Client’s challenges
The client was looking for a solution that will help them do a ‘shift left’, with accelerated test automation to maintain the speed of delivery, but with the quality that would not suffer. The most important burning issue was that the client did not have any test concepts defined and was uncertain which direction to take in testing. They had very limited resources for quality assurance which was done mostly manually, as the test automation was in its onset in their organization, and they were still not fully empowered to get the most out of the test automation tool they bought (not following the best practices yet). A major challenge was having short release cycles - every 6 weeks.
With only one person as a tester, and with a growing complexity of the functionalities, it was becoming impossible to deliver everything on time and with the needed quality. One of the biggest challenges was the test data problematic for the workflow tests, as the business processes are very complex to test and states have to be repeatedly restored / reset, especially in terms of backward compatibility.
The client project team was using a pre-packaged ECM solution, with their own workflows and processes built on top.
Sixsentix’s solution
- Test Concept creation was conducted in multiple stages. First there were interview sessions with the responsible persons from the client team and they were aimed at defining the main client problems with regard to testing. The next stage was preparing the results in a structured way, with actionable recommendations from Sixsentix’ side how the client’s problems could be solved and the direction in which the client testing should go, with a focus on the processes that need to be in place before any further implementation.
- The enablement for the test automation was mainly conducted in a workshop manner. One part was focused on providing short guidance sessions to the client on the best practices of the test automation tool they were implementing. The other part was related to ‘shift left’ in API testing which was not taken into account before – a quality proof of concept to find out whether it was possible to create the workflows and automate them on the API layer
“The client discovered that test automation is one of the crucial segments of continuous delivery and that it is of outmost importance to immediately bring it to the higher level in their business unit if they want to achieve the quality expected. Through Sixsentix workshop and guidance, the client now has a clear picture of how to solve their challenges and which direction they need to take in their testing operations.”
Sixsentix Project Lead
Value delivered
1. The test concept was finalized and established, serving as a basis for future test automation and strategic orientation of the Client’s test operations, with a clear direction and path forward.
2. Reference test automation implementation of one of the workflows – Sixsentix created a pattern that the client can further use by themselves. The client’s team now works in the way we defined and designed and there is significant quality increase in their testing operations and processes.
3. The client gained a deeper understanding of the test automation tool itself and the API testing and the proof that it is possible to trigger business processes also on the API side. All the parts related to test preparation for the backwards compatibility are done now on the API layer, which results in time savings, faster test execution, greater speed of results and better quality overall.
