Chella Thirumalainambi

• Current role includes responsibilities from previous role and additionally need to manage and deliver in-house projects end to end in cost effective path from ideation to deployment of IT, Network and Engineering capabilities. Managing all Testing and product ownership are core responsibilities.
• Time, Cost, Quality are key KPI's tracked and saved cost and time by 15% by reducing repetitive testing done in SIT and UAT without compromising quality.
• Manage requirement gathering, design, solution development, System testing, System integration, User Acceptance (UAT), Business Readiness (BRT) testing, deployment, documentation for small to medium scale capability (Network and IT)
• Draft Test Strategy, Test Plan for UAT and BRT based on operational Needs and get testing performed by business users. Manage defects and get it resolved or accepted by business before deployment.
• Leading team of technical Subject Matter Expert’s from Engineering, Operations, Security, and Vendors on Project basis, to gather requirements, design and develop solution, test, deploy and rollout into production.
• Endorse operational readiness of new capabilities for integration into production, including validation of compliance to security; work instructions, manuals, guides; sparing; training and vendor on-boarding.
• Provide portfolio and program governance, effectively managing Risks, Issues, Compliance, and Processes while driving continuous governance improvement and process maturity. Apply strong understanding of engineering, products and IT development lifecycles, on-boarding, standards, and delivery methodologies such as ITIL best practice, Waterfall, and Agile SAFe framework.
• Deliver new capabilities, including new technology and products, request for proposal (RFPs), lifecycle, capacity and performance augmentation and proof of concept (POCs). Running consultation workshops with NBN Business Units, Engineering and Product teams, external vendors, and partners to deliver strategic roadmap.
• Manage Network deployments on field, TAND sites, FAN, POI, in addition to software deployments by working with procurement, supply and logistics, Field operations, Integration engineering, vendors to prepare sample and scaled volume network deployments
• Developed and maintained company-wide endpoint security solutions

• Responsibility wise its same as previous role but Test leads role was separated and Test lead reports to Operations Acceptance lead.(Test leads assist to manage UAT and BRT on behalf of Operations acceptance lead)
• Responsible for Test Strategy and guidance during UAT and BRT campaigns.
• Responsible for overall quality of Network projects delivered and deployed in production environment validated through acceptance process.
• Peer-Reviewing System integration test plan, Reports and inclusion and exclusion of all previous testing phases with SMEs from operations teams
• Make sure Network Security, Supply chain, Field Services, HS&E compliance, Integration works, Racking, Cabling, Software deployment, PVT, hardware deployment, Spares & Logistics are lined-up and compliance with NBN standards and process.
• Identified and resolved unauthorized, unsafe, or ineffective practices.
• Reported issues to higher management with great detail.
• Review UAT and BRT reports submitted by Test leads and approve it based on inputs from Operations SME’s.
• Work with Deployment managers and workforce team to get project solution deployed in production, get PVT done on same night of deployment.
• Recommending Operational Acceptance manager to accept delivery and proceed with necessary approvals for Volume rollout.
• Exceeded year-on-year KPI targets of >90% for Efficiency and Effectiveness on test campaigns
• Prepare Monthly Quality/Testing KPI reports on Testing metrics which includes Test Efficiency, Code quality, Defect detection rate, Defects slipped from non-prod to prod.

Played role as both Operations Acceptance and Test Lead for HFC and Network Assurance project. As an Operations Acceptance Lead/Test Lead, I work with business (Operations SME's) and ensure that the solution is getting delivered & accepted with utmost quality. We use to follow set of defined process to ensure project teams deliverables are met without process violation. My roles was responsible for overall quality of the delivery and also to manage UAT and BRT activities for business SME's.

• Key responsibility is to manage quality of project deliverables (for Operations) at each project delivery gates(BTD and DD) and delivering Operational endorsement.
• Driving identification and engagement of Operations Subject Matter Expert resources required to introduce technology.
• Leading assessment of requirements for User Acceptance and Business Readiness Testing.
• Being escalation point for Operational risks/issues and User Acceptance and Business Readiness Testing defects.
• Analysis of product and technical requirements, and interpreting them to plan testing
• Determining operational testing needs of product and develop Test strategies required for UAT and BRT.
• Peer-Reviewing System integration test plan, Reports and inclusion and exclusion of all previous testing phases with SMEs from operations teams.
• Developing UAT and BRT Plans, which define entry and exit criteria, schedule, tests, test environment and people required.
• Arrange Test data and book environments for UAT and BRT testing.
• Managing defects identified during UAT and BRT, work with delivery teams and get it resolved. This includes conducting defect triage's with functional and non-functional teams.
• Pro-active engagement of stakeholders across organization and external parties (including customers, vendors and service providers)
• Managing multiple test leads who works on different steams under the same projects and get the UAT& BRT test execution completed.
• Review UAT and BRT reports submitted by Test leads and approve it based on inputs from Operations SME’s.
• Work with Deployment managers and workforce team to get project solution deployed in production, get PVT done on same night of deployment.
• Recommending Operational Acceptance manager to accept delivery and proceed with necessary approvals for Volume rollout.
• Ensured Volume Roll-out scaled and deployed with confidence, with zero Priority 1 or Priority 2 (P1 or P2) incidents recorded.
• Achieved 100% score in identifying, mitigating, or accepting operational risks.
• Directed teams completing regression tests to support successful product development stages

Played role as Estimation Specialist for Telstra Release management team, who governs the IT/Network changes for Telstra. We as a team manage the cost estimation for each IT/Network enhancement release. For testing services, we need to engage and get quote from each vendor for every project/release. Validate the cost and make sure its justifiable based on technical complexity. Finally, we would collate the overall cost and present it/negotiate with business and get them agreed on acceptable cost value.

• Key responsibility is to validate Testing related quote received from vendors and certify its valid.
• Negotiate overall cost for project/release with business and get them agreed on the same.
• Engage non-impacted vendors for Test support activity for particular project/release.
• Analyze technical complexity of project and pre-define resource requirement for delivering the project.
• If vendor resources are overburn for particular project, get additional quote from vendors and negotiate with business to get that approved.
• Dispute resolution between business and vendors on cost/resource utilization issues.
• Attend technical workshops to understand technical complexities of projects.
• Validate test cases written for projects to ensure there is proper Test coverage.
• Validate Test support called out by vendors and ensure non-impacted vendors are available for Test support.
• Present overall quote to General Manager, justify cost and get his approval.
• Key involvement in test management process implementation and improvisation.

Played role as OSS Testing SME in Infosys Test Management team, which is sole governance body delivering testing solutions to Telstra. We as a team manages and involve in testing management activities like Test planning/Test Strategy/Defect Management/Environment Management, Test data Management for nearly 70+ applications which are under Infosys delivery platform.

In parallel, I have been assigned as Test manager for SIT phase of two Major NBN initiatives Retail and Telstra Business NBN MTM projects which was successfully delivered on time ever since its start.

• Key responsibilities in project include Business Requirement Analysis, Preparing / reviewing Test Strategy & Test plan, Requirements Mapping/Traceability of business requirements to solution design coverage.
• Static testing in Requirements mapping / Traceability of business requirements to detailed design coverage, which helping to uncover most of gaps in initial phase of testing.
• Arranging solution workshop, helping tester for executing E2E test scenarios, business validation.
• SIT Test Estimation; Requirement analysis, Test planning, and auditing of Test execution.
• Key involvement in test management process implementation and improvisation
• Helping automation and performance team with technical queries
• Providing solution for virtualization and E2E automation framework and or reusable components
• Providing work around for high severity blockers and helping tester to identify design gaps in solution
• Involved in business presentations of E2E Order fulfilment and Network Activation from OSS perspective.
• Validating root cause for defects, Validating passed test cases of all four test phases (AT, SIT, UAT, and FDR)
• Co-ordinating with other vendors who owns different applications in stack to ensure smooth delivery and providing quick resolutions for problems faced in interfaces which includes resolution calls with program delivery and end-to-end test managers.
• Post Production implementation reviews, incident prevention
• Developing knowledge artefacts for new OSS changes, Brainstorming sessions to entire team to scale up resource knowledge with Telecom OSS architecture
• Identified issues, analyzed information and provided solutions to problems

layed role as Defect and Environment Manager for all the Infosys owned applications in Telstra which constitutes 70+ applications. I was managing the defects and environment plot of all the testing phases which includes Application Testing, System Integration Testing, Combined Acceptance Testing and Full dress rehearsal. I was the single point of contact from Infosys for Telstra in terms of defects and environment related activities.

• Defect reporting using HP Quality Centre. Managing End–to-end testing and Component integration testing defects using DP Analysis tool and Quality Centre by giving precise Root cause analysis.
• Interacting with various vendors like Accenture, HP, UNICO, highlighting technical issues/defects for faster closure.
• Complexity/ challenges faced in project includes arranging call/live meeting with various components for quick issue resolutions.
• Arranging triage calls between developers, testers, solution architects and resolving disputes between different application teams and testers.
• Post Production implementation reviews, incident prevention process implementation.
• Quality control and metrics preparation/analysis which includes AT defect Slippage, Defect Density, Retest failed ratio,
• Co-ordinating with component teams, explaining defects to development teams to ensure successful delivery.
• Sanity testing and bringing up servers of EAI (B2BGW NBN, MLP, VIVA etc.,) was handled everyday with minimal support from development teams.
• Performing Smoke testing in all environments post code deployment and sharing results with external stake holders and program delivery managers.
• Adhere to Defect prevention and Process plans defined in project.
• Daily morning Shakeout testing, tracking infrastructure incidents raised with third party.
• Planning IR drop, defect fix drop, Infrastructure change management
• Tracking environment management activities like health script monitoring, application capacity monitoring, identifying infrastructure limitation and rectifying. Tracking and closing network and infra issues.
• Adapted procedures to mitigate issues and improve deficiencies
• Advised and led process improvement team with deliberation, leadership and strategic planning
• Provided feedback to production team regarding product quality

Played role as Test lead for Manual Testing team of 10 members both onshore and offshore which was performing Combined Acceptance Testing (CAT) for Integrated Service Layer (ISL), Oracle Activation Manager (AM), IP Address Management (IPAM) applications in Telstra. These Applications are the key in OSS stack which plays major role in Service Qualification, Workforce Management, Identify Assignment, Service Fulfilment, Network Activation and IP address Management. In parallel I was playing a role of KM anchor of my delivery Unit where I have managed the knowledge management activities of whole unit which had 150+ members.

• This role includes requirement analysis, guiding and mentoring team members in test planning and execution with technical experience in OSS
• Test Estimation; Resource estimation, Requirement analysis, Test Planning, Test Execution and UAT support
• Test status tracking and reporting. Sending daily test dashboard, data setup, script maintenance of release level maintenance test case.
• Attending and providing inputs in daily and weekly project status calls and liaising with internal / external stakeholders in testing delivery
• Housekeeping test management tools.
• As part of status reporting and project management: Took leadership for business-critical use cases (New Connect and New Connect 4D flows), testing the same and mentoring / leading team.
• Reporting: Using VBA created online reporting tool/Dashboard which integrates with HP Quality Centre.
• KT sessions were organized and Knowledge sharing within the team was very well articulated. As KM Anchor of the Unit Organized and actively involved in fortnight technical sessions.
• Creating awareness about knowledge Management, Implementing and managing Knowledge management activities
• Few process which implemented by me in my Unit includes monthly newsletter, Monthly quiz, K-Tip of the day, encouraging unit members in publishing BOK's, journals, certification management.
• Organizing KT sessions and provide KT to new joiners and creating knowledge sharing documents
• Supported test review, defect control and configuration management within delivery pipeline
• Verified acceptance by developing and implementing automated and manual application features and regression tests
• Tested functional and compatibility of new programs or updates in comparison to existing applications
• Built automated test scripts to handle repetitive software testing work
• Kept scripts and test cases updated with current requirements
• Defined and identified test cases for new application development
• Created successful test scripts to manage automated feature testing,

My first project in Infosys for Telstra, I joined as a Manual Tester of Combined Acceptance Testing team which carries out the CAT (SIT+UAT) testing of Intermediate Service Layer (ISL), Oracle Activation Manager (AM), IP Address Manager (IPAM) - Telstra OSS applications. Testing with real device of Mobile, ADSL Modem, and NBN NTD Devices was carried out as part of Network Activation. We use to works with other vendors like Accenture, HP, Don River, Amdocs and UNICO who does their respective application testing in same Testing environment. Apart from testing activities, additionally I was responsible for Configuration Management, Knowledge Management and defect prevention activities within my team.

• Categorizing requirements and test cases based on phased delivery approach and tracking same.
• Key Involvement in Design walkthrough, PCR walkthrough and test estimations
• Defect reporting using HP QC/ALM and DP Anchor in team. Also raised more than 150 business critical defects and same were highly appreciated by stakeholders.
• Support to Assurance testing and production issues testing.
• Production defects were tested single handed by planning, understanding and received appreciation for completing it successfully.
• Created end to end Test Automation and Validation suite for daily morning shakeout, Regression suite both using GH Tester and CA LISA.
• Nearly 6 months worked in agile methodology of testing for key PSTN/ADSL Legacy delivery.
• Use to maintain configuration management activities of team which involves version control of documents and tools
• Reviewed, evaluated, and identified requirements for testability
• Trained and mentored junior engineers, providing guidance and direction