RedPrairie Testing

The Challenge

A successful specialty retailer with hundreds of locations nationwide was seeking to deliver the latest version of its RedPrairie Labor Management solution to its entire chain. With such a large deployment looming, the retailer wanted to re-examine their current quality assurance environment and develop a comprehensive test plan to ensure a smooth rollout and successful implementation. Sophelle, having had very similar, recent experiences at other leading retailers, was called upon to guide the company through test planning and execution.

Sophelle’s Assessment

A Sophelle Senior QA Engineer was brought in to assess the existing test environment. He found that the current, manual regression test procedures were cumbersome and time consuming, and each test cycle, as currently constituted, would be a significant drag to the project timeline. The use of automated testing would significantly reduce regression test cycles and would allow for more comprehensive testing by focusing manual test efforts on deeper levels of testing.

Solution

Test Planning – Sophelle worked with IT staff to develop an overall test plan for the project, including specific roles and responsibilities, manual test strategy, automation strategy for regression testing, and target functionality for test automation. Sophelle then managed the installation and configuration of an automated testing tool – HP QuickTest Pro (now part of HP Unified Functional Testing).

Test Execution – Sophelle developed and executed manual test scripts to validate new features and functionality of latest RedPrairie release. Sophelle also developed and executed automated regression test scripts to ensure the quality of existing functionality. Sophelle worked in concert with the business analysis team to identify, clarify, and resolve any defect findings.

Result

Automation of the regression test scripts resulted in a significant reduction in test cycle time. The test strategy, which Sophelle helped develop, resulted in the prompt identification and resolution of a number of defects prior to the implementation providing both a smooth rollout and satisfied end users.

The contributions made by Sophelle to the retailer’s overall quality assurance process would prove valuable beyond the scope of the initial project. The retailer was left with a series of re-usable QuickTest Pro regression test scripts which continue to be utilized in testing all implemented RedPrairie releases.

Please contact Sophelle today for more information.