38 About Testing as a Service
It is a self-service solution designed for private clouds that:
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Orchestrates the testing process end-to-end by automating the provisioning of test labs including applications under test and test tools.
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Executes load and/or functional test scripts against the application.
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Provides rich application monitoring and diagnostics data for analysis.
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Has sophisticated chargeback facility for metering and charging the usage of the testing cloud by end-users.
Delivered through Enterprise Manager Cloud Control, TaaS makes it possible to significantly reduce testing time and costs without compromising quality and enables organizations to be more agile in delivering critical business applications to their users.
Key TaaS features include:
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Self-service portal for executing application load and functional tests.
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Test library with full access and security controls which stores all the test assets (scripts, databank files, scenario description and user configurable parameters) available to end users.
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On-demand automated provisioning of complete test labs that includes ability to deploy complex multi-tier applications, test tools, and test scripts. Pre-built assembly for Oracle Load Testing, Oracle Functional Testing, as well as custom test driver.
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Sharing of cloud hardware resource pools to help maximize hardware utilization while abiding by security policies.
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Integrated and rich application monitoring and diagnostics for middle tier and data tier, to ensure detection of bottlenecks and problems for the application under test.
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Resource metering and chargeback for tests that require to be charged to cost centers. These metering capabilities allow for tracking and charging for compute resources used.
38.1 TaaS Roles
There are three roles used in TaaS: Test Administrators, Test Designers, and Testers. The following sections describe these roles in more detail.
38.1.1 Test Administrators
TaaS enables Test Administrators to manage the application infrastructure for testing activities, define user activities for self-service testing, and manage test environments and test assets. See Figure 38-1.
Figure 38-1 Testing Cloud Administration Activities
From TaaS, the Test Administrator can:
38.1.2 Test Designers
TaaS enables Test Designers to create test assets and test environments that can be made available to users to perform testing activities. Test Designers create test scripts and testing scenarios by using the test drivers native capabilities. These scenarios include which parameters are configurable at run-time. See Figure 38-2.
Figure 38-2 Testing Cloud Designer Activities
From TaaS, the Test Designer can:
38.1.3 Testers
TaaS allows Testers to create tests from test assets and test environments that have been published to them by the Test Administrator. The Tester runs trials based on the test asset and environment, monitors ongoing trials, and analyzes the results of completed trials. The Tester can apply patches to an environment and rerun the trials to compare the results and determine how changes to the environment affect key metrics and overall performance. See Figure 38-3.
Figure 38-3 Testing Cloud End User Activities
From TaaS, the Tester can: