IBM Rational System Testing products automate virtually every type of QA testing – from simple smoke tests to complex configuration testing to high-traffic system performance scenarios. The tools test applications written in a wide range of languages and built using a range of IDEs. The tools include, or integrate with, a comprehensive test management tool that provides the team with access to all test activities and results for the application-under-test. Integration of each of the tools with the IBM Rational Team Unifying Platform enables traceability of business requirements to test cases, automated defect tracking, access to the Rational Unified Process, and more, during functional, regression and performance testing.

Offerings:

IBM Rational Functional Tester for Java and Web - provides ScriptAssure™ for resilient test scripting and validation of dynamic data during functional and regression testing, eliminating a significant amount of script maintenance. The tool also provides Java and Web application testers with the powerful code and debug development environment of the Eclipse IDE; and can test from within a perspective of IBM WebSphere Studio or IBM Rational Rose XDE™ Developer. IBM Rational Functional Tester for Java and Web creates test scripts in Java; and provides object mapping, which is used to apply changes made to a test object to all the test scripts related to that object, eliminating the need to build new scripts each time the application is modified.

IBM Rational Robot - automates functional, distributed functional and regression testing in environments in which more than one IDE and/or programming language is used by the development team; and it provides full, native support for testing all Visual Studio .NET controls. Testers new to automation can use IBM Rational Robot to learn automated functional testing on-the-job; and experienced test automation engineers can use its open extensibility to create test scripts that uncover more defects by testing more of the application. Test scripts developed during functional testing can be reused in load testing with IBM Rational Performance Tester.

Includes: IBM Rational TestManager

IBM Rational Performance Tester - tests applications, pre-deployment, against specific performance criteria and within the production environment. The tool pinpoints the source of performance problems, so that system administrators and developers can tune the system infrastructure or repair the application before it is launched. Test scripts developed during performance testing can be reused during production monitoring with IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Transaction Performance.

Includes: IBM Rational TestManager, 50 Virtual Testers

IBM Rational Virtual Testers - are used with IBM Rational Performance Tester, to scale performance testing to increasingly higher user loads by emulating hundreds to thousands of simultaneous users. Testers assign virtual testers to sets of test scripts with the IBM Rational Performance Tester scheduler, simulating groups of users who randomly or predictably perform many different business transactions and processes.

IBM Rational Performance Tester Extension for SQL - is used with IBM Rational Performance Tester to test the performance of servers that provide SQL interfaces to clients in a multi-user system.

Top Reasons Businesses Buy Rational System Testing Products:

• Gradually convert a manual testing department into one in which test automation is used to the team's best advantage.
• Reduce the risk of releasing defective software by enabling testers to find more defects because they can expand the breadth and depth of testing without expanding the testing timeframe.
• Improve testing accuracy and increase the percentage of the application thatis tested.
• Java and Web application testing teams can take advantage of superiorfunctional testing technology specifically developed for their applications.
• Significantly reduce the time needed to test, report defects, track requirements changes, and communicate defects to developers thus freeing resources for additional test projects.
• Find the sources of system performance problems pre-deployment.
• Take advantage of the intellectual and technical support Rational offers through training and services.

Key Messages

Ease into test automation: Only IBM Rational, because of the deep integration among our testing and test-related products, offers a means to gradually achieve the many tangible benefits of test automation. IBM Rational provides broad manual-testing administration features and easy-to-adopt regression testing capabilities that help testers start by automating some testing activities without having to stop the entire team's production schedule. As proficiency grows and time is saved by the tools already in use, team members can expand automation to include capabilities such as defect tracking, change management, tracing of requirements, as they prefer.

Find more defects: Only Rational test tools and practices help testers find more defects by enabling testers to expand the breadth and depth of testing without expanding the testing timeframe. The capabilities of the tools themselves, and their integration with each other, help testers uncover more defects. For example, with IBM Rational tools, test plans parallel the application's business requirements, so testers know what business needs have to be tested, and changes to those requirements are automatically traced to the tests they may impact. Configuration is easy enough to set up that all the desired configurations can be tested each time regression testing is performed, instead of omitting some configurations in the interests of time. In addition, specifically for IBM Rational Functional Tester, using Java to build test scripts makes testing custom user interfaces and Java controls easier; and ScriptAssure technology frees testers to spend more time on actual testing by greatly reducing script maintenance. All of this adds up to being able to uncover more defects by using IBM Rational tools than without them.

Become a better tester: IBM Rational testing customers receive the intellectual support and guidance testers need to become better testers thorough the Rational Unified Process, Rational University , and the online Testing Centers in the Rational Developers Network. Even the functional testing technology itself makes it very easy to learn how to better work with test scripts directly as a consequence of doing one's job. Professional testers using the Rational Unified Process, or RUP®, receive extended, context-sensitive help on effective test processes, and can access tool mentors that provide detailed guidance on using the testing tools within the context of the Rational Unified Process.

Test from the IBM WebSphere Studio perspective: Specific to IBM Rational Functional Tester, having Eclipse or IBM WebSphere Studio as the test development environment gives testers the advantage of using those professional environments of themselves; as well as a modern editor with code completion and code assist; a full debugger for easily identifying and resolving test-script problems; the means to communicate clearly with developers; and the ability to test the SWT library in Eclipse/WebSphere Studio based applications.