Senior QA & Software Testing Consultancy

Build Better Software Quality — Not Just More Tests

Inside STLC helps software teams improve QA strategy, reduce delivery risk, build sustainable test automation capability, and develop the testing skills needed for modern delivery.

Led by 26+ years of real-world software testing, QA leadership, hiring, coaching, and delivery experience.

quality-dashboardAll gates green

Coverage

92%

Flaky tests

0.4%

Risk score

Low

Release confidence — last 8 sprints

+38%
Build
Unit
API
E2E
Release

26+

Years in software testing & QA leadership

12

Structured Academy learning modules

Risk-led

Strategy focused on delivery confidence

Capability

Built in your team — not dependency

The Problem

Shipping fast, but quality confidence is low.

Many teams are releasing quickly, yet confidence in quality is low. Testing is often reactive, automation is fragile, and QA teams are under pressure to prove their value in an AI-enabled world. The result is rising delivery risk and a growing gap between how fast you ship and how safe it feels.

What Inside STLC Helps With

Practical support across the QA lifecycle

QA Strategy

Risk-led test strategy and testing maturity reviews that focus effort where it actually reduces delivery risk.

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Test Automation Capability

Assessment, tooling, roadmap and pilot frameworks — built so your own team can own and grow them.

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AI in Testing

Practical, responsible AI adoption for QA — where it adds value, and where human judgement still matters.

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Team Upskilling

Bespoke training and tester development pathways, from manual-to-automation progression to QA leadership.

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QA Recruitment Support

Role definition, candidate assessment and interview support so you hire the QA skills you actually need.

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Delivery Risk Reduction

Quality ownership across teams and release confidence improvements that make shipping fast feel safe.

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Consultancy Engagements

Ways to work together

Every engagement is scoped to your team, risk profile and delivery goals — and built to leave you stronger.

Start here

QA Discovery Review

A focused review of current QA practices, risks, tooling, automation, team capability and improvement opportunities.

  • Testing maturity & risk assessment
  • Tooling and automation review
  • Team capability snapshot
  • Prioritised improvement roadmap
Discuss this engagement
Most popular

Automation Capability Sprint

A practical engagement to assess automation maturity, define a roadmap, create a pilot approach and coach the team.

  • Automation discovery & assessment
  • Framework & tooling recommendations
  • Pilot framework built with your team
  • Hands-on coaching and handover
Discuss this engagement
Ongoing

QA Transformation Partnership

Longer-term support for teams needing strategic QA leadership, automation improvement, training and delivery support.

  • Fractional QA leadership
  • Continuous automation improvement
  • Embedded training & mentoring
  • Delivery-risk governance
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Example Engagement

Building Sustainable Test Automation Capability

A three-phase model designed to enable your internal team — not to create dependency on an outside consultant. The goal is a framework your testers and developers can own, maintain and grow long after the engagement ends.

1Phase 1

Discovery & Assessment

  • Map application, risks and delivery flow
  • Assess current tooling and coverage
  • Evaluate team capability honestly
  • Define what's worth automating first
2Phase 2

Pilot Framework & Coaching

  • Build a lean, reliable pilot framework
  • Integrate into CI/CD pipelines
  • Pair-work and coach internal testers
  • Prove value on real, high-risk journeys
3Phase 3

Capability Growth & Handover

  • Transfer ownership to your team
  • Establish maintenance practices
  • Scale coverage sustainably
  • Leave capability, not dependency

The outcome that matters: internal testers who can write, run and maintain reliable automation; a strategy the whole team understands; and a measurable drop in delivery risk — capability that stays with you.

Academy

Consultancy Backed by Practical QA Training

Inside STLC Academy gives teams access to structured QA learning pathways, including software testing fundamentals, AI for QA, interview preparation, and modern test automation.

  • Software testing fundamentals
  • AI for QA
  • Interview preparation
  • Modern test automation

12

Structured modules

AI for QA

Dedicated track

Interview

Prep pathway

Hands-on

Assignments & templates

DO
About Inside STLC

Led by David Oxley

Inside STLC is led by David Oxley, with 26+ years in software testing and QA leadership — including hiring, coaching and leading testers across diverse products and sectors. The approach is practical and delivery-focused, with a strong emphasis on risk, judgement, automation, AI, and real-world outcomes.

Free Resources

Practical QA guides, at no cost

See all resources
Free Playbook

The QA Interview Playbook: How I Hire

An inside look at how a hiring manager actually evaluates QA candidates — the questions, the signals, and what separates a strong tester from the rest.

Get it free
Free Prompt Pack

AI Workflow Prompt Pack for QA Engineers

A ready-to-use pack of AI prompts for testers — accelerate test design, data, documentation and analysis with practical, QA-specific workflows. 2026 edition.

Get it free
Free Guide

Beginner's Guide to Software Testing

A step-by-step roadmap into software testing for complete beginners and career changers — clear, practical and no prior experience needed.

Get it free
Let's talk

Let's Improve Your QA Capability

Book a discovery call to talk through your delivery goals, where quality confidence is low, and the fastest route to reducing risk.

Book a Discovery Call