Automating Quality Assurance for Regulatory Compliance in the Residential Mortgage Industry

Project Needs

• SOAP Client Library Identification
  Selecting a robust SOAP client library to fully automate QA processes across web applications.
• Comprehensive Test Cases
  Defining and implementing test cases that covered both application features and the complex regulatory environment.
• Automation with Selenium
  Automating test scripts using Selenium to allow flexible execution based on the selected environment, enhancing test efficiency.
• Migration Support
  Assisting in the migration of the client’s legacy application from Struts to SPRING MVC, while ensuring quality and consistency throughout the transition.

Challenges

Operating in a highly regulated industry presented significant challenges for the client, especially around maintaining rigorous quality assurance (QA) processes. The consequences of non-compliance were severe, making it crucial for their customers to ensure that their applications met stringent regulatory requirements.

Key challenges included:

• Regulatory Complexity
  Clients needed to ensure their applications adhered to a dynamic and complex set of regulations, which varied by time and location.
• Application Behavior Validation
  The QA team was tasked with ensuring that application features functioned as intended, while also confirming that data entered through the applications complied with relevant regulations.
• Algorithm Accuracy
  As application algorithms were updated, verifying their compliance with industry rules became critical, especially given the fast-paced nature of regulatory changes.
• Frequent Updates
  The increasing pace of regulatory changes demanded more frequent application updates, making efficient yet rigorous testing essential to maintaining both quality and compliance.

Technology and Tools

We leveraged a broad suite of technologies to address the project needs:

• Java
• Web services
• Selenium
• Jenkins
• Maven
• TestNG
• SQL Server
• GIT with Bitbucket
• Jira

Solutions & Execution

Everest Consultants played a pivotal role in developing and executing a comprehensive QA strategy for the client, which involved:

• Testing Scenarios and Test Case Development:
  We developed and executed a suite of testing scenarios to verify that application features behaved according to specification. This included ensuring compliance with complex regulatory frameworks.
• Automated Testing Implementation:
  Using Java and Selenium, we implemented automated test scripts that provided comprehensive and consistent coverage across multiple environments, including Staging and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). The automation ensured that both standard smoke tests and targeted feature testing could be executed quickly and efficiently post-deployment.
• Data Compliance Validation:
  We utilized standard data test sets to confirm that application algorithms adhered to industry rules and regulations whenever changes were introduced, ensuring ongoing compliance.
• Streamlining Legacy Migration:
  During the migration from Struts to SPRING MVC, we supported seamless transition while maintaining thorough quality assurance processes, ensuring that no application functionality was compromised.

Results

Our work resulted in significant improvements in both the quality and reliability of the client’s application, including:

• Increased Testing Efficiency
  Enhanced Compliance Assurance
• Enhanced Compliance Assurance
  Rigorous automated testing ensured that the application consistently adhered to regulatory requirements, minimizing the risk of non-compliance and the associated penalties.
• Reduced Downtime
  Our streamlined testing approach reduced maintenance downtime during application updates, improving overall system reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Adaptability for Future Changes
  The automation framework we developed can be easily adapted to accommodate future regulatory changes, ensuring that the client remains responsive to the evolving landscape of mortgage industry regulations.