Expanding the GKV Software Standard BITMARCK_21c|ng
About BITMARCK
As a leading digitalization partner in the statutory health insurance sector, BITMARCK is accelerating digital transformation within the industry through innovative products and services. The foundation for this is the GKV software standard BITMARCK_21c|ng, which is used by affiliated healthcare funds. Clients of the BITMARCK Group include company and guild health insurance funds, as well as DAK-Gesundheit and other substitute health insurers—over 30,000 employees and around 35 million insured individuals within statutory health insurance (GKV) benefit from BITMARCK’s IT services. More than 80 percent of German statutory health insurers are clients of the group. With more than 1,900 employees, BITMARCK generates annual revenues of more than half a billion euros.
The Challenge: Seamless Quality Assurance for Mobile Channels
After successfully implementing test automation for desktop clients (Web and Swing), BITMARCK GmbH faced the challenge of bringing the quality of its native iOS and Android apps within the GKV software standard BITMARCK_21c|ng up to the same high level.
This required a forward-looking and flexible extension of the existing test automation framework in order to:
- Ensure a consistent user experience and functionality across both mobile operating systems (iOS and Android).
- Quickly and efficiently create new mobile test cases and integrate them into the existing set of over 4,500 regression tests.
- Integrate mobile test coverage into the Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline to ensure stability with every release cycle.
The Solution: Leveraging the QF-Test Platform for Mobile
The existing foundation, consisting of QF-Test and the jointly developed Multi-Client Recorder, served as the basis for the mobile expansion.
Mobile Regression Testing Strategy in Detail
BITMARCK focused on securing its native iOS and Android apps, which serve as important customer and employee portals, by taking the following steps:
- Technology Selection and Integration: Thanks to QF-Test’s platform-agnostic nature, the framework could be directly extended to native mobile apps. Integration was achieved via QF-Test, enabling seamless use of both physical devices and emulators.
- Mobile Test Object Recognition: Close collaboration with QFS enabled the early implementation and optimization of mobile test object recognition. This ensured robust test cases that are resilient to minor UI changes across both mobile platforms.
- Specific Mobile Interactions: Specific mobile interactions (such as swiping and handling virtual keyboards) are captured by the recorder and incorporated into test cases.
- Result: Mobile test coverage has been successfully integrated into the CI/CD pipeline and now ensures the quality of iOS and Android applications in every release cycle.
The Benefits
- Cross-Platform Efficiency: The Multi-Client Recorder optimizes test automation for Web clients, Swing clients, and native iOS and Android apps—all under one unified framework.
- Comprehensive Coverage: Integration allows management and execution of regression tests across all client architectures, including the new mobile coverage.
- Accelerated Test Development: The recorder’s intuitive design carries over to mobile development, simplifying the creation and maintenance of test cases while significantly reducing maintenance effort.
- Maximum Mobile Software Quality: By expanding its regression testing strategy, BITMARCK Software GmbH ensures the highest quality for its mobile solutions for statutory health insurance.
- Continuous Delivery: Mobile coverage has become part of the CI/CD pipeline, guaranteeing the stability of native apps in every daily run.
Conclusion
The successful integration of mobile regression testing for iOS and Android using QF-Test and the Multi-Client Recorder highlights the flexibility and future-readiness of BITMARCK GmbH’s test automation strategy. This expansion safeguards the growing importance of mobile channels and reaffirms the commitment to the highest quality standards in software development.
Dirk Kruck, Test Engineer, BITMARCK Software GmbH