Everything began in 2008 — the year Allgemeine Rechenzentrum GmbH, known simply as ARZ, decided to introduce Tricentis Tosca for its software testing. ARZ was one of the very first Tricentis customers. Fourteen years later, Tosca is still in use at the Vienna‑based IT service provider and specialist for the banking and healthcare sectors — and the customer relationship has long since grown into a true partnership. A partnership that not only pushes both sides to achieve technological excellence, but also gives back to society. In particular, it supports people on the autism spectrum, who receive training in software testing using Tricentis expertise and then start their careers at ARZ.

For an organization like ARZ that calls itself a “competence center for IT services,” it must ensure that its own IT lives up to the promises made to customers — especially when dealing with sophisticated, often individually developed software solutions for the financial sector, healthcare, and public administration. These are precisely the industries on which ARZ, now with around 600 employees, is focused. Nearly eight million business‑critical, data‑sensitive, and financially significant transactions are processed daily through ARZ solutions. Faulty or slow software — or even system outages — must be avoided at all costs; maximum availability, data security, and performance are mandatory.

Industry: IT
Location: Vienna
Products:
- Tricentis Tosca

The test center makes ARZ a technological pioneer

This is exactly what Marcus Nitsch is responsible for. As Head of Quality Management at ARZ, he and his 15‑member team ensure that no update, patch, or release is rolled out unless it meets the high quality standards of the IT service provider based in Vienna and Innsbruck. “When we opened our test center in Vienna in 2008, we were a technological pioneer in Austria. For us, it was a milestone and, in a way, the decisive factor for our success in the market,” Nitsch explains.

At the time, the goal was simple: to automate the cumbersome manual functional testing. They were looking for an innovative and comprehensive test automation platform — and quickly found it in Tricentis Tosca, which was still a relatively new solution on the market back then.

Tricentis Tosca in use at ARZ – challenges

manual testing slowed down the development process
test maintenance was cumbersome and time‑consuming
testing requirements continued to increase due to regulatory obligations

In the beginning, we had to do a lot of internal persuading to show the value of the test center and Tosca as a platform. But together with Tricentis, we moved forward step by step every year and with every new project. Today, Tosca is an indispensable part of our development landscape,” says Nitsch.

Test automation with many advantages

The initial skepticism disappeared quickly — for a simple reason: everyone in the organization could see the many benefits that Nitsch gained from using the Tricentis platform in daily work. These advantages range from simplified, script‑less maintenance of test cases, to significantly increased testing speed and frequency — now up to seven or eight cycles per day — to easy scalability and faster acceptance of developments by customers. The entire ARZ benefits from this. “It not only increases our confidence in the quality of our software development, but also frees up valuable time to focus on what really matters — improving the solutions themselves,” says Nitsch.

The key to this success: from the beginning, ARZ placed great importance on a strong setup and the right methodologies within its testing infrastructure. For example, the team has always worked with synthetic data. As a result, anonymizing personal data — particularly important in the banking and healthcare sectors due to GDPR — was never an issue. The results speak for themselves: ARZ now achieves an overall automation rate, including test data automation, of more than 90 percent, and a requirements coverage of around 80 percent. The effort required to maintain test sets has been reduced by 20 percent.

“With Tricentis Tosca, we are strategically perfectly positioned. Because we were part of this journey from the very beginning, we know exactly what the solution can do, inside and out — and that gives us a great deal of flexibility for the future. Whether it’s other testing types such as security or load testing, or even deeper integration of testing into development tasks — whatever comes next, we are prepared,” Nitsch says confidently.

Tricentis Tosca in use at ARZ – results

90% automation rate
80% requirements coverage
5% false‑positive rate
20% lower maintenance effort for test sets
significantly increased testing frequency
higher confidence in software quality

Higher confidence in software quality

For 14 years now, ARZ and Tricentis have formed a “technological testing tandem.” And what began as a customer relationship has become much more. “A customer relationship has turned into a partnership with real added value,” says Nitsch.

He is referring in particular to an initiative supported equally by ARZ and Tricentis: Specialisterne. Behind this name is an international initiative that began in Denmark and is dedicated to promoting diversity and equal opportunities in the labor market. It supports and places neurodivergent individuals — including people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or dyscalculia. In Austria, this work centers around the TestingPro™ program, which enables talents from the autism spectrum to train as software testers.

“People with autism think in a structured way, are logical by nature, can recognize patterns, stay focused on routine tasks, and have impressive memory abilities. This fits perfectly with the tasks involved in software testing. Unlocking this potential and supporting people with special needs is not only important to us at Tricentis — it’s something we deeply care about,” explains Wolfgang Platz, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Tricentis.

Cooperation with impact

For the seventh time, the TestingPro program will be held in Austria in autumn 2022 — and Tricentis has been involved in the eight‑week Specialisterne training program for four years. Tricentis experts deliver practical, hands‑on workshops using Tricentis Tosca and provide additional information through access to an e‑learning platform.

Participants complete their training as software testers with internationally recognized and highly sought‑after certifications such as the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) Certified Tester Foundation Level or Tosca Automation Specialist Level 1 & 2. Additional certificates can be earned on the Tricentis e‑learning platform even after the program has been completed.

In addition, dedicated coaches support participants in their transition into the workplace. Potential employers are invited to meet the candidates and get to know them. And it works: 7 out of 10 participants each year find a job, primarily in the testing field — including at ARZ. Nitsch now employs three people with autism in his team who have completed the TestingPro program. He is enthusiastic: “They are a real enrichment for us. Not only do they do their jobs extremely well, but they have also helped break down barriers. We’ve learned things that go far beyond technical knowledge.”

Communication and clear structures as the key to success

Nitsch does not deny that there are also economic reasons behind supporting this initiative. “Good software testers are essential for us, but they are hard to find,” he says from experience. Finding new ways to address the talent shortage is therefore important. And while integrating new team members into the existing group was not entirely easy, Nitsch admits: “In the beginning, there was a certain hesitation. And the question of which tasks people with autism could take on — and which they couldn’t. The coaching provided by Specialisterne was extremely helpful.”

What Nitsch learned above all is this: autism is not the same for everyone. Autism is multifaceted — and every individual talent, every new colleague, requires a tailored approach. Nitsch believes that meeting people individually, maintaining open communication, and assigning clearly structured tasks within the testing processes are the keys to success.

And Nitsch is convinced that this approach — and the “extra effort” of creating an inclusive work culture — is well worth it. Another talent from the autism spectrum is expected to join the testing team later this year. “People with autism are an important part of our team’s success at ARZ. Their unique skills support us on our path toward digital transformation. It is up to us to recognize and unlock this potential.”

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