What Automation Excellence does

Automation Excellence (AE) is a privately held professional services firm founded in 1998 by a homeschool family and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company specializes in Agile software delivery built around a test-first methodology in which the end user defines acceptance test criteria up front, a wiki serves as the single source of truth driving the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and those criteria are converted into built-in verification suites on enterprise applications. AE serves vertical markets including SQA, ITOM, ITSM, ALM, healthcare, government, manufacturing, telephony, and defense, drawing on horizontal expertise across platforms such as ServiceNow, MicroFocus OMi, Drupal, Oracle, Siebel, PeopleSoft, and Trizetto FACETS.

The company's service portfolio comprises Automated SQA, Load Testing and Monitoring, SQA Management, Web Design and Development, Media Development and Communications, and a Learning/apprenticeship program. It also maintains a catalog of proprietary and open-source testing tools — CSVSee, Cukable, FitNexus, Grinder Webtest, Kelp, Mastiffe, RSel, Placid, and the more recent Impel .NET automation tool — plus two Drupal modules. Delivery is executed through a Mentor/Apprentice staffing model, developed around 2012 as a defensive response to offshore labor competition, which sources and trains junior programmers (frequently via the Home Grown Programmers e-learning sub-brand) under senior mentors. Customer engagement is direct and project-based, with a portfolio spanning large enterprises (Acushnet, SHRM India, SHRM LINE, Laurel Capital Group), SMBs (Old Colony Cabinets, Colorado Blind Crafter), startups (Home Grown Programmers, AskDrBrown), and non-profits/religious organizations (Coalition of Conscience, Line of Fire Radio, FIRE Church).

Commercially, AE operates as a domestic US services provider with no disclosed external funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no documented enterprise retainers or SaaS contracts. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the company has no certifications, patents, awards, partnerships, or M&A activity on record. The team is approximately eight people, mixing senior practitioners (Allan Paris, Eric Pierce, Marcus French, Aaron Blondeau) with apprentices, indicating a micro-services operating model that is deeply leveraged on its methodology and founder/mentor expertise rather than on scale or capital.

Name

Automation Excellence

Legal name

Automation Excellence

Website

https://automation-excellence.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Automation Excellence is a Colorado Springs-based Agile software delivery and software quality assurance services firm founded in 1998. It serves enterprise, SMB, and non-profit clients with test-first methodology, custom testing tools, and a Mentor/Apprentice staffing model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Software Quality Assurance Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computer Training (61142)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Application Testing & QA Services (BPAEAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

QA, Test Automation & Software Quality (Manual/Automated Testing, Performance) (EDABAFAL), Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA) (BPAEAFAJ)

Keywords

• Software quality assurance
• Test automation services
• Load testing
• Agile software development
• Web development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Testing as a Service (TAAS): Outsourcing option for SQA Management providing peace of mind and cost savings through test-first Agile delivery model.
2. Software Quality Assurance Services: Services including Automated SQA, Load Testing & Monitoring, SQA Management, Web Design & Development, Media Development & Communications, and Learning.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Automation Excellence provides Agile software delivery and software quality assurance (SQA) services using a test-first methodology. Its offerings include Automated SQA, SQA Management (including Testing as a Service / TAAS), Load Testing & Monitoring, Web Design & Development, Media Development & Communications, and a Learning/apprenticeship program. The firm also develops proprietary open-source testing tools (Mastiffe, Placid, Impel, Cukable, FitNexus, Kelp, CSVSee, Grinder Webtest, RSel) and Drupal modules for the broader community.

Product overview

Automation Excellence offers a suite of software quality assurance and testing services combined with custom software tools. Their core services include Automated SQA, Load Testing & Monitoring, SQA Management, Learning (mentorship/apprenticeship), Media Development & Communications, and Web Design & Development. They also developed proprietary testing tools including CSVSee, Cukable, FitNexus, Grinder Webtest, Kelp, Mastiffe, RSel, and Placid, plus two Drupal modules (Webform Aggregate Download, Webform Component Revisioning). The company specializes in Agile software delivery with a test-first methodology, serving vertical markets in SQA, ITOM, ITSM, ALM, and open source integrations across healthcare, government, manufacturing, telephony, and defense sectors. They utilize a Mentorship/Apprentice staffing model to deliver ROI value to clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Home Grown Programmers: An e-learning site associated with the company for online teaching and introducing the next generation to information technology.

Products and services

• Automated SQA
• SQA Management
• Load Testing & Monitoring
• Web Design & Development
• Media Development & Communications
• Learning

Quantifiable outcome

• High ROI code frameworks with test automation built into streamlined process

Named customers11 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• QASource: QASource is a dedicated software QA and test automation services firm with a comparable delivery model (manual + automated testing, dedicated QA teams) and similar customer verticals including healthcare, finance, and enterprise SaaS.
• Cigniti Technologies: Cigniti is a pure-play independent software testing services provider offering test automation, performance testing, and QA consulting — directly overlapping AE's Automated SQA, Load Testing, and SQA Management offerings.

Emerging players

• TestRail (by Gurock): TestRail is a test management and QA workflow platform that competes for the tooling side of AE's SQA Management offering, particularly among teams standardizing on acceptance-test-driven delivery.
• Mabl: Mabl is a SaaS test automation platform that competes with AE's Automated SQA services by enabling engineering teams to self-serve continuous testing, potentially disintermediating boutique QA service providers.
• QA Wolf: QA Wolf delivers AI-augmented automated QA-as-a-service for engineering teams, competing with AE in the outsourced test automation and continuous testing category but with a tech-led, less human-staffing-heavy model.
• Applitools: Applitools provides AI-powered visual and end-to-end test automation — an emerging alternative to AE's manual and scripted testing approach, particularly for web application verification.
• Testlio: Testlio provides managed software testing as a service with a global network of testers; it competes for the same testing-as-a-service and continuous QA budgets that AE's TAAS offering targets.

Broad incumbents

• Capgemini Engineering (Testing): Capgemini's global testing services cover application, performance, and QA consulting for large enterprises, representing a large-incumbent alternative for the SQA and ITOM/ITSM testing work AE targets.
• Infosys (Testing Services): Infosys operates a large independent testing practice covering functional, performance, and automation testing for global enterprises — a scaled incumbent alternative to AE for enterprise QA programs.
• Cognizant (Testing Services): Cognizant's Quality Engineering & Testing practice is a broad incumbent offering enterprise-scale QA, automation, and SQA management services that compete for the same enterprise testing contracts as AE.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/avela-amantombazane

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Automation Excellence