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Compuware Mainframe DevOps Integrations Further Automate Shift-left Testing

Integrated Test Data Management and Automated Testing Ensures Test Data Consistency, Accuracy and Security

DETROIT – July 1, 2020 – Compuware Corporation, a BMC company and the leading provider of software for mainframe DevOps, today announced new capabilities that further automate and integrate test data and test case execution, empowering IT teams to achieve high-performance application development quality, velocity and efficiency.

The new integration tightly couples the Topaz for Enterprise Data solution with the Topaz for Total Test solution enabling test data setup to be directly embedded into automated testing. By further automating shift-left testing in the Autonomous Digital Enterprise, teams can ensure test data consistency, accuracy and security.

Business demand for faster innovation is putting pressure on IT organizations. According to a recent survey1, 85 percent of organizations find it difficult to deliver innovation faster without compromising quality, security, customer experience and operational efficiency. Test automation is cited as the single most important factor in overcoming these risks.  

"The collective efforts to build quality into software as early as possible is one of the biggest and most important changes I see in the industry," said Gary Gruver, digital transformation author and consultant. "It is also frequently one of the most difficult due to all the challenges with coordinating and automating code changes, test case changes and test data. It's good to see Compuware addressing this need."

The lack of test automation and easy access to good test data is holding organizations back from necessarily improving mainframe software quality, velocity and efficiency. The Topaz for Total Test and Topaz for Enterprise Data integration empowers teams to:

Improve test consistency. Continuous automated testing requires consistent test data. Improper test data can lead to inconsistent or incorrect test results, wasted time troubleshooting errors, or worse, the introduction of bugs. With the new integration, teams can ensure test consistency is maintained by calling the data load process as part of the test case and automatically loading a subset of data into a test environment. In the event the test fails, developers and testers can confidently tie the problem to the code and not the data. 

Remove friction and empower developers. Developers often rely on a specialized team or database administrator to build and load data into a test environment—a practice rife with manual processes, wait times and handoffs that put an unnecessary drag on velocity and efficiency. Now, developers themselves can setup and access the right test data when they need it. 

Ensure adoption through continuous testing. A repeatable data extract and load process can be part of an automated testing toolchain, driving data consistency and reducing complexity. And, as an aid to nudging developers' transition away from manual methods, automation can be set up incrementally to properly manage the scale and pace of adoption.

Protect sensitive data. With this integrated process, once the test data is loaded, it can also be privatized to protect personally identifiable information (PII). Automating the privatization as part of the continuous test reduces the risk of a security breach.

"We are dedicated to providing our customers with superior digital products and services," said Lynn Farley, VP, Manager, Digital Banking and Test Data Privacy at TCF Bank. "Compuware Topaz is helping us do that by disguising sensitive data and populating the environments to improve our testing processes while still being compliant. We can deliver quickly without compromising quality, efficiency or security."

"High-performance organizations in the Age of Software are maniacally focused on removing software delivery bottlenecks that waste precious development time, money and energy," said Chris O'Malley, CEO of Compuware. "Driving intrinsic automation throughout a mainframe-inclusive DevOps pipeline frees up these development resources so teams can focus 100 percent on quickly—and continuously—turning ideas that matter to their always wonderfully, beautifully dissatisfied customers into deliverables that make a difference. This is no longer an IT aspiration. It's an absolute business imperative to effectively compete for both your current and potential customers."

1A global survey of 400 senior IT leaders responsible for application development in organizations with a mainframe and 1,000+ employees conducted by independent research company Vanson Bourne on behalf of Compuware.

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About Compuware

Compuware, a BMC company, empowers the world's largest companies in their ongoing transformation to an Autonomous Digital Enterprise by delivering innovative software that enables IT professionals with mainstream skills to develop, deliver, and manage mainframe applications with ease and agility. Learn more at compuware.com.

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