iLAB, a Group Elephant Software Quality Assurance (‘SQA’) specialist, works with a large state’s Corrections agency on lowering ‘technical debt’.

Technical debt typically arises over time from an agglomeration of quick fixes to systems, and it can increase the prevalence of vulnerabilities, as well as adversely affect system performance. It can also lead to outright system breakdowns, as seen in recent high-profile cases, and is an oft-cited reason for stifling of innovation. Technical debt can be lowered by sensible updates to legacy systems.

A large US state’s Corrections agency recently launched their technology modernization program to refresh legacy applications, in part with a view to lowering technical debt, which could wreak havoc with the safety of officers and in extreme cases, the public.

The agency appointed iLAB to advise them on the SQA aspects of updating legacy applications, and how to lower the risk of system failures. iLAB constructed a testing framework to support the program, leveraging the proprietary and field-proven ‘iTEST’ methodology. Agency employees will benefit from modernized technology to make them safer and more efficient. Cloud migration is underpinning many of the changes.