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With accelerating software delivery ranking highest amongst reasons to move towards agile ways of working in the 2020 14th annual State of Agile report, why is it that so many companies still use the energy consumptive, expensive, and error prone approach of manual testing? Is there a better option?

IBM Z Virtual Test Platform (Z VTP) introduced by IBM in 2020 provided leading-edge testing capabilities focused on improving developer productivity and early-stage shift left testing. Now, in their next release IBM Z VTP 2.0 has introduced direct support for the Galasa testing framework, enabling automation of integration-level testing across a multitude of technologies from 3270 based applications to Selenium driven web browsers. With the Galasa capabilities, you can take advantage of a comprehensive framework which spans the full testing lifecycle. The provision of  a full automation framework means that the testing of your critical applications can now become repeatable, consistent, and reliable.

Additionally, IBM Z VTP 2.0 customers can now:

-       Shift application integration testing to earlier in the development cycle and include it as part of an automated build process

-       Use a single test framework for testing hybrid applications and manage complex integration testing end to end

-       Complete repeatable, reliable and agile tests at scale across their enterprise

-       Accelerate the debug of any issue raised in testing, using a recording that easily recreates the failing scenario

 

IBM Z VTP provides the IBM Distribution for Galasa 1.0 which builds on top of the Open Source Galasa framework providing features unique to Z VTP and that can offer a fully supported way to adopt Galasa. 


What is Galasa?

Galasa is a test framework that offers deep integration with z/OS, allowing you to write test classes that can invoke a CICS transaction, run a batch job or interact with a data set. This results in you to not only invoking your application but also, verifying that it executed correctly. Galasa is not just focused on z/OS, it can also test distributed or cloud native components of your application. The integration with existing test tools like Selenium or Jmeter, provides unparalleled capability allowing you to drive your system of engagement and verify in the system of record.

How?

This is achieved through a powerful and easy API set that allows the tester to use the right technology at the right time. Additionally, you can run the same tests against your whole environment, regardless of whether you are on LPAR, IBM Z Development &Test platform, Wazi Sandbox, or a subsystem with mocks.

IBM Z Virtual Test Platform (IBM Z VTP)

IBM Z VTP offers the advantage of allowing developers to test and verify the impact of their changes before deploying their IBM Z application.

How?

An IBM Z VTP test is created by recording and capturing all subsystem and program interactions of a transaction(s) or steps in a batch job. Once recorded, this test can run against the application load libraries without the need for the subsystem. This means the developer can test their program changes against their own load libraries before deploying the code.

Want to know more?

The addition of Galasa to IBM Z VTP capabilities can allow you to extend your agile vision. This includes all aspects of automated testing from build time through to end-to-end integration.

If you’re new to IBM Z VTP, you may want to learn more by visiting this webpage to get started. However, if you’re ready to jump right in, visit this page to book a consultation.