Background
Testhouse were selected as a preferred EMEA ‘inner circle’ partner at the launch of Visual Studio in 2005. We have since been awarded Microsoft Visual Studio Gold ALM Partner status in recognition of our numerous consultancy and training engagements in both Europe, the Middle East, India and North America.
Since then we have continued to work closely with Microsoft ALM team and our technical competence and customer testimonials have led to recognition and an increasing level of assignments around the world.
What the partner brings to the table
Microsoft is now one of the leading providers of an ALM suite of tools. It has benefited from its strong developer network and consolidated its position through the move to agile methodologies to a toolset truly supports developers, testers, BA’s and project managers (particularly those who have a string slant towards Microsoft technologies).
How Testhouse uses the partnership to provide niche services
We have a number of ALM and DevOps accredited consultants who can provide expertise around both VSTS and Team Foundation Server (TFS). We also provided managed services around their toolset, training and seminars on behalf of Microsoft and were also the leading provider of Developer Tools Deployment Planning Services (part of the software assurance benefits scheme) in 2015/16.
Our core areas of specialism in terms of Microsoft’s ALM toolset are as follows:
Microsoft Test Manager (MTM)
A dedicated tool for manual testers.
Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS)
Team Foundation Server is the Microsoft ALM tool for managing the development of applications. It has a strong integration with Visual Studio.
VSTS, formally known as Visual Studio Online (VSO), is the cloud version of TFS.
Visual Studio Release Management
With the Build capability of TFS/VSTS and Release Management, Microsoft provides a DevOps capability for Visual Studio users but also for any other third party tools.
Coded UI
Part of Visual Studio Enterprise, Coded UI is an Automated Functional Testing tool.
Web & Load
Also part of Visual Studio Enterprise, Web & Load is a tool that enables Performance Testing of any web-based application.
Coupled with test agents, users can generate an unlimited load against their application. Using VSTS, this capability is made available via the cloud using Virtual User minutes.
Developer Tools Deployment Planning Services (DTDPS)
Being a Gold ALM partner, Testhouse can deliver DTDPS engagements. These engagements are used for helping clients assess their maturity level in regards to Quality Tools, TFS, Agile and DevOps.
See our one pager DTDPS website for further details.
Tools Extensibility
With the experience we acquired through the various testing engagements with our clients, we have developed a unique IP around Coded UI and Web & Load.
We can help you with our internally developed Coded UI Framework and also the various Performance Testing plugins we have at our disposal.
How can a potential client benefit from this
Our clients are typically using a fraction of the overall capabilities that Visual Studio and TFS can provide them. Testhouse help them unlock this potential (often through Deployment Planning Services to avoid any cost to the customer) and can also ensure that they are kept up to date with the latest advances via our regular Microsoft events and webinars. We have also built our own intellectual property around the Microsoft toolset to extend the capability of Visual Studio and enhance its relevance to testers.
Testimonials & Case Studies
We are proud to continue to be a Microsoft Gold Partner for TFS and Visual Studio. For more information of our partnership and service offerings within Visual Studio, please visit our Microsoft microsite.