Addressing The Challenges Of Testing Soa Based Applications From AppLabs

Addressing the Challenges of Testing SOA based Applications

Neil Pandit

19th March 2008

Agenda

» What is SOA?

» An Example SOA Implementation - On-Line Loan System

» Business Risks and Benefits

» Main Challenges

» Addressing the Challenges - SOA Test Strategy

» Test Organisation Changes

» Approach by Testing Types and Relevant Tools

» Summary

What is SOA?

» SOA is an Architectural style» Modular

» Shareable

» Distributable

» Defined interfaces

» It is about the design of the business» Focus on Business Processes / Business Driven» It is more than Web services!

An Example SOA Implementation – On-Line Loan System

InternetCustomer

User Business Process

Customer DB

Web

Services

3rd party Credit Check

Financial Adviser

Login

Credit check

loan quote

Quotes

InternetCustomer Validation

loan quote

Credit check

Mainframe

Legacy / 3rd Party

Business Risks and Benefits

» Risks » Increased costs» Early joiner – when there is little knowledge» No business commitment and resource available» No overall picture of business processes and ability to

prioritise» Quality – single point of failure» The industry decides that the future isn’t SOA after all!

» Benefits» Reuse of code» Reduced IT spend» Faster time to market

Main Challenges

» Scope and boundaries

» Changes to composition of test team

» Increased knowledge required of testers

» Technical knowledge (WSDL)

» Domain knowledge

» Use of Tools

» Governance and the need for standards

» Increased focus on negative and non-functional testing

Addressing the Challenges - SOA Test Strategy

» Test Design should follow a Top down Approach

» Test Execution should follow a Bottom up Approach starting at the individual service level.

» Current testing methodologies should be extended to support the use of services in an SOA solution.

Test Organisation

Unit Testing System TestingIntegration TestingSystem Integration

TestingService TestingUser Acceptance

TestingBusiness Acceptance

Testing

Test Manager

UAT Test Co-ordinator

UATTest Manager

Test Team Leader

DevelopersSr. Test Analyst

Test Analyst

Test Engineer

Functional and Regression Testing

» Approach» Need for more concentration on negative testing

» Impact on regression testing

» Backward compatibility testing

» Service quality becomes more important as reuse will require a level of quality to be achieved

» Tools» Parasoft SOAtest

» QTP

» Green Hat GH Tester

» Borland SilkPerformer SOA

Performance

» Approach» Service must be fully performance tested

» Volume

» Stress

» Load

» Targeted infrastructure tests

» Tools» Loadrunner 9.1

» Parasoft SOAtest

» Green Hat GH Tester

» Borland SilkPerformer SOA

Security

» Approach» Testing at the service level and not at the final stage

» Performing a security risk assessment

» No assumptions about 3rd party development

» Penetration tests

» Need to ensure data security is handled appropriately as per industry regulations

» Testing of changes to Security Policies

» Tools » Vordel Soapbox

» Parasoft SOAtest

» AppScan

Integration Testing

» Approach» The need for an Integration Test Strategy

» Validate Functioning of Interfaces and Data Sharing between Services

» Creation of WSDL Definitions and testing against these

» Use of Regression Tests

» Tools» Parasoft SOAtest

» Green Hat GH Tester

» Borland SilkPerformer SOA

» QTP

Interoperability

» Approach» Services need to adhere to WS-I (Web Services Interoperability)

» WS-I Basic Profile and Security Profile

» WS-I site http://www.ws-i.org/

» Ensure that Governance supports adherence to standards

» Tools» Parasoft SOAtest

» Borland SilkPerformer SOA

Summary

» SOA is here to stay» Risks and Benefits must be understood» SOA will change the organisational testing

methodology» Testers’ skills will need to change» Change in testing approach - Non-Functional Testing,

Interoperability» Increased development and use of tools

» Questions?» Email marketing@applabs.com