Revolutionizing Gift Processing: Agile QA and Integration Excellence at a Leading University

Organization

Our client, a leading university in the United States, operates a renowned philanthropic program encouraging alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends to contribute to its mission. These charitable donations fund scholarships, research, campus improvements, faculty positions, and various academic and extracurricular programs.

• Industry Leadership: As a top public university, our client is known for fostering innovation, excellence in education, and public service.
• Community Engagement: The university actively inspires its community to invest in its long-term mission through meaningful contributions.
• Technological Advancement: The institution continues to evolve by integrating advanced systems and methodologies to support its operations.

Challenge

The Gift Processing System project sought to transition the university’s philanthropic operations from an inefficient Excel-based system to a robust, application-driven solution. The university faced several challenges in modernizing its gift processing system:

1. Data Migration and Integrity:
   • Transitioning unstructured, Excel-based records to a structured application raised concerns over potential data loss, corruption, and discrepancies.
   • Migrating sensitive donation records while maintaining accuracy and security was a priority.
2. Legacy System Integration:
   • Integrating the new system with existing platforms for donor and fund management required overcoming discrepancies in data structures and communication protocols.
   • Ensuring uninterrupted real-time data flow between systems posed significant technical hurdles.
3. Complex User Roles and Access Control:
   • Introducing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) required rigorous testing to ensure users—such as gift processors, approvers, and viewers—could only access functionalities relevant to their roles.
   • Preventing privilege escalation and unauthorized actions, such as viewers attempting to modify records, was critical.
4. Usability and Adoption:
   • End users were accustomed to manual workflows. The transition to an application-based system demanded comprehensive usability enhancements to facilitate adoption.
   • Identifying hidden usability challenges and integrating user feedback was essential for a seamless transition.

Solution

XTIVIA’s QA team played a dual role as Business Analysts (BA) and Quality Analysts (QA), ensuring a seamless transition from manual processes to a robust, application-based system. Their contributions spanned from requirements gathering to testing and user adoption, ensuring both technical and business objectives were met.

Business Analyst Contributions

• Requirements Gathering and Stakeholder Engagement:
  
  • Conducted detailed discussions with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and stakeholders to capture precise requirements and ensure alignment with business goals.
  • Facilitated workshops and created process diagrams, use cases, and user stories to provide clarity across business and technical teams.
• User Workflow Design:
  
  • Mapped current workflows to identify inefficiencies and designed optimized workflows tailored to user needs.
  • Collaborated with developers to translate requirements into actionable system designs.

Quality Analyst Contributions

• Comprehensive Testing Framework:
  
  • Designed and implemented test strategies to validate both functional and non-functional requirements.
  • Conducted end-to-end testing to simulate real-time data flows, ensuring seamless integration and accurate processing of donations.
    
• Data Migration Validation:
  
  • Performed extensive reconciliation tests between Excel data and the application database to verify the accuracy of migrated data.
  • Conducted manual spot checks on key data points, such as donation amounts and donor details, to ensure consistency.
    
• Role-Based Access Testing:
  
  • Developed test cases for each user role (e.g., Admin, Donor, Volunteer) to validate appropriate access levels and restrictions.
  • Simulated privilege escalation attempts to ensure users could not perform unauthorized actions.
    
• Error Handling and Reporting:
  
  • Implemented logging mechanisms to capture and resolve issues during data synchronization and integration processes.
  • Validated comprehensive error-handling protocols to mitigate risks associated with data inconsistencies or failed syncs.

Agile Methodology

• Iterative Delivery:
  
  • Delivered project components incrementally, incorporating stakeholder feedback in each sprint to ensure alignment with evolving requirements.
• Collaborative Development:
  
  • Fostered collaboration among business users, IT teams, and third-party vendors, ensuring smooth communication and rapid issue resolution.

User-Centric Adoption Strategy

• End-User Feedback:
  
  • Engaged staff and volunteers early in the testing phase, conducting focus groups and interviews to gather insights on usability and workflows.
  • Iteratively refined the system based on user feedback, ensuring a seamless transition.
• Training and Documentation:
  
  • Delivered comprehensive training sessions, user guides, and workshops to support end-users in adopting the new system effectively.

BUSINESS RESULT

XTIVIA’s efforts delivered a reliable, secure, and user-friendly solution that transformed the university’s gift processing capabilities. Key outcomes included:

Enhanced Operational Efficiency

• Automated workflows eliminated manual data entry and reconciliation, reducing errors and processing times.
• Unified data synchronization enabled real-time updates, streamlining backend operations and improving decision-making.

Improved Data Integrity and Security

• Robust error-handling protocols and secure credential management ensured data accuracy and compliance with security standards.
• Data reconciliation processes validated the integrity of migrated data, safeguarding historical donation records.

Elevated User Experience

• Role-based access control enhanced system security while providing users with a tailored experience.
• Intuitive workflows and interfaces improved user satisfaction and reduced training time.

Accelerated Project Delivery

• Agile methodology enabled faster iteration cycles and quicker deployment of features, ensuring the system remained aligned with organizational goals.
• Automated testing frameworks minimized deployment risks and ensured continuous service availability.

Future-Ready Scalability

• Delivered a modular architecture capable of integrating additional functionalities as organizational needs evolve.
• Positioned the university as a leader in efficient gift processing and donor engagement.

SOFTWARE
JIRA, Lucidchart, Liferay, Postman

KEYWORDS
Application Integration, Application Programming Interfaces (API), Liferay 7.3, Elastic Search,  Postman, API Testing, QA, TCOE

XTIVIA needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at anytime, read our Privacy Policy here.