Technip

Business Need

As a company that operates in the oil and gas industry, Technip’s main business involves large-scale engineering, construction and procurement. Most applications the company develops support these three critical functions for which engineers are the primary end users.

Other internally-developed applications provide services across the business, such as human resources, while others are developed for specific departments, such as finance. The majority of the applications are Web applications developed with Microsoft .NET, but the company also custom develops desktop applications.

"We develop multiple applications supporting each of our key disciplines, and the size of those applications has grown so large that we can no longer test them manually," said Muhammad Mazhar Mahmood, a Software Testing Manager for Technip. "We thus needed an automated testing solution to help us make sure all of our applications continuously remain stable—before deployment into the production environment."

In searching for an automated testing solution, Technip specifically wanted to find an easier way to conduct application regression testing. "Previously, we found regression testing to be painful," Mahmood said. "We often need to test complete applications. This is not possible in a short amount of time, so we preferred to automate the regression testing process. We also needed an easier way to conduct server sanity tests to make sure each application runs properly."

Targeted Solution

Key attributes Technip sought in a new application testing solution included ease-of-use so the tool could be quickly adopted along with support for each development technology the company relies on, including Microsoft .NET and SharePoint as well as SilverLight, Java and Oracle. "The cost of the product was also a major consideration as well as 24/7 support," Mahmood added. "We have teams across the world, so we may need technical help at any time of the day."

Technip evaluated multiple leading solutions but chose the SmartBear TestComplete solution because it provides all the required testing capabilities at the lowest cost. "SmartBear also provides a streamlined purchasing process that delivers software orders quickly," Mahmood emphasized. "We never run into any delays when purchasing or renewing licenses."

TestComplete gives Technip an intuitive and automated software testing tool with which developers and testers can create, maintain, and perform automated tests for any desk-top, Web, or rich client software. Mahmood also appreciates the detailed TestComplete user guide. "Our developers and testers quickly understand how to utilize the basic functions," Mahmood explained. "But the user guide comes in handy when we want to delve into the advanced features. With just a little research within the guide, we can manipulate TestComplete the way we need to."

In addition to TestComplete, Technip also purchased SmartBear LoadUI Pro for API load testing and SmartBear QAComplete to ensure complete test coverage through every stage of the software development process. "With LoadUI Pro, we generate high-volume real-world loads while QAComplete lets us find defects faster during application development," Mahmood said.

Benefits and Results

With TestComplete, Technip can now test common functionalities across different applications and quickly run server application sanity tests. "Regression testing is now much easier," Mahmood added. "For Agile projects in particular, we can automatically test features that have already been developed instead of working our way through manual testing."

When Technip conducts regression tests, TestComplete saves considerable time. For one application that changes frequently, regression tests used to last 12 days. But with TestComplete, Technip now has automated scripts for most of the functionalities, so the same regression tests now require just four days. "In addition to making the process much easier for our testing team, we can also deploy application changes much faster for the benefit of our end users who interact with our critical applications," Mahmood said.

In addition to the faster regression testing, Technip can also quickly run server sanity tests. This proves helpful when implementing priority patches onto production servers after which the entire system must be tested.

"Automating our testing processes is very helpful when we need to perform specific tasks at times when testing resources are limited," Mahmood said. "We no longer have to ask one of our testers to spend an entire night monitoring test results before going live. TestComplete takes care of this automatically and in a much shorter amount of time."

Mahmood concluded his comments on SmartBear by saying, "SmartBear solutions include everything in one package so we don’t have to spend extra money for add-ons. And if there is new technology in the market or a technology is upgraded, SmartBear makes sure it’s included in the very next release of its products—without charging us extra money."

Business Challenges

• Eliminate manual testing of large applications
• Identify application performance issues before deploying into production
• Ensure applications remain stable continuously
• Streamline regression testing
• Simplify server sanity testing

SmartBear Collaborator Solution

• Accelerates user adoption with easy-to-use interface
• Supports wide range of development technologies
• Offers low licensing cost with a streamlined procurement process
• Includes 24/7 support from experts who diligently provide resolutions

Measurable Results

• Reduces regression testing by as much as 300% (12 days down to 4)
• Measures performance of common functionalities across different applications
• Runs server application sanity tests quickly
• Tests applications automatically to eliminate need for manual testing resources
• Enables faster deployment of application changes