The client is a leading provider of diagnostic imaging products and network systems to meet the needs of healthcare facilities today and well into the future. They provide vital services to the medical IT industry by creating products for all aspects of the medical imaging process, including but not limited to acquisition, presentation, and management of diagnostic images. Their PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) provides a seamless solution for managing, storing and distributing images and information throughout the entire healthcare enterprise, working on HL7 and DICOM protocols.
After trying to utilize in-house developers to establish a test automation framework, the team encountered problems with an object repository which was too large to properly manage and which lacked proper maintenance to support the effort of performing necessary testing. It became clear that the in-house team was not enough to answer all of the concerns which can crop up during test automation. They were also concerned about sizing up the test automation process to include potential future projects. As a big corporation with many developing projects taking place in various departments, the client made the decision to look for a strategic testing partner to establish an automation framework that can rapidly be ramped up and provide ROI.
It was clear that the client’s main concerns lay within the challenge of creating a usable object repository which took into account both the experience of the development team and the testers themselves. Qualitest evaluated a few testing tools that complied with the rigorous system and management requirements which would properly meet the company’s needs, while still remaining simple enough that efficiency would not be hindered. Looking at maintenance, supported environments, re-usability, and the framework as a whole, Qualitest decided that HP QTP would meet all of the client’s requirements for the object repositories, and instituted it as the main test automation tool. Qualitest defined and constructed a small number of shared object repositories which could be easily replicated for use in future test automation. On top of this, they also created an object identification process for the use of all automation efforts. Providing stable properties and logical names while providing sustained maintenance helped keep the repository usable and also allowed for marginal growth over time. In this manner, the test automation process was completed in a way that kept in mind the company’s future needs while also answering their immediate concerns.