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UTP7.0+ Questions & Answers
Unified TestPro
 Business Questions?
How can SDT help transform your Testing Organization?
What is 3rd Generation Testing? How is this different from 2nd Generation?
What is Unified TestPro?
What is the benefit of a Roles-based approach to testing?
What is the Purpose of Unified TestPro?
What features does Unified TestPro deliver?
What is the "typical" ROI for implementing Unified TestPro?
What value-add does UTP bring that other 3rd Gen approaches do not?
Do you supply training? What kind?
What Businesses verticals have employed Unified TestPro?
How long does it take to "ramp up" a new team?
Technical Questions?
How is the UTP 3rd Generation Approach implemented?
Where are the Testware artifacts kept / stored?
What Technology environments have employed Unified TestPro?
What interface drivers does Unified TestPro support?
How does the SDT Interface Driver address your automation needs?
Why use VBA for the Software Development Technologies Interface Driver?
What are the benefits from an engineer's perspective?
How is the Keyword approach superior to 2nd Generation Functions?
What other advanced Testing solutions are available?
BUSINESS QUESTIONS
How can SDT help transform your Testing Organization?
Software Development Technologies can help you enable your testing organization, allowing it to meet your enterprise testing needs. We can facilitate the transformation of your testing organization by providing a proven testing methodology (Software Testing in the Real World Methodology) supported by an integrated set of 3rd Generation Test Automation Tools (Unified TestPro (UTP) and ReviewPro) all of which are complemented by training/coaching - so you can begin the process of test transformation and begin to see a real return on your testing investment.
What is 3rd Generation Testing? How is it different from 2nd Generation?
The 3rd Generation Testing approach is Keyword-driven, removing reliance on voluminous test scripting. The 2nd Generation approach ties the Test Case directly to the code - therefore each Test Case has code directly associated with it. A simple "test" to assess if you are looking at a 3rd Generation solution is to ask two questions:
"Is there any code tied specifically to the implementation of each Test Case?"
That is scripts; if the answer is yes, it is not a 3rd Generation testing solution.
"Must the design always be tied directly to the application?"
That is screens and displayed items; if the answer is yes; it is not a 3rd Generation testing solution.
What is Unified TestPro?
UTP is the only commercially-available Keyword-driven, 3rd generation test automation solution that significantly increases test coverage, reduces the time required to develop and execute tests, requires fewer technical resources, and drastically reduces the maintenance effort for test. UTP eliminates the need for traditional test scripts and provides automatic implementation of Keyword-driven test case scenarios. This roles-based toolset allows business analysts to focus on test design and automation engineers to share the automation effort - allowing a small roles-based team to quickly test your applications.
What is the benefit of a Roles-based approach to testing?
Unified TestPro supports a roles-based approach to testing and test automation. Each member of your team can function in one or more roles best suited to their current skill set. Members of your testing organization who are familiar with the business requirements can focus on Test Design; members of your organization who are familiar with the technical aspects of your applications and possess test automation skills can focus on Test Automation. There is no "knowledge barrier" preventing them from applying their skills:
Test Designers do not need specialized Test Automation skills
Test Automation Engineers do not need detailed business knowledge
Test Executors do not need design or automation skills
What is the purpose of Unified TestPro?
Unified TestPro provides an integrated solution for designing, implementing, executing, and maintaining both manual and automated tests during each phase of software testing enhancing your established testing process or providing you with templates to create a new process.
What features does Unified TestPro deliver?
Unified TestPro offers a roles-based, open architecture automation solution, providing specific tools for each job performed, allowing business analysts to focus on test design and automation engineers to collaborate during the automation effort. UTP integrates with your company's existing testing environment, allowing you to design, build, execute, and maintain your testing assets. Its keyword-driven test design methodology allows flexibility to change your application(s) with minimal required maintenance.
What is the "typical" ROI for implementing Unified TestPro?
Unified TestPro provides the fastest means of creating a regression test suite for your applications. It eliminates the difficulties posed by 1st and 2nd generation automation solutions - reliance on highly technical testers, high maintenance costs resulting from changes to the application(s) and reinforces the importance of test design. Unified TestPro provides an easy-to-use GUI for each testing role on the test automation team. Efficiency is greatly enhanced with broader test coverage resulting from UTP's disciplined approach to test design and collaboration among the various roles, such as test architects, designers, and engineers. Non-technical staff can effectively participate in test - even non-programmers. There is a significant decrease in test maintenance costs. UTP allows for simple separation of test design and test automation, while integrating within your existing test environment. In short, you get more testing done - efficiently and cost-effectively. UTP customers typically see a return on investment of ten to one, depending on the complexity of application(s) and level of integration of your business environment.
What value-add does UTP bring that other 3rd Generation approaches do not?
Unified TestPro is a keyword-driven, business requirements-oriented test design and automation solution. This means that you can design the elements that make up a Test Case (Keywords) and the Test Cases themselves before the product (or product enhancement) is delivered. Keywords address what the requirements deliver in business terminology (i.e. Add New Customer) not to the technologies being used (GUI, Web, API, Protocols, etc). This allows you to "forward load" your test design efforts, which often leads to the discovery of faults in the proposed system during requirements definition and functional design stages.
Do you supply training? What kind?
SDT offers a streamlined QuickStart program, which gets both your Test Designers and Automation Engineers up to speed within a week. This program combines training and hands-on UTP implementation assistance to get UTP users up and running quickly. We also offer courses and training on all aspects of testing including:
Verification Process
Validation Process
Test Design
Test Automation
Test Management
3rd Generation Test Architectures
What Businesses verticals have employed Unified TestPro?
Unified TestPro has been employed within a wide range of business verticals. Participating clients come from the following industries:
Finance / Insurance
Telecom
Medical Devices
POS (Point of Sales)
Oil & Gas Exploration
Government
Defense
Aerospace
Manufacturing
Software
And several more (Client list available on request)
How long does it take to "ramp up" a new team?
Most Unified TestPro users are able to begin implementing a 3rd Generation solution for their application within 1- 2 weeks. Our clients usually begin to see the full benefits of Unified TestPro, in terms of ROI, within 1 - 2 months.
TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
How is the UTP 3rd Generation Approach implemented?
Unified TestPro has a roles-based user interface to the UTP Repository (database) to enable members of your testing team to efficiently perform their tasks. The Test Design, Test Execution, and Test Administration functions are enabled without concern for the type of application under test.
Where is the data kept / stored?
The data for the Keywords are stored in the UTP Repository / Database, as are: projects, Test Cases, Test Sets, User Profiles, and GUI Map artifacts. Most of the coding artifacts are created by UTP during execution - any customization will be kept in the predefined structure.
What Technology environments have employed Unified TestPro?
Unified TestPro has been employed across a range of technical environments. UTP's open architecture and business-oriented approach to Test Design and Automation allow it to deal with a range of environments using the same set of tools and techniques. Clients have implemented solutions for:
Client/Server
Web-enabled applications
Legacy "Green Screen" mainframe applications
Traditional GUI applications
Telephony
API's
Embedded (system on a chip)
Telecom (INAP, SS7, and ANS1)
What interface drivers does Unified TestPro support?
UTP provides a complete solution, supporting effective test design while the UTP Open Architecture allows integration with your existing test automation tools and investment. This allows leverage of your existing test automation investment. We currently support:
SDTID
WinRunner
XRunner
C/C++
Visual Test
Java
And Several other commercial Play / Record Tools
How does Software Development Technologies Interface Driver address your automation needs?
The Software Development Technologies Interface Driver (SDTID) supports the direct manipulation of the applications. SDTID will enable you to efficiently automate your GUI, WEB, and e-commerce business solutions using our fully integrated Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) solution.
Why use VBA for the Software Development Technologies Interface Driver (SDTID)?
By using VBA to construct SDTID we have given your staff access to the most commonly used development language in the world and a fully-integrated development environment. You have the ability to leverage the entire MSOffice suite of tools to help enable your Test Automation solution. If your staff have experience extending the MSOffice toolset using VBA, have worked with Visual Basic Script, or actually developed Visual Basic applications, then they have the skills to work with SDTID. If your team does not have any experience with Visual Basic - it is one of the easiest development languages on which to get training (formal and informal).
What are the benefits from an engineer's perspective?
Unified TestPro allows an engineer to implement a keyword-driven test automation solution that solves the problem of constant maintenance by creating a discrete solution set - in other words there is no "Automated Script per Test Case". With UTP you simply automate the components of your system not the actual Test Cases.
How is the Keyword approach superior to 2nd Generation Functions?
The Keyword approach introduced with UTP 7.0 allows the Engineer to configure the behavior of the Keyword without constructing any supporting code. Since the only artifacts associated with the Keyword are Test Case Designs or Keyword configurations all maintenance and updates can be done directly from the benches without concern for supporting scripts / code - because there is no script / code associated with the implementation of the Keyword. This has obvious implications in terms of creating and maintaining your automated suite - now your automation solution is Database centric instead of being Code Centric with a supporting suite of tools designed to accelerate your development efforts.
What other advanced Testing solutions are available?
There are two other types of advanced testing solutions available:
Event-Driven (Windows, Objects, Actions) -- deriving your test designs based on the application under test. Unified TestPro supports Event-Driven testing but is not limited to just the application under test, thus allowing you to test "non-traditional" aspects of your application (logs, reports, protocols, batch, RPCs, etc.). The Test Designer does not have to model test cases against the application; instead they can model their Test Cases against the business requirements the application supports.
Data Driven - using a predefined set of Data to execute your automated test scripts. Unified TestPro supports Data-Driven Test Design but is not limited to it.
Unified TestPro, therefore, does not have the restrictions of Event-Driven or Data Driven approaches to Test Design and Automation but can incorporate the best of both into your Keyword driven automation solution.
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Michael Bush,
Senior Engineer,
Sun Microsystems
"This is the first training class that I ever attended that truly
reflects problems and solutions that Software Test Engineers encounter
during SQE of a product."
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Jean-Michel Dedobbeleer,
Exxon
"SDT developed customized software testing courses for our
development/test team and management. Everyone appreciated the
instructor's
presentation skills, energy and enthusiasm; he was able to increase buy-in
to new ideas that were highly controversial among the attendees. The
instructor proved to be a good listener to the concerns of the technical
and
functional analysts and conveyed the right messages to management to
initiate change."
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Tammy Simeona,
INDUS International
"Every tester serious about addressing the quality process should take
this course. Even veterans in the field come to realize they have a lot to
learn! It opens one's eyes to a quality testing approach. Edward Kit is an
experienced, interesting speaker. His insight is exceptional. The track he
took down could be applied to each participant's business situation. Thank
you an enlightening experience. I can't wait to apply at my company what
I've learned."
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