Shifting Left. How Automation Transformed Software Quality
Organisation moved from reactive testing to proactive quality engineering
80%
Reduction in critical software errors
No major investment required
THE CHALLENGE
Laying the groundwork for quality at speed
A global telecoms provider was struggling with a traditional waterfall development model across a large-scale telco stack, spanning 30–50 systems, 1,500 developers and 300 manual testers.
Testing was happening too late in the process, resulting in major quality issues and excessive pressure on testing teams during shor
between siloed components were being discovered far too late, consuming much of the allocated testing time and delaying delivery.
The client engaged Catapult to “move the pain left”, enabling earlier, more effective testing through automation and cross-team coordination.
THE SOLUTION
Enabling continuous delivery at scale
To support a shift to continuous delivery, Catapult designed and implemented a lightweight, scalable test automation and integration strategy, including:
– Synchronised sprint planning across component teams to ensure shared scenarios were tested at the end of every two-week sprint
– Embedded test planning within teams so testers could develop meaningful incremental tests early
– Automated integration tests covering high-risk scenarios and common failure points
– Automation of document control, data preparation and defect isolation to accelerate root cause analysis and reduce manual effort
By interlocking development cycles and automating key parts of the testing process, Catapult enabled early and repeatable testing at scale, reducing reliance on late-stage firefighting.
THE RESULTS
80% drop in critical errors
The results achieved unlocked major impact. Catapult’s approach dramatically improved software quality without additional investment or headcount.
– 80% reduction in critical (P1/P2) software errors over 12 months.
– Significant increase in lower-priority defect detection, as testers were freed up to focus on deeper quality assurance.
– No major investment required. The improvement was achieved using existing teams and infrastructure.
– Shifted the organisation from reactive testing to proactive quality engineering, laying the groundwork for continuous delivery at scale.
