History
Heinz Bons and Rudolf van Megen started the business in 1982, and are both members of the Management Board. The idea behind the Company originated after Heinz Bons and Rudolf van Megen started investigating methods for the improvement of software quality whilst still at university. In 1977, the research gained the financial backing of both the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology as well as Siemens AG.
Their investigations initially focused on the high level of defects in software products, in comparison with non software products. They concluded that the high number of failures of software which had mostly not been detected was, in principle and among other reasons, due to a failure to adopt a systematic approach to software testing. Initial research lead to the development of the first process for systematic software testing in cooperation with several clients in the German IT software industry. After their initial five years researching software testing, Heinz Bons, Rudolf van Megen, Carl van Megen and Josef Peters founded the company in March 1982.
| 1982 | Heinz Bons and Rudolf
van Megen establish the SQS Gesellschaft für Software-Qualitätssicherung
mbH in Cologne. |
| 1983 | Public authorities are frontline SQS
customers. |
| 1988 | Trading companies
harness SQS expertise. |
| 1989 | SQS grows dramatically with banks and
insurance companies. |
| 1990 | The tool SQS TEST®
is launched. |
| 1991 | The young industry telecommunications
takes off and improves its software processes with the
aid of SQS. |
| 1997 | Holding an interest in DTK strengthens
services for the industry in the area of Embedded Systems. |
| 1998 | First foreign company with the Spanish
SQS S.A. |
| 2000 | SQS renames itself
Software Quality Systems AG. The national Austrian company
is established. |
| 2001 | SQS reinforces its European market
lead through majority holdings in what is now SQS Niederlande,
the British SIM Group and by establishing a national Portuguese
company. |
| 2002 | Expansion of the
business in Switzerland by establishing SQS Software Quality
Systems (Switzerland) as well as the national Portuguese
company as SQS Portugal Lda. |
| 2004 | SQS becomes CMMI Transition Partner to the SEI, and the Spanish holding is converted into a partnership with SQS S.A.. |
| 2005 | SQS becomes the first German technology company to list on London's Aim (Alternative
Investment Market). In addition to that, SQS gets a second listing at the new Entry Standard market at the Deutsche Borse stock exchange in Frankfurt. |
| 2006 | SQS acquires 100% of the shares of Cresta Group Limited, this creates the largest independent pureplay software testing and quality management consulting practice in the UK. |
| 2007 | SQS celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding at a festive gala held at the Gürzenich event centre in Cologne.
SQS takes over the insurance and IT specialists Triton Unternehmensberatung GmbH based in Vienna. Heinz Bons, co-founder of SQS and Chief Operating Officer (COO) stepped down from the Board at the end of the year. He will continue to support SQS as a principal consultant on specific projects. With an office in Westville (close to Durban), SQS has an offshore location in South Africa, where work has been carried out for both European and South African customers ever since it was established. |
| 2008 | SQS establishes SQS Egypt in Cairo.
With the acquisition of Validate of Sweden, SQS bolsters its European presence and targets the strategically significant Scandinavian markets. By acquiring VeriSoft of India, SQS further expands its global footprint and broadens its offshore capabilities. David Cotterell becomes a board member of SQS Group, resuming the role of Chief Sales & Marketing Officer (CSO). |
