Case Study: Optria Uses TestComplete to Deliver Kinetique

Optria's team of product developers have decades of experience developing and implementing technology for major banks world wide has given them an in-depth understanding of what financial institutions need to do to grow their core business. As a result, their suite of communications and marketing solutions has proven itself in the financial sector and they couldn't just rely on any test automation tool, so they use TestComplete.

Overview

Kinetique is a comprehensive event management system. It has both customer and internally driven, browser-based solutions that monitor customer and account activity. Monitored events generate alerts and/ or initiate workflow activities that proactively address the needs of the customer and financial institution.

"Throughout the day, defining activity received in real-time as well as data available from batch processing can be turned into internal alerts for timely resolution and/or personalized marketing communications specific to the event," said Kevin Heath, Sr. Software Developer, from Optria.

"The product consists of components that run on multiple platforms using different programming languages, for example IBM iSeries (Java, C++) and Microsoft .Net (C#)."

The steps required to perform an end-to-end test include:

1. Installing the nightly build onto all platforms.
2. Preparing the necessary test data.
3. Testing each component.

Automated Testing is Critical

Kevin said that as a software development organization looking to maximize productivity it was critical to automate product testing and standardize what is by nature a repetitious process, Quality Assurance.

"During the product development cycle we perform a nightly build to verify that all code can be rebuilt, however, recompiling the code alone is not enough to ensure that the product remains stable."

"To verify that product functionality has not been compromised from release to release automated testing is critical. We also needed the ability to perform capacity and scalability tests for the product."

Evaluating TestComplete

"After looking at multiple products on the Web we decided to evaluate TestComplete. As part of the evaluation we chose to create sample scripts for both a Windows application and a Web application to determine whether we could perform the tests we needed," said Kevin.

"Within the trial period we successfully performed all the tasks we needed to and had a chance to use most of TestComplete's features. As a result of the evaluation, product cost and functionality we purchased TestComplete."

Running the Correct Sequence

Kevin explained how crucial each tests' sequence and timing is, "Since we have multiple components running on different platforms, the sequence and timing of each test is crucial. With TestComplete it is possible to run each step in the correct sequence and to stop the complete test run if any of the components fail."

"For example, it is not possible to verify that the iSeries components are functioning correctly until the test data has been re-established using a WinForm application. Once this is done, a Web application must be run to configure the events to be monitored, then the events can be triggered on the host."

Plans for the Future

"Our testing scenarios can be extended over time to include further validation checks while still performing all the existing steps. This will mean that the product will become more robust and stable providing greater customer satisfaction. So far we have completed 15 test cases with plans to further grow our use of the product," said Kevin.

TestComplete Frees Resources

Kevin said "The complete end-to-end testing of the product can now be completed outside of office hours allowing resources more time to concentrate on designing, coding and other more valuable-add activities."

Saving Money

Kevin said "The number of staff members required to perform quality testing can be kept to a minimum, hence saving the company money."

Faster and Cleaner Releases

"The test cases are run every night following a complete rebuild of the product. Before using TestComplete's full end-to-end, tests were only run in the final phase before our product release shipped."

"As the tests are run nightly the stability of the product is constantly being checked, this means that any issues can be resolved in a timely manner throughout the development cycle which results in a faster and cleaner release cycle," said Kevin

TestComplete Provides Confidence

Kevin said "As testing steps are scripted we can ensure that all tests are being run each time which means that we can spend more time on implementing additional checks. Also, we reduce the possibility of human error during the tests as TestComplete will make sure that all steps are run in the correct sequence."

A Must for Any Company

"The cost saving and ease of use of TestComplete is a great benefit in giving us the confidence that we are developing a stable and robust product which in today's marketplace is a must for any company," said Kevin.