Tried & Tested

An e-mail software upgrade is a common business practice that should always include testing, says Brad Rossiter, security and technical staff manager at Clear North Technologies, an IT integration and security firm in Eden Prairie. “We do a lot of new groupware systems or e-mail systems. The latest thing out is [Microsoft] Exchange 2007. The way you go about getting that system implemented and tested [is with] a parallel installation. You’re running [new and old software] at the same time,” Rossiter says. The new software can be tested without interrupting the old. A fictitious user account is created on the old system and an attempt is made to migrate the account onto the new system.

And with all the ways to get

e-mail—phone, Web, iPod, or laptop—Rossiter says his company has to do compatibility testing on the different devices to keep client communications running smoothly.

Testing Tools

Virtual server technology can be used to simulate many users, orders, or site visits to determine if software on the real server can handle the volume. Rossiter says that with the Clear North system, a threshold is agreed upon with the client—say, 10 percent free space. Then, if the threshold is breached, the systems sends an alert.

Rob Duff, vice president of service delivery for Coherent Solutions, says that IBM, Hewlett Packard, Compuware, and Borland all produce software testing tools for routine performance tests. Load testing tools from these companies can simulate thousands of unique Web sessions.

Starkey Laboratories, an Eden Prairie–based hearing device company sought Coherent’s advice when it wanted to move from manually testing hearing aid software to automated testing. Audiologists use software that can sense different sound environments and changes the device settings on the fly to fit hearing aids for each patient. Coherent used a tool called SilkTest from Borland to set up automation of the hearing-aid configuring system. Coherent is now working on the third version of this testing software for Starkey. “As they add to the functionality of the software or if they change the functionality in the old version of the software, they need new tests,” he says.

“Besides just speeding things up for them, [Starkey] has a scenario where you want to be very meticulous in testing, and consistency is extremely important,” Duff says. “Humans, being what they are, are not always consistent from one test run to the next test run. They get distracted and its easy to make mistakes.”

The consequences of poorly performing software far exceed the costs, even when you’re talking about the most basic software. “The reality is that somebody is testing your software—either you’re testing it or your customers are testing it, or your business partners—whoever is using it,” Duff says. “But at minimum, [faulty software] results in inefficiency and less customer satisfaction.”