An automated test suite is more than just a collection of scripts. It requires careful planning, development, and maintenance to build a test suite that can provide helpful feedback on software quality. Small boutique shops pushing hot new apps and gigantic enterprises configuring warehouse workflows alike face similar challenges when automating tests: What should be tested? How should tests be written? And, how can we make testing a repeatable process? The process for developing good automated test suites has three phases to answer those three questions: Discovery, Formulation, and Automation ..read more

In part 1 of this series, “Supply Chain Agility Through Unattended Testing,” we established that unattended, automated testing is the juice that fuels high-powered organizations to achieve more. Swapping out traditional manual testing for unattended testing enables businesses to keep pace with increasing amounts of change while remaining competitive, embracing change as desirable, and fostering a culture of positive, strengthening, continuous testing. The continuous testing mindset is a paradigm shift for how businesses operate. As technology evolves and user expectations soar, automation is i ..read more

In today’s intricate landscape of modern supply chain systems, complexity prevails, offering a multitude of paths to navigate. As businesses grapple with the need for efficient testing processes, a transformative solution emerges: unattended testing. Discover how unattended testing differs from once-standard manual methods, and how continuous testing can change the game for businesses of all kinds. Modern Supply Chain Systems Are Complex Modern supply chain systems can take users down hundreds of thousands of different paths. Data, configuration, and customized workflows all play into the comp ..read more

This blog post was adapted from a live expert webinar with our partner, Longbow Advantage.  Although resiliency has been top of mind for supply chain professionals over the past three years, it’s still a relatively new concept. For instance, the Wikipedia page for “supply chain resilience” wasn’t created until March 2021 — a year after the pandemic first upended the world’s supply chains.  Supply chains have taken a beating since the discussion of resiliency became front-page news. Labor shortages, changing purchasing patterns, and even ships blocking the Suez Canal motivated the ind ..read more

This blog was adapted from a live expert webinar with our partner, Open Sky Group.  If you’re in the supply chain industry and crave a templatized approach for scalability, you’re not alone. Standardization is winning out after years of customization. But there’s still a disconnect between what companies think a solution should look like and how it’s actually implemented.  This is where mock Go Lives come in: They mitigate implementation risk by reducing reliance on actual Go Lives as replacements for proper regression testing. Renewing focus on quality assurance (QA) lowers the like ..read more

After an organization purchases an off-the-shelf enterprise software solution like the Blue Yonder warehouse management system (WMS), the real work of configuring and implementing the solution begins.  Custom configurations ensure that the system meets business needs, but such software requires significant (and time-consuming) testing, both before deployment and on an ongoing basis.  Test automation adds value to the implementation process by limiting costly, repetitive manual testing and by ensuring the system can meet peak business demands before high-stress and high-impact seasons ..read more

This blog post was adapted from a live expert webinar with our partner, Open Sky Group.  The pressure for quick and smooth warehouse management system (WMS) implementations has never been as high as it is now. The days of T1 lines and onsite data centers are not quite gone, but the time is coming. There’s no escaping the fact that WMSs have become software as a service (SaaS) or cloud-based in a very short amount of time. This is partly thanks to the pandemic, which required industry-wide methodology changes. Companies across the globe have had to rethink every aspect of a WMS implementat ..read more

Strategy is paramount to the successful execution of organizational objectives.  Setting and sticking to a project timeline, developing and executing tasks, and accelerating projects with automation all require careful planning. These plans bring together the what, when, who, and how. However, too often, even the most detailed plan fails to adequately address the testing stage, which moves silently in the background of most projects. By not accounting thoroughly for testing, many businesses under-realize a project’s potential.    While automation plays an essential role for ..read more

Testing is essential, but it can be cumbersome. Doing it well and quickly requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Specialists can supplement an organization’s in-house team to help move testing forward by creating a faster feedback loop. However, automation remains a crucial part of the process. Automation within a testing strategy isn’t necessarily about bug count, but rather about finding issues earlier in the project life cycle. This means teams can remedy any issues early on and eliminate the chance of bugs making it into production. As with any other automated process, test automation is ..read more

We’ve all been there: Your software business is growing steadily. The product team has committed to a roadmap. The developers are focused on building new features. Leadership is actively monitoring market trends and scouting expansion opportunities. Everyone is aligned on delivering net new value. Then, seemingly out of the blue, you receive a message from one of your long-time customers stating that they are experiencing performance issues with your product and it’s impacting their business. Suddenly, the proverbial “Gravy Train” comes to a screeching halt as everyone pivots toward alleviatin ..read more