Velera Achieves 3X Speed Boost & Quality Leap With Service Virtualization

The Challenge

Unreliable access to third-party test environments crippled Velera’s software delivery. Release timelines consistently slipped because these nonproduction systems were not held to strict SLAs, impacting cost and quality.

Teams faced delays of a month or more. Some projects stretched to nearly a year. Failed builds were common, as code coverage stalled at 30-40% due to an unstable environment that limited the number of tests they could run.

Performance testing was blocked, and defects often surfaced only after production rollouts, forcing costly rollbacks.

The Approach

Hirakant Shet, Director of Software Engineering at Velera, spearheaded the search for a solution that would enable parallel development while working alongside the third-party data providers. Shet prioritized:

• Reliable test environments
• Increased code coverage
• Early API contract validation

The Solution

After pulling development leads into the POC process to drive experimentation, gather feedback, and foster collaboration, Velera selected Parasoft Virtualize.

“Virtualize supported all the major protocols that we needed. The support Parasoft provided to get us onboarded was fantastic.”

— Hirakant Shet, Director of Software Engineering at Velera

Using Virtualize, Velera’s development teams created virtual services that simulate third-party dependencies. They delivered key advantages:

• Parallel development. The teams could work alongside third parties independently and simultaneously, dramatically accelerating delivery timelines.
• Uninterrupted testing. The solution eliminated exceptions for low test coverage, ensuring the dev teams consistently meet robust quality gates.
• Early validation. By moving validation left, they could identify and resolve integration risks sooner.

Virtual asset creation is now baked into Velera’s API delivery life cycle, seamlessly integrated into their DevOps pipelines and automation frameworks.

Their teams gained autonomy, eliminating waits for setting up external test environments. “There’s no more waiting on some other team,” said Hirakant.

The Results

Service virtualization transformed Velera’s delivery speed and quality. Code coverage soared from below 40% to 80-90%.

“When we first adopted Virtualize into the development workflow, the development teams shared a lot of excitement as we saw the code coverage number move from below 40% to hitting 80%. In many cases, it reached 90%.”

— Hirakant Shet, Director of Software Engineering at Velera

By coupling virtual services with test automation, regression testing became as simple as pushing a button.

“Projects that previously took a year, we completed in three to four months end to end with Parasoft Virtualize.”

— Hirakant Shet, Director of Software Engineering at Velera

For Velera, adopting service virtualization has resulted in a dramatic reduction in rollbacks and significantly higher confidence in every release, accelerating time to market while safeguarding quality.