How Polteq continues to evolve

Software testing specialist Polteq may have been around for 20 years, but it has continually evolved. Over the past five years, the company has gained a wealth of knowledge in the areas of IOT, AI and Business Intelligence. And now it also specializes in AI testing. That's why Polteq fits so well into hub Twinning, the place to grow in Data Science, AI and Blockchain. And interesting as a colocation for innovative companies.

This interview features the founders of Polteq, Martin Pol and Marjolein Steyerberg. Because twenty years is a great moment to reflect on.

By Martin Pol and Marjolein Steyerberg

The idea to start Polteq was born over 20 years ago in Helsinki, where we were doing an assignment at Nokia at the time. The first business plan was written on the back of copies from a travel guide about Finland. The goal we had in mind then was: our own test company, distinguished by high quality service, with experienced test consultants and test managers. From this vision, Polteq was founded in July 2000.

Polteq's first client was Barclays Bank in England and Polteq's service at the time was described as "Test Process Architect," basically setting up and improving (structured) testing. More staff joined in late 2000 and so Polteq's growth began. In 2001 we moved into our first own office in Amersfoort.

The decision at the end of 2004 to expand Polteq's services to include test engineering and test coordination in addition to consultancy and training proved to be a good move that met the needs of clients. The next phase was the opening of branches in Groningen, Dordrecht and Amsterdam in order to have a local presence for clients and employees. This growth led to Polteq winning the FD Gazellen Award in 2008 for the fastest growing small company in the province of Utrecht. In the years that followed, Polteq continued to grow successfully and subsequently opened branches in Leuven, Deventer and Eindhoven. And now, in 2020, with seven local branches, Polteq has excellent geographic coverage.

In addition to offering a high degree of knowledge and broad experience, the innovative nature of our services is of paramount importance. In this way, we can optimally support our clients in developing quality software and achieving even higher returns during and after the development process. In the past 20 years, for example, Polteq has devised solutions for test issues in the field of online banking, outsourcing testing, E2E testing, mobile apps/api testing, performance and security testing, AI testing and testing within Agile/DevOps. Related training and certification programs have also been developed for this purpose. And the role of 'Test Process Architect' runs as a thread through all innovations, because in addition to approaches such as TPI/SPI and TMMI, Polteq has developed its own approaches for improving (structured) testing such as TI4Agile, TI4Automation, TI4Mobile and Context Driven Test Improvement.

With our own R&D, we also follow market developments with great curiosity in the coming years. This enables us to continue to develop solutions, services and training to modernize the testing process at our customers and support it at the highest attainable level.

We are proud to have grown over the past 20 years into one of the largest specialized providers of testing services in the Netherlands and Belgium. The informal character and personal approach have been an important element in our operations from the beginning, not only towards our own employees, but also in our interaction with customers. We thank our colleagues and our relations for their trust and the fine cooperation. Full of ambition, we look forward to the next 20 years!