Ixia Extends The Power Of Its Test Conductor Automation Tool
Test automation tools provide the organization and framework that allows network equipment manufacturers and service providers to develop, organize and execute quality assurance tests. Test Conductor allows organizations to run QA tests at every step in a product's life cycle – from development, to integration to deployment. The bottom line is quicker time to market, combined with higher quality. F5 Networks uses Ixia Test Conductor to do just that.
"F5 Networks makes sophisticated application delivery devices that become more feature rich each day," said Steve Mitchell, manager, Integrated Systems Test Teams at F5 Networks, the global leader in Application Delivery Networking. "Without test automation, as provided by Ixia's Test Conductor, we would not be able to test the full complement of our devices' functions in all the combinations we require."
Test Conductor 1.1 expands its applicability through four major features. The DUT configuration module (DCM) simplifies device configuration and monitoring, using capture/replay to eliminate the need to write scripts – creating a library of reusable configuration procedures. Test Conductor 1.1 offers vendor-agnostic execution, allowing test scripts from any test vendor to integrate smoothly with Ixia-based application tests. Its integration with the Mercury Quality Center eliminates the need to segregate network testing plans from other test plans and provides a tight coupling of general purpose test management processes and Ixia testing solutions. Test Conductor's trend reporting has been enhanced to reduce the time to report and analyze trends during a product's life cycle.
"Test Conductor addresses about 80 percent of our test automation needs out of the box and significantly enhances our in-house automation efforts," added Mitchell. "With Test Conductor, we are able to reduce our regression cycles significantly, with less interaction from our testing experts, shortening testing cycles and enabling us to go to market more quickly."
For equipment manufacturers, time to market pressure often means making a choice between missing a market opportunity and shipping products without adequate testing. Inadequate testing invariably results in poor product or service quality, leading to increased support costs.
"As businesses and consumers drive demand for converged, multiple services, operators and equipment manufacturers have an opportunity to capture market share by ensuring reliable, high availability networks and devices," said Victor Alston, senior vice president Product Development of Ixia. "With Test Conductor, network equipment manufacturers reduce product development time, and service providers easily and safely perform live network testing in addition to pre-deployment testing."
SOURCE: Ixia