Tech Talk: FundGuard Test Center

If you’ve been following our weekly FundGuard Insights blog (thank you), then you are likely aware that a best practice approach to DevOps is fundamental to our software development process and is an approach to which we are quite dedicated.   

At FundGuard, DevOps isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a culture. Defined by the software world as a blend of software development (“Dev”) and IT operations (“Ops”), DevOps streamlines our process, making software development cycles quicker and more efficient. This ensures that we can serve our clients (and their clients too) in the best way possible.

In past blogs, we’ve shared several examples of FundGuard’s commitment to a strong DevOps culture, including: 

• FundGuard’s Blue/Green Testing Process: A strategy that reduces downtime and risk.

• Multi-tenant Software Approach: How we maximize efficiency and scalability in our SaaS solution.
• NoSQL/Big Data Databases: Our choice for handling vast amounts of data swiftly.

Continuing the discussion this week we present a view of the FundGuard Test Center, which dramatically differentiates the efficiency and effectiveness of FundGuard’s software testing process when compared to traditional methods. This in turn reduces time to market on new features and capabilities and greatly enhances our clients’ FundGuard experience.

The FundGuard Test Center

The FundGuard Test Center is a dedicated place that exists for each FundGuard client and includes a test region to define their test funds, fund groups, fund views, etc., as well as all accounting, workflows and controls. Test Center stores predefined configurations and test scenarios, as well as verification result files that auto-compare to test run results automatically, without manual intervention. Further, every FundGuard client will benefit from a robust library of testing scenarios from their fellow FundGuard users. 

• Customization and Validation: FundGuard clients often have unique configuration settings to meet their specific needs. By automating testing with their own testing scenarios and based on their configurations, each client can ensure that the software works as intended in their environment, providing confidence in its suitability for their business functions.
• Efficiency and Speed: Automating software testing saves time and effort compared to manual or semi-automated testing. Once the test scenarios are defined, they can be executed repeatedly and consistently, accelerating the testing process to deliver software updates and fixes much more rapidly.
• Enhanced Reliability: Automated tests reduce the risk of human error and subjectivity, resulting in more reliable and accurate test results. This in turn, improves the overall quality of the software and reduces the likelihood of post-implementation issues.
• Regression Testing and Updates: As FundGuard releases new software versions or updates, automated testing helps ensure that existing functionalities continue to work correctly. Automated regression testing allows FundGuard to continuously identify and rectify any unintended side effects of updates, safeguarding the client’s system stability.
• Extensive Test Coverage: Automated testing can cover a wide range of scenarios, including complex use cases that might be impractical or time-consuming to test manually. This broader test coverage helps identify potential issues that might not be apparent in standard testing scenarios. There is really no limit to the range of scenarios and configurations, all of which are saved to the FundGuard Test Library for sharing of best practices across FundGuard’s client ecosystem.
• Cost-Effectiveness: The return on initial time investment is quickly recuperated. Unlike the traditional, tedious approach of manual file dropping and individual batched test processes, the FundGuard Test Center ultimately orchestrates the entire process with automated file dropping and system scheduling. As the client receives regular software updates, the automated tests can be re-executed, providing continuous value without incurring additional expenses.
• Collaboration and Accountability: Automated testing with client configurations and scenarios fosters a collaborative relationship between FundGuard and our clients. It encourages a higher focus and accountability for delivering robust software that can stand up and perform under any condition. 
• Accelerated Team Adoption and Education: FundGuard’s unparalleled release pace puts great emphasis on thoughtful, reliable documentation, meaning always current content, videos, training courses and more.

Test Strategy

FundGuard’s Customer Success team works closely with our clients to carefully plan their testing structure according to their needs, with consideration given to the configuration and connection of accounting rules and workflows, as well as decisions around the test scenarios themselves. We enable our clients to make decisions about how they will organize their tests and help them form a testing strategy that works best for them. Also of note, we can run and test – via our blue/green testing process – actual data in parallel. 

The end result of our approach is significantly improved software quality, efficiency, and reliability, which in turn strengthens our clients’ own service offering to their clients.

No Longer Must the Client be the First Line of QA Testing.

Contact us to learn more about our unique approach to software delivery, the benefits to be gained from the FundGuard “DevOps” culture and our commitment to transformation. 

Related Reading

Cloud Natives + Blue/Green Deployment = Next Evolution of Investment Accounting

Dispelling the Myths About Frequent Software Updates

The Benefits of Multi-Tenant Software

NoSql Databases and the Evolution of Investment Accounting