For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Test Data Privacy Is Critical To Meet Compliances

Data Masking Can Help Protect Test Data

by Noel Yuhanna, October 13, 2009

Using customer, employee, or other confidential data straight from production for testing or developing applications violates data privacy laws and regulations and makes that data a soft target for attacks. Data privacy is not just a concern for production . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

TechRadar™ For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals: Cloud Computing, Q3 2009

As Much Diversity Of Maturity Across Categories As Confusion Among Them

by James Staten, October 2, 2009

The No. 1 challenge in cloud computing today is determining what it really is. What categories of services exist within the definition and business model, and how ready are these options for enterprise consumption? Forrester defines cloud computing as . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Perform Realistic Web Testing To Ensure Blazing Fast Web Site Performance  (5.9 MB PPT)

by Mike Gualtieri, James Staten, June 16, 2009

This workbook discusses the importance of realistic performance Web testing, what it is, and recommendations.

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Micro Focus Acquires Borland Software And Compuware's Testing And ASQ Product Line

by Phil Murphy, Margo Visitacion, May 11, 2009

Micro Focus made a splash early in May 2009 with a trio of announcements — the first regarding impressive, albeit preliminary, fourth quarter financial results, and the other two detailing acquisitions of Borland Software and Compuware's application testing . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Hybrid Testing Centers Of Excellence

In Dynamic SQA, Leveraging Internal Expertise Is Critical

by Margo Visitacion, April 13, 2009

As outsourcing increasingly becomes a regular occurrence in today's software quality assurance (SQA) organizations, application development pros are wondering how to combine technical expertise and process maturity with sufficient business process knowledge. . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Test Management: The Secret Weapon In Your Arsenal To Build Dynamic SQA

by Margo Visitacion, March 24, 2009

Any software quality assurance (SQA) manager who has presided over a testing cycle understands the importance of creating an organized test plan — it's a great way to make certain that testing professionals are as comprehensive as possible while executing . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

The Dawn Of Dynamic Software Quality Assurance

Business Uncertainty, Risk, And Constant Change Are Altering The Way We Test

by Margo Visitacion, February 2, 2009

In today's uncertain economy, companies cannot tolerate waste or unnecessary risk. Application development organizations must supply software that is of high quality and meets business objectives in a continually changing environment. Development organizations . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

SLAs For Outsourced Testing Service Relationships Pose Unique Challenges

by Bill Martorelli, December 10, 2008

Related revenue growth among outsourcing suppliers shows that more customers are embracing outsourced testing services. While these engagements run the gamut from consulting, to staff augmentation, to defined outcome relationships, the latter approach . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview 2008: Automated Testing Software

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, November 7, 2008

Conventional wisdom says that the goal of testing is to find bugs in software, and that this should be achieved by running known usage cases that yield expected results. This opens the door to automation and automated testing solutions. New applications, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Leverage Certified Testers To Build Your QA Organization

Taking It From Nice-To-Have To Necessary Requirement

by Margo Visitacion, October 28, 2008

Constrained IT budgets and risk-averse business stakeholders continue to highlight the need for a robust yet practical software testing organization — but what is the best way to build such an organization? Most software testing organizations grow organically . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

A Stepwise Approach To Overcome Independent Testing Services Relationship Challenges

by Bill Martorelli, October 23, 2008

Much of the recent growth in outsourced application services has been fueled by customers engaging independent testing services where the development provider is separate from the provider performing the testing. This approach addresses the inherent conflict . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Capture Value From The Growing Diversity In Outsourced Applications Testing Services

by Bill Martorelli, October 15, 2008

Testing is the fastest growing segment of the applications outsourcing industry for many suppliers, as enterprise customers continue to embrace distinct services for quality assurance (QA). The landscape for outsourcing testing consists of leading multinational . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Hot Companies To Watch: Q3 Update

Profiles of Emerging Companies And Technology Trends That Tech Vendors Should Consider When Planning Strategy

by Chris Andrews, September 10, 2008

In this series, we highlight interesting new vendors and important technology trends. At Forrester, we've seen a strong interest in emerging technologies among our technology strategist clients as vendors seek to stay innovative and identify the "next . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Progress Software Snags IONA And Mindreef For SOA

How This New Combination Will Affect Application Development Professionals

by Mike Gilpin, Larry Fulton, August 1, 2008

Within one week, Progress Software announced its intention to acquire enterprise service bus (ESB) rival IONA Technologies and completed the acquisition of service-oriented architecture (SOA) testing startup Mindreef. The addition of Mindreef continues . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Functional Testing Solutions, Q3 2008

HP Leads, While IBM, Borland, And Compuware Offer Competitive Alternatives

by Carey Schwaber, Mike Gualtieri, July 8, 2008

Forrester conducted an evaluation of six functional testing solutions vendors across 96 criteria. Our findings? HP's leadership of the functional testing market continues unabated since its 2006 acquisition of Mercury Interactive. IBM has expanded its . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

An Introduction To Test Automation  (490 KB PPT)

by Carey Schwaber, June 9, 2008

This document is an introduction to test automation, including the economics, strategies, methodologies, and tools.

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Case Study: A US Airline Sustains A Rapid Pace Of Software Change

by Carey Schwaber, February 19, 2008

Because airlines face intense competitive pressure, their application development organizations have to be able to change gears quickly. To this end, one US airline's application development group has adopted an iterative development process and established . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

HP And IBM Try To Pull Security Testing Into The Mainstream

by Chenxi Wang, Ph.D., September 21, 2007

Recently, two major platform vendors announced acquisitions of security testing vendors: IBM announced its intent to acquire Watchfire on June 6, 2007, and HP announced its intent to acquire SPI Dynamics on June 19, 2007. In both cases, the platform vendors . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Tradeoffs And Tactics For Test Environments

by Carey Schwaber, August 20, 2007

Discrepancies between test and production environments are the root cause of an alarming number of problems in deployed software. Creating a test environment that's a full replica of the production environment is almost never an option given the staggering . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Your Path To A Test Center Of Excellence

by Carey Schwaber, March 15, 2007

IT organizations looking to improve their testing practices often opt to centralize some or all test-related activities in a testing center of excellence (COE). There are four primary models for a test COE, each with a different role and set of responsibilities. . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

A Four-Step Program For Compliant Test Data Practices

by Noel Yuhanna, Carey Schwaber, December 12, 2006

As concerns around data privacy mount, IT organizations find themselves revisiting their policies around test data. Indeed, customer data and company confidential data straight from production are inappropriate for use in test environments and should . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Toward A Testing Center Of Excellence  (563 KB PPT)

by Carey Schwaber, November 6, 2006

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

SOA Raises The Stakes For Software Quality

How Software Testing Methods Must Change To Suit Service Orientation

by Carey Schwaber, July 17, 2006

SOA makes software quality both more important and more difficult to achieve. But traditional approaches to software testing are insufficient in an SOA environment. IT organizations pursuing SOA find that they must rethink their testing methods and revise . . .

Empirix Offers Basic Capabilities For Functional Testing Of Web Apps And Services

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q2 2006

by Carey Schwaber, May 31, 2006

Forrester's evaluation of functional testing solutions revealed Empirix to have a more limited offering than the other vendors we examined. Empirix's offering is handicapped by its environment support — its automation tool works with Web apps and services . . .

The Forrester Wave™: Functional Testing Solutions, Q2 2006

Mercury Interactive Leads In Our Product Evaluation

by Carey Schwaber, May 31, 2006

Forrester evaluated leading functional testing solutions — tool suites with support for manual testing, test automation, and test management — across 87 criteria. Our research revealed Mercury Interactive to be the sole Leader in this . . .