleoperators. These supporting applications are used for purposes such as producing data for the telecommunications network which, when enriched, can be used for making informed business decisions.
“Our products help teleoperators perform functions such as finding the right target groups for their campaigns or perhaps creating completely new products that customers want to purchase,” says Comptel VP, Research and Development Nina Laaksonen.
Expert assistance
In 2015, the company received funding from the Finnish state innovation funding agency Tekes for a research project that would revamp its software technology. The goal was to find and create for a cloud environment, suitable methods for product development, testing and delivery to customers. In practice, Comptel wanted to create the kind of metods and DevOps-based environment and software development pipeline that would unite all of the firm’s products.
“The Tekes funding also offered us the opportunity to include external experts. We [chose to] bring Qentinel on board to collaborate on developing a functional DevOps system in a cloud environment,” Laaksonen adds.
“We have many skilled and experienced testers in-house, but we didn’t have experience with DevOps methods. We decided to turn to professionals for help. We got three Qentinel experts to assist us; each of whom had their own role,” explains Comptel Senior Manager Eliina Vornanen.
Off to a quick and productive start
Comptel wanted to use DevOps methodologies to free itself from product and platform dependencies. The company aimed to develop an environment that was as scalable and easy to maintain as possible, that could support all current and future cloud technologies. Qentinel mapped out a project plan and defined what each stage entailed and what needed to be done.
“I think it is good that the project involved the kinds of consultants who had experience with many different DevOps tools that could be quickly taken into use. The most important aspect of this project for us was Qentinel’s extensive proficiency with these tools,” notes Tuomas Nikkilä, a test architect and Product Owner with Comptel’s DevOps development team.
“We immediately identified the right people to meet the demands of the project. We were able to begin productive work very quickly. We quickly became confident that the Qentinel consultants knew what they were doing,” Nikkilä adds.
“We did what we set out to accomplish”
Qentinel’s experts were involved in the project for a total of 18 months up to 2017. The team accomplished the project goals and the end result was what Comptel set out to achieve. The DevOps pipeline was finalized in short time and the first customer deliveries have been successfully completed. The overall cooperation with Qentinel was open, direct and straightforward.
“We did what we set out to accomplish. Without Qentinel’s assistance we would not have come this far,” Laaksonen says.
“Our primary objective was for DevOps to work as generically as possible without having to commit to delivering only a certain kind of cloud service. All our solutions needed to work in different environments and different platforms. This idea has worked out extremely well,” Vornanen adds.
“I would definitely work with Qentinel in the future as well. I’m very pleased with what we got in the time frame that was used, as well as how we got there. I can’t be anything but happy,” Laaksonen stresses.
Read how to find and use of leading indicators in DevOps:
Finding the no-nonsense DevOps metrics
