The digital world is constantly evolving, with data management at its core. Our client, a leader in AI-powered data security & management, faced several challenges. From enhancing automation for UI, CLI, and REST APIs to improving new feature testing and stabilizing the master branch, these areas were key to their growth. With the right strategies and expertise, ThinkPalm turned these challenges into significant achievements. Here’s an in-depth look at how we partnered with our esteemed client to enhance their processes and deliver outstanding results.

What were the major business challenges?

1. Backlog automation

A substantial backlog of test cases posed a significant challenge. Without any automation for UI, CLI, and REST APIs, the manual effort required was immense. The backlog grew to over 1000 cases each quarter, making it difficult to maintain coverage and uncovering around 800 bugs quarterly, impacting product reliability and customer satisfaction.

2. Release readiness

The release cycle for major updates was an extensive 12 weeks. The lack of early bug detection mechanisms meant issues were often identified late in the cycle, leading to delays and extensive rework.

3. Test-bed readiness

Creating comprehensive test cases across various environments was another significant hurdle. The client’s infrastructure includes Oracle, SQL, O365, physical, virtual, Isilon, NetApp, and cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP. Ensuring thorough coverage across these combinations was challenging, leading to potential slippages in corner cases.

4. FI analysis

Field Identified (FI) bugs posed another challenge. Moreover, they needed a robust system to identify, analyze, and rectify these bugs to prevent future occurrences.

5. New feature testing

Testing new features required a meticulous approach. This involved understanding requirements, preparing test plans, manual testing, and automating these tests—a method crucial for continuous testing in agile development environments.

6. Areas of expertise in testing

From hardware qualifications and software qualifications to security, patch, upgrade, longevity, system, and performance testing, they needed to ensure their software’s compatibility, stability, and security across all platforms and scenarios.

In short, the major challenges the client faced were:

• No automation in place for efficiently testing UI, CLI, and REST APIs
• Inadequate test planning for new features
• Insufficient regression test maintenance for 30,000+ tests
• Frequent broken master branch
• Absence of security testing
• Missing new feature automation tracking in CI/CD

Specialized testing expertise

The client needed experts to test their software in these areas:

• Hardware Quals: Ensuring the client’s software functioned seamlessly on both in-house and OEM platforms.
• Software Quals: Verifying compatibility with newly upgraded sources in the field.
• Security: Conducting comprehensive scans and CVE checks to safeguard against cyber-attacks.
• Patch: Validating hotfixes and patches to mimic customer environments and ensure issue-free deployment.
• Upgrade: Ensuring smooth upgrade paths based on customer software versions.
• Longevity: Testing age-old clusters under typical customer scenarios to ensure long-term stability.
• System: Performing end-to-end testing on larger clusters with heavy workloads to ensure system robustness.
• Performance: Running varied workloads to assess IOPS, latency, and throughput, ensuring no degradation due to product changes.

How did the business transformation happen?

Our client, a leader in AI-powered data security & management, partnered with ThinkPalm to address these challenges. The main goal was to equip them with top-notch automation and testing tools to easily supervise and coordinate diverse testing activities.

What was the solution that ThinkPalm offered for the Client?

ThinkPalm developed a tailored automation and testing solution for them, offering a comprehensive set of capabilities that include:

1. Automating backlog

ThinkPalm leveraged its expertise in UI, CLI, and REST API automation to tackle the backlog issue. By writing OPS in GO code, they automated over 10,000 test cases, significantly reducing manual effort. This automation allowed the team to process over 1000 cases each quarter, improving coverage and identifying around 800 bugs quarterly.

2. Enhancing release readiness

To shorten the release cycle, ThinkPalm introduced a shift-left strategy, integrating testing earlier in the development process. This proactive approach reduced the major release cycle from 12 weeks to just 6 weeks, allowing for faster time-to-market.

3. Ensuring test bed readiness

ThinkPalm developed comprehensive test cases covering all combinations of source infrastructures and adapted to new product changes in the cloud. This ensured no slippages in corner cases and maintained high test bed readiness.

4. Streamlining FI analysis

By implementing thorough root cause analysis (RCA) and adding relevant coverages, ThinkPalm effectively tackled FI bugs. This systematic approach prevented future slippages and enhanced product stability.

5. Organizing new feature testing

ThinkPalm’s agile methodology for new feature testing involved preparing detailed test plans, executing manual tests, and automating these cases before software configuration documentation (SCD). This continuous testing approach minimized regressions and maintained product quality during rapid development phases.

Which were the core features designed for the client by ThinkPalm?

To boost the client’s testing efforts, ThinkPalm added these main features:

• Centralized monitoring for comprehensive oversight
• Improved tracking and trapping abilities
• Simplified data collection and analysis for informed research and collaboration
• Instant alerts for swift habitat protection and response
• Smart error and bug detection for proactive resolution. 
• Seamless integration with management programs for streamlined data management

How did the client’s digital transformation with ThinkPalm turn out?

Through a combination of strategic automation, early bug detection, and comprehensive testing, ThinkPalm delivered substantial value to the  client:

• Designed an effective dashboard for monitoring regression results.
• Conducted RCA for field bugs, covering missed cases and achieving 100% test coverage.
• Enhanced the team’s capability to efficiently manage multiple releases simultaneously.
• Ensured mixed workload testing to uncover more internal bugs and improve product quality.

By addressing these pain points with innovative solutions, ThinkPalm significantly improved the client’s developing processes. This partnership made operations smoother and boosted both product reliability and customer satisfaction.

Moreover, with the adoption of ThinkPalm’s solutions, they underwent a groundbreaking transformation in testing processes. Moreover, they gained unprecedented control and efficiency in managing testing activities, surpassing traditional testing methods. Further, ThinkPalm’s powerful capabilities enabled them to pioneer a new era of technological innovation in data management.

Wrapping Up

This successful partnership journey highlights the transformative power of strategic automation and comprehensive testing. Moreover, through our partnership, we have not only resolved critical challenges but also paved the way for a more efficient, reliable, and secure data management process. As we continue to innovate and collaborate, the future looks bright for our client and their customers.

Author Bio

Vishnu Narayan is a dedicated content writer and a skilled copywriter working at ThinkPalm Technologies. More than a passionate writer, he is a tech enthusiast and an avid reader who seamlessly blends creativity with technical expertise. A wanderer at heart, he tries to roam the world with a heart that longs to watch more sunsets than Netflix!