Enterprise software developer Novell Inc claims to have boosted the effectiveness of its performance testing processes by deploying application performance management software to improve debugging workflow procedures.
The company is using the dynaTrace Test Center Edition APM software tools to diagnose and resolve performance issues during software development. The system uses transaction tracing technology known as PurePath which follows and captures individual transactions down to the code level across different tiers and technologies to provide software engineers with root cause diagnostic information.
Novell’s QA Manager Mike Demastrie told us that one of the biggest benefits with the system has come from the way it helps reduce the number of test round-trips needed between engineers and testers to isolate and fix a particular software problem. “We’ve seen the number of round-trips reduce on average from say, six down to just two,” he said.
The installation of the APM tools has helped Demastrie’s group solve some of the problems Novell used to have in performance testing the vendor’s software product and which were in danger of impacting on the company’s release cycles.
It has also helped free up test hardware, and also means testers and developers can now achieve more in less time.
Novell QA Engineer Lucy Monahan explained the draw to APM tools like dynaTrace’s. “The software provides a view of an application under load, over time and under load over time. The dynaTrace product offers some debugging features as well, and can help solve OutOfMemory errors or thread dumps,” she said.
Monahan said Novell’s testers can run fewer, more productive tests during debugging. Running fewer tests during debugging means they have more time to run more productive tests during performance and regression testing and capacity planning phases.
Novell apparently looked at CA Inc’s Introscope product as well as other APM tools from the likes of OPNET Technologies Inc, before deciding on dynaTrace.
Demastrie cautioned that the cost of entry to APM is relatively high, but that the return on investment is most definitely positive. Test workflow has improved, and the tests return better results to development.
The APM tools that have been deployed at the company’s US east coast and Utah based centres allow Novell’s software engineers to focus on creating new features and functionality, rather than spend time chasing bugs. Additionally, any software bugs that do creep in are killed as early as possible in the lifecycle, which reduces costs.
dynaTrace offers three fully integrated editions, specifically tailored to the needs of development, test and production.
Wherever the product is used it always generates PurePath data that can be shared with any interested party. The company has added dashboard technology, which allows views to be built to present the PurePath data in a way that makes sense for the person reviewing it. For a developer that might be a view of an SQL statement, whereas someone in operations might want to see response times or memory allocation or usage.
Novell’s Monahan said, “PurePath preserves individual transactions for later review, so that problems can be analysed whenever the team member has time, rather than when they are discovered. Since I can send them the PurePath of the specific transaction, they can view it immediately or later when they have time.”
