A different approach

People do not build IT systems that automate business processes by giving development tools to people who do the day job and telling them to implement a solution. Yet, if you think about it, that is how much test automation is attempted. The doers, testers who have learnt to program, obtain the tools and start writing code. This is “end user IT”, testers writing software to do testing. As we know, there is more to it than that. Individuals using spreadsheets do not match the capability of ERP systems. It should be clear that there are limits to what traditional automation approaches can produce.

A domain aware development team

Given the limitations of the “end user” approach we need to turn to a more professional development approach to deliver high value results. What will make a team effective at creating these tools? To be effective any software development team must combine development skills with an understanding of the domain they are developing for. In this case that domain is testing.

The need for domain knowledge is as true for testing as it is for financial services or healthcare. The best results come when the team has an intrinsic understanding of how testing works and operates. An understanding that is as, if not more, important than knowledge of the domain of the system being tested. Simply put to build good test tools you need a deep understanding of testing.

Our history

We have worked on test automation since the turn of the century. In parallel we have been delivering diverse forms of testing across a wide range of sectors. We have created many tools and systems to deliver both functional and non-functional testing. We started out using and enhancing Rational Robot and WinRunner. Since then we have implemented many utilities, simulators, wrappers and complete test solutions.

We develop

We have our own ways of doing things. We are not deterred by the need to create something new, to write complex code from the ground up. We sometimes use standard tools, but often create specialist components to enable better solutions.

Technology

We use mainstream professional development tools, compiled languages such a C# and Java, platforms such as WCF and specialist libraries such as the UIAutomation suites. We build both standalone solutions and solutions that exploit established tools such as Selenium, Appium, QTP, Grinder and EggPlant Performance. We have used AWS and Azure to operate these solutions at scale.

Your requirements

Your team needs help getting to grips with automation. You want to do more than existing automation tools and patterns readily supports. You have a particularly challenging test problem and you think automaton may be the answer. You need to build an automation or load test solution alongside, not after, the development of your new application. You can’t seem to make headway with automation due to the complexity of your testing. You are an end user organisation without automation capabilities.

How we can help

We can build the specialist tools or establish the tool chains needed to deliver your needs. We can deliver the full spectrum of work involved in automation. This includes providing stubs, simulators, test harnesses, data management solutions, test deployment tooling, automated test execution, oracles and load simulators. Our wider automation testing strategic and tactical delivery experience can help you identify your needs and then exploit this technology. We can develop load testing solutions for you and then either hand them over or operate them for you as part of a full load testing service.