The Company
Siemens-Betriebskrankenkasse (SBK) is one of Germany’s largest statutory health insurance providers, serving over one million members nationwide. With more than 100 years of history and a strong reputation for personal support, SBK combines high-quality individual service with modern digital solutions. Its “Meine SBK” app and online services give policyholders a convenient way to submit applications, upload invoices, and manage benefits, all of which require strict compliance with data protection and flawless functional reliability.
However, SBK’s testing processes had become increasingly demanding. Without a specialized test management solution in place, teams faced incomplete workflows, limited traceability, and too many manual steps. To ensure high software quality and meet regulatory requirements, SBK began looking for a professional test management tool that could standardize test cases, support automation, and easily integrate with their existing IT landscape.
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The Partner
Communardo, a trusted Xray Partner with extensive experience in Modern Work and Atlassian solutions, supported SBK in this transformation. After several successful projects together, SBK’s solution architecture team approached Communardo once again, this time for help implementing a robust and scalable test management strategy.
Communardo guided SBK through a detailed market evaluation, ultimately recommending a Jira-based approach with Xray due to its seamless integration, powerful test structuring capabilities, automation support, and strong governance features.
The Challenge
SBK needed to ensure that its applications, which handle highly sensitive personal data, met the highest levels of security, reliability, and compliance. But without a dedicated test management tool, the organization struggled with:
- Incomplete testing workflows
- Limited traceability across requirements and tests
- Excessive manual effort
- Lack of standardized test cases
- Difficulty scaling testing processes
- Challenges supporting automation
To meet quality expectations and accelerate releases, SBK required a structured, transparent, and scalable test management solution.
The Implementation
Communardo recommended the adoption of Jira with Xray, enabling SBK to modernize and standardize its entire testing lifecycle. The implementation followed a phased, strategic approach:
1. Planning & Pilot Phase (July – November 2022)
- Formation of a pilot group of IT consultants and test engineers
- Evaluation of Xray best practices with a limited testing scope
- Integration of test automation into SBK’s existing infrastructure
- Result: Testing transparency increased by more than one-third
2. Rollout & Introduction (January – February 2023)
- Training sessions for all relevant teams
- Migration of more than 1,500 existing test cases into Xray
- Establishment of agile workflows for structured test management
- Result: Average test execution time reduced by 35%
3. Optimization & Scaling (ongoing)
- Continuous testing enabled through Jenkins integration
- Gradual expansion of automated tests, targeting 100% automated regression testing by end of 2027
- Jira dashboards configured for transparent status reporting and defect tracking
Communardo emphasized staying close to Jira and Xray standards to ensure easy handling, future scalability, and long-term maintainability. By avoiding unnecessary customizations, SBK achieved a clean, stable setup with faster onboarding and minimal maintenance.
Technologies used: Jira, Xray for Jira, Confluence
The Results
The implementation of Xray for Jira transformed SBK’s testing workflows, delivering:
- A transparent, standardized testing strategy
- Full traceability, with 100% of requirements linked to test cases
- Significantly higher test coverage
- Reduced manual testing effort, cut in half
- Improved collaboration, with development and QA working on a shared platform
- Faster release cycles, supported by automated regression testing
- Higher software quality, with fewer defects in production
“With the clean setup in Jira and Xray, we’ve developed a consistent testing strategy and can measure quality far more precisely.”
— Klaus Schrödl, Development & Solution Architecture, Siemens-Betriebskrankenkasse
A New Standard for Test Governance and Data Protection
With Xray and Jira, SBK now benefits from centralized data storage, automated workflows, and strict permission controls. Sensitive test data is automatically deleted according to predefined retention rules, ensuring full GDPR compliance and reducing the risk of data leaks. Clear access governance prevents uncontrolled duplication of sensitive information, supporting both internal and regulatory requirements.
