NieuweStroom builds a quality culture with Polteq
When NieuweStroom was founded 13 years ago, no accounting package existed that could handle invoicing for dynamic energy contracts. “That was a huge challenge, because the energy price changes every fifteen minutes, while customers consume energy continuously,” says Siem Simonis, Chief Technology Officer at NieuweStroom. “Even so, every invoice has to be accurate at the end of the month.
“So we developed our own application in Excel and kept building on it. Eventually we had a database and a .NET application, but the organization was growing fast and the software couldn’t keep up. Invoices went out late and were often incorrect. That hurt the satisfaction of customers and employees alike, and it hit us financially.
“In 2023, we asked Polteq, an expert in software quality and testing, to take a look at the situation. Their assessment and coaching showed that testing was not sufficiently embedded in the way we worked. There were no clear testing roles, and we had no test manager or test coordinator. We realized that testing is part of the entire Software Development Lifecycle.
End-to-end testen
“Our testing covers functional, end-to-end, integration, and user interface testing. In addition, we’ve introduced unit testing, exploratory testing, and UX testing, among other things, and automated our API tests. End-to-end testing is important because our systems are closely interconnected. A change in one place can have consequences elsewhere. Streamlining the process frees up room to stay ahead of new defects.
“Above all, Polteq brought about a change in our software developers’ mindset. Before, the thinking might have been: ‘It works, so it’s fine.’ Now testing starts before any software is built. What exactly does the software need to achieve, and how are we going to verify that? After that, we also test whether users can actually work with the new functionality.
Quality culture
“Our developers don’t just check whether something works, but also whether a new development causes regression somewhere else. That’s how a quality culture took root, and you can clearly see it in practice. Now it actually stands out when a customer reports that something is wrong. We only have a handful of incidents a year. Polteq’s contribution has increased customer satisfaction, but also job satisfaction across the organization, from customer service to programmers.”
Simonis adds: “At the same time, testing isn’t a project you ever finish. Adding a tester won’t solve problems overnight. It’s a cyclical process in which you’re constantly looking for ways to raise quality further. That’s why a long-term partnership with Polteq matters. The testers know our organization, our systems, and our market, and they’re part of the team. Testing reveals where the software development process can improve. As a structural part of software development, testing safeguards quality.”
