Case Study: Oklahoma State University Automates with TestComplete

Oklahoma State University Field Office at Eglin Air Force Base needed a test automation solution to replace tedious and time consuming manual testing tasks that thoroughly tested their application. They found TestComplete fit the bill based on it's affordable price and many features.

A Need for Automation

"Testing of basic program functionality was repetitive, boring and time consuming and because so many tests were required to accomplish just the basic functionality, testing was incomplete. A program that automated the testing process would be a great asset to releasing a quality program," said Sharon Johnson from Oklahoma State University Field Office at Eglin Air Force Base.

Choosing TestComplete

Sharon explained how they chose TestComplete: "We researched, reviewed and tried many similar products. In the end TestComplete was chosen because the performance matched other programs and the cost was very affordable."

Turning Days into Hours

"Basic functionality testing of the product was tiresome and time consuming. TestComplete finishes testing the basic functionality in hours versus days. This allows for more testing sessions throughout the development process, as well as additional testing of specific regression tests, without tying up more people," said Sharon.

Performing More Tests

"By using TestComplete, we discovered errors that had existed in previous versions. We were able to complete more mundane/basic functionality testing and because TestComplete runs the tests so much quicker than doing them manually we could step through many of the options and still leave the testers enough time for more specific test cases. "TestComplete can do the basic functionality testing quickly and more completely, allowing the tester to do the testing that requires analysis of the outputs," said Sharon.

Saving Time and Money

Sharon explained how TestComplete saves them time and money: "TestComplete has allowed us to use our limited test time more efficiently, enabling us to do more testing in the time frame allotted. One person can now do more testing in the same time which saves us a lot of money and TestComplete costs much less than competitors but does the same job."

Improved Time to Market

"We have improved our time to market by performing more complete testing earlier in the process. Errors are now found earlier and corrected with less impact on the whole project, allowing a better product at final review," said Sharon.

Increased Test Coverage

"TestComplete allows us to test all of our basic test cases plus more. Before TestComplete, we selectively tested some of our test cases and then assumed that similar test cases would also work. Now, all cases can be tested in a reasonable amount of time and proven that they do work, or are corrected. Also the number of regression tests has grown and it is now much faster to perform regression testing with TestComplete," said Sharon.

Automating with TestComplete

"Before TestComplete, testing was done before each review cycle, and for changes. The difference now is in the completeness of the testing. We used to assume that a portion of the program was ok because the latest change should not affect it. Now, we have the time to test the whole program to ensure that a change did not inadvertently affect another aspect of the program. For example, we have 12 dialog boxes with 2 to 20 choices per box in our application. In addition to those, we test limits, plus correct and incorrect entries, which translates literally into thousands of tests. Regression test cases number approximately 100 and the number grows with each new feature, version and or change," said Sharon.

A Great Value

"TestComplete is a great value for testing your program to ensure the most error free program is released. It saves time on basic tests, allowing the tester to more completely test the product in a shorter time then doing it all manually," said Sharon.

Conclusion

TestComplete has allowed Oklahoma State University Field Office to improve their quality and their product's time to market. They've gained time and saved money by automating their testing processes which allows their testers to perform more tests and more varied tests.