Case Study: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine improves payment automation and testing with Version 1

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine automates €1.5bn payments with Version 1

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine faced a significant challenge in supporting its Basic Payment Scheme, which processes €1.5 billion in annual payments to farmers. New demands from the Common Agricultural Policy required frequent releases, new functionality, and support for changing processes, creating immense pressure on its systems. To address this, the department engaged vendor Version 1 to introduce automation testing to reduce this pressure and improve the development process.

Version 1 implemented a Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) approach using tools like Cucumber and Selenium. This involved creating automated test scenarios for existing and new functionalities, which were validated through collaborative sessions with users. The solution included a dedicated testing team and new functionality for generating reports with screenshots. The results delivered by Version 1 included reduced maintenance costs, improved product quality and efficiency, easier onboarding for new staff, and significant cost savings through the use of open-source tools.

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine