Georgia Lottery Corporation

Business Need

The Georgia Lottery hosts multiple websites including a player portal where people living in Georgia can purchase lottery tickets. The organization wants to make using online lottery applications as easy as possible. This includes facilitating the purchase of lottery tickets as well as having winnings directly deposited into customer bank accounts.

To meet this need, an internal team of 15 software developers builds applications using a JAVA front-end that connects to a Microsoft SQL database. To help the team build and update website applications, management wanted to improve and automate two key processes:

• The management of application requirements, tests and defects
• The ability to create and run automated tests on website applications

“Testing application usability and each application’s ability to stand-up under heavy usage are paramount to the success of our websites,” says Robert Lamb, Sr. Gaming & Quality Assurance Specialist for the Georgia Lottery Corporation. “Previously, we relied on a manual approach for both of these functions, but we wanted to find a way to automate both processes for testing our applications from the as they are used by customers from the top four browsers.”

GLC also hoped to gain the ability to make changes on the fly and report back on the defects to the application development team. To take on this challenge, GLC first tried to create its own custom tool but got bogged down spending hours on making development changes. The testing needs quickly outgrew the capability of the tool. 

Targeted Solution

At a software industry conference, GLC met the team from Nous Infosystems, one of the leading global IT service providers and a front-runner in delivering quality technology solutions to customers across varied industry domains. To solve the challenges of managing application requirements, tests and defects and to gain the ability to create and run automated tests on website applications, Nous Infosystems recommended GLC take a good look at two solutions from SmartBear: QAComplete and TestComplete Web:

• QAComplete provides comprehensive software test management capabilities along with centralized reporting across manual, API and automated tests. Software development teams also gain the ability to manage, plan, organize and execute all test cases and defects associated with any application release or user story in one single place.
• TestComplete Web helps software developers create automated functional tests for websites, web apps, and mobile web applications. The solution also allows development teams to create robust web tests from multiple browsers within a short amount of time while minimizing needless repetition by performing cross-browser testing with simple, one-step scripts.

To ensure GLC deployed the best automated testing tools, Robert also considered other solutions such as Ranorex, HP Quality Center, ExactTest and Bugzilla. “We wanted the complete package at a cost-effective price,” Robert explains. “After considering all of our choices, we determined that the two SmartBear solutions work better together and offer the perfect balance. The other solutions we considered were either priced too high or did not provide sufficient functionality.”

The demo that the Nous Infosystems team provided also played a big role—allowing GLC to clearly see the value the two SmartBear solutions deliver. “Nous Infosystems gave us an overview of how QAComplete and TestComplete Web function, and from there, we were able to train ourselves using the tutorials that come with the applications,” Robert explains. “Our team finds both solutions very intuitive to pick up.”

Benefits and Results

Before deploying SmartBear QAComplete and TestComplete, the Georgia Lottery released one or two software updates per quarter. But after the deployment, this number jumped to 10 or more releases per quarter—a 5X increase.

“These numbers show just how much the SmartBear solutions have accelerated our development processes,” says Robert. “Gaining the ability to roll out new apps and features faster is critical in today’s online marketplace—end users always want to see new capabilities in the way they interact with our lottery games. If they keep seeing the same functionality all the time, they’re likely to get bored and take their business elsewhere. In that sense, the SmartBear solutions help us maintain market share and keep up with the online gaming market.”

QAComplete and TestComplete Web are helping the GLC development team test applications for mobile devices as well as applications for public-facing webinars that help customers understand how to interact with various lottery games. The team also develops and tests applications that help retailers offer lottery games to their customers.

The two SmartBear solutions, working better together, have also assisted GLC in converting from a Waterfall development environment to an Agile development environment. This accommodates two-week sprints that generate software updates faster.

“With all of our applications, we want to be innovative and offer lottery experiences for customers and retailers that go beyond the lotteries of the past,” Robert points out. “The way to achieve this is through mobile apps and websites that evolve continuously and quickly so players keep coming back. That means generating more releases through application sprints, and to do this, you need testing tools like those offered by SmartBear.”

Business Challenges

• Manage application requirements, tests and defects more efficiently.
• Create and run automated tests on website applications.
• Test application usability and the ability to stand-up under heavy usage.
• Accelerate the rate at which new application features are deployed.

SmartBear QAComplete and TestComplete Web Solutions

• Provides comprehensive software test management capabilities.
• Offers centralized reporting across manual, API and automated tests.
• Delivers the ability to manage, plan, organize and execute test cases and defects in one single place.
• Creates automated functional tests for websites, web apps, and mobile web applications.
• Allows development teams to create robust web tests from multiple browsers.
• Minimizes repetition by performing cross-browser testing with simple, one-step scripts.

Measurable Results

• Expedites testing of web and mobile applications for customers and retail partners.
• Accelerates the overall software development process.
• Increases application roll outs by 5X—from two per quarter to 10 per quarter.
• Helps keep up with demand of lottery customers who want access to new features.
• Facilitates transformation from Waterfall to Agile development environment.