Case Study: Epiq Systems, Inc. Increases Confidence with TestComplete

Epiq Systems, Inc. is a leader in technology-based solutions for the legal profession and has operated as a profitable, growing business consistently since their initial public offering in February 1997. Epiq faced a huge challenge when asked to provide a comprehensive regression test for not only application features, but also individual Trustee custom reports, so they chose TestComplete for this job and to increase their overall testing coverage.

A Need for Automation

"Automated software testing can be very advantageous when implemented correctly. The lure of these advantages, combined with practical business needs, led us to use an automated testing package. Our primary goals are to provide a feature rich quality product by utilizing key concepts from automated testing to increase overall testing volume and coverage, improve time to market with faster software development lifecycles, focusing the manual testing efforts on important key features and thus increasing overall customer satisfaction," said Mike Haun from Epiq.

Choosing TestComplete

Epiq required a software package that allowed for multiple compiler support, while balancing overall product functionality and cost. "In reviewing the available products in the market, we were able to narrow the product choices to four companies. After evaluating product functionality and features, cost, and software quality assurance product awards; only one company remained, AutomatedQA's TestComplete."

TestComplete 5 Delivers

"With our latest release of our Trustee Case Management System (TCMS) Windows 12.0, we were challenged to provide a comprehensive regression test for not only application features, but also individual Trustee custom reports. This was a daunting task, as there were tens of thousands of reports that needed to be reviewed. We were able to meet this product quality challenge with TestComplete 5," said Mike.

"The testing effort required us to review a large amount of software and data and it was a logistical strain, with forecasts extending into multiple months worth of manual testing. With a week’s work of automated test development, we were able to use distributed network testing and accomplish the Trustee custom report testing in 26 hours. This enabled our manual testing efforts to focus on other areas, providing an overall comprehensive quality assurance assessment for the product release."

Reduced Testing Time, Cost and Time to Market

Mike explained that to successfully implement an automated testing tool at Epiq, they identified the need to implement a testing framework. "In evaluating various framework strategies, we decided to create a hybrid framework utilizing the best practices of each. The end result was a custom keyword driven testing framework that empowered business stakeholders to control regression workflow with Microsoft Excel."

"The implemented framework allows TestComplete to automate simplified test cases to simulate real-world business workflows and regression testing. The framework reduces the overall need for automated test script maintenance, which allows the manual testing more time to evaluate critical areas. With the features offered by TestComplete, the combination of reduced automated testing maintenance and the benefits produced from automation testing as a whole, TestComplete 5 has reduced the overall necessary testing time, cost, and product time to market."

Increased Test Coverage

"Our usage of TestComplete 5 has allowed us to focus our manual testing efforts on mission critical components, while the automation effort resolves mundane testing tasks such as regression or repetitive scenario testing. The information extrapolated from TestComplete 5 provides a full test history, which further reduces the overall documentation process. Efficiency in the overall testing process gained from the utilization of TestComplete 5 has direct correlation with increased test coverage while reducing the overall testing effort," said Mike.

"We are currently experimenting with the integration of TestComplete 5 and other AutomatedQA products such as AQtime, which will provide further test coverage through application performance profiling and application code coverage. These products allow us to further provide a more efficient and high quality product."

Epiq on TestComplete 5

"TestComplete 5 is a product I would recommend to any company looking for a Windows based automated testing platform. The product contains a rich list of features that goes beyond regular record and playback, enabling the user to test a wide variety of detailed to simplistic scenarios. TestComplete 5 has given confidence to our entire project team in the software’s ability to provide continuous testing coverage when called upon. Overall pricing and functionality is superior to market competitors," said Mike.

Conclusion

TestComplete 5 has allowed Epiq Systems, Inc. to increase their test coverage and confidence, while focusing their manual testing in other areas and decreasing the amount of bugs, time and money spent on testing.