Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Websites
Timeline
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Balakrishnan Ponnambalam

Balakrishnan Ponnambalam

Leader in Quality Assurance
Eden Prairie,MN

Summary

Technically minded and quality-focused professional with 16+ years of success in leading software Testing lifecycle and quality assurance efforts, while overseeing QA resources and processes. Expert in overseeing all aspects of projects and initiatives from inception to completion by employing Agile / Scrum methodologies and directing QA teams as per pre-defined scope, timeframe, budget, and user needs. Capacity to identify and translate business needs/requirements into test plans, while bridging communication gaps between different stakeholders. Adept at driving process improvements and executing corrective/preventive actions. Articulate communicator with well-developed aptitude to build and foster strong relationships with colleagues, staff members, and executive management. Proficient in quickly grasping and utilizing new technical concepts productively.

Overview

16
16
years of professional experience
18
18
Certification

Work History

Manager-Projects

Cognizant Technology Solutions
Eden Prairie, MN, USA
05.2015 - Current
  • Monitor and track overall progress of project activities to ensure timely completion of assigned work and finalize sign-off from respective teams
  • Collaborate with Business owners and other stakeholders to determine dependencies and roadblocks, while liaising with agile teams on resolving issues
  • Engage closely with development and product managers to predict test efforts and devise release schedules
  • Spearhead full system development lifecycle efforts, including designing, developing, and implementing test plans, test cases, and supporting user acceptance testing
  • Drove several teams of QA analysts to ensure optimal quality and integrity of numerous applications throughout software development lifecycle in multi-year digital experience projects
  • Thru Automation, curtailed regression timelines and boosted deployment frequency to fulfill business needs of day-to-day deployment
  • Expedited software delivery and directed QA team on multi-year, multi-million-dollar project
  • Deployed innovative tools to enhance and streamline day-to-day applications activities
  • Introduced Accessibility testing into organization and developed web applications that comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) standards that improved digital experience of applications
  • First in the organization to successfully automate Google Cloud Platform - Big Query Vs Tableau reports validation
  • This has created a new level of efficiency and productivity that can hardly be matched.
  • Recruited, trained, supervised, evaluated and mentored staff members.
  • Assessed employee performance against established benchmarks or targets.
  • Cultivated strong relationships with customers by responding promptly to inquiries or complaints.
  • Facilitated collaboration between teams by encouraging open communication channels.
  • Developed and presented new ideas and conceptualized new approaches and solutions.
  • Partnered with staff to create professional development plans to support personal and business growth.
  • Recommended corrective actions to conform to quality specifications.
  • Identified needed resources and aligned with project milestones, deliverables and prioritization for viable production planning.

Software Quality Assurance Lead

Cognizant Technology Solutions
Hartford, CT & Chennai, India
09.2007 - 04.2015
  • Steered product development through software lifecycle from conception to completion
  • Collaborated with leads, Business Users, and other stakeholders to identify expected business process flow and communicate seamlessly with development teams
  • Created project estimations, delegated tasks to team members, and interacted with team members to determine business core critical system, processes of design, and development of application
  • Rendered support in system testing, regression testing, and user acceptance testing to ensure system performs desired functionality
  • Documented, tracked, and maintained metrics for smooth reporting (status reporting) periodically to senior management
  • Crafted business/process flow diagrams, use cases, and charts for outlining logical operational steps of system
  • Mastered rapid resolution of application development and management of complex technological issues for assigned projects; gained highest customer satisfaction rating for all software solutions
  • Identified business requirements gap in early stage of software cycle and collaborated with business to fulfill gaps that avoided potential financial loss as Medicare projects were imposed with heavy fines by CMS
  • Envisioned innovative ideas to enhance application handling that brought new business to companies and retained existing resources.

Education

Bachelor of Technology -

Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, INDIA
05.2007

Skills

  • QA Governance
  • Execution Excellence
  • Project Management
  • Staff Development
  • People Management
  • Issues Resolution
  • Team Building
  • Hiring and Retention
  • Strategic Planning
  • Legal and Regulatory Compliance
  • Work Planning and Prioritization
  • Risk Analysis and Mitigation
  • Quality Assurance
  • Best Practices
  • Quality Standards Determination
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Waterfall/Agile Methodologies
  • Tracking and Documentation
  • Managing Teams
  • Effective communication
  • Client Focus
  • Managing Change
  • Data Management

Certification

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner(CSPO), Scrum Alliance
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS
  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS
  • Scrum Fundamentals Certified, VMEdu, Inc.
  • Cognizant Certified Professional (CCP) for Introduction to Managed Healthcare, Cognizant Academy
  • IBM DB2 – 700 Exam, NIIT
  • IBM DB2 – 703 Exam, NIIT
  • Cognizant Certified Professional (CCP) for DB2 UDB V8.1, Cognizant Academy
  • Cognizant Certified Professional (CCP) for COBOL, Cognizant Academy
  • COBOL II, Brainbench
  • DB2 Programming, Brainbench
  • JCL, Brainbench
  • Project Management, Brainbench
  • Programming Concepts, Brainbench
  • VSAM, Brainbench
  • CICS, Brainbench
  • Team Leadership & Team Management Skills Certification, Udemy
  • Time Management Mastery, Udemy

Timeline

Manager-Projects

Cognizant Technology Solutions
05.2015 - Current

Software Quality Assurance Lead

Cognizant Technology Solutions
09.2007 - 04.2015

Bachelor of Technology -

Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, INDIA

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Balakrishnan PonnambalamLeader in Quality Assurance