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EMPIRIX HELPS COMPANIES DEPLOY .NET APPLICATIONS IN LESS TIME

Empirix Inc, a provider of integrated testing and monitoring solutions for Web, voice and network applications, launched the latest version of its award-winning Web application testing solution, e-TEST suite 7.0. Building on a long history of leadership in testing Web applications, Web Services and J2EE applications, e-TEST suite 7.0 is the first complete native .NET Web application testing solution, incorporating features designed to help companies deploy better .NET applications in less time.

.NET applications leverage new technologies and pose new challenges that generic application testing tools cannot handle -- such as XML Web Services, ASP.NET applications and Web-deployed Windows Forms. e-TEST suite 7.0 allows QA organizations to adapt to these new technologies quickly and efficiently, through wizard-driven, easy-to-use support for all major features of the .NET Web application stack. Combined with the power, efficiency and ease of use provided by e-TEST suite's Visual Scripting environment, these new features make e-TEST suite 7.0 the best choice for ensuring the quality of .NET applications.

e-TEST Suite Helps Ensure A Smooth Migration To .NET For DataQuick

This new release was driven by market demand for better .NET testing solutions. DataQuick, one of the nation's leading providers of real property information, has adopted the e-TEST suite from Empirix to test all of its .NET applications.

"Once we learned that Empirix had an automated testing solution designed specifically for .NET, we decided to try it and have been extremely happy with the results," said Glen Pascual, software tester for DataQuick. "We've found e-TEST suite to be both user-friendly and very flexible. It has enabled us to find and address issues that we would have never found using our old method of testing," he said. "With e-TEST, scripting is a breeze. Now it's easier than ever to test more thoroughly and more frequently."

According to Gartner Inc, the .NET application management arena should grow considerably during the next several years. Theresa Lanowitz, research director at Gartner, noted that because .NET applications differ from regular Web applications -- offering richer user interfaces, for instance -- companies should seek out specialized quality assurance tools and implement best practices for managing the .NET application life cycle.

"We see growing .NET adoption on the corporate side, and we also see .NET being used for more critical, customer-facing applications," noted Lanowitz. "These new uses are driving the need for better application management solutions."

Joe Alwan, vice president of marketing for the Enterprise Solutions Group at Empirix Inc noted that approximately half of Empirix customers are now building or plan to build applications in .NET. "We have seen a surge in companies who are standardizing on the .NET platform," said Alwan. "And we hear a set of common concerns when we talk to these companies, all centered on how to find time in an already resource-constrained QA group to learn enough about the .NET technologies so they can test their new applications. We've solved this problem by building .NET intelligence directly into e-TEST suite 7.0. Now QA teams don't have to become .NET developers -- they can stay focused on business requirements and test strategies."

Specific .NET testing features of e-TEST suite 7.0 include:

• ASP.NET Testing -- e-TEST suite automatically validates the functionality and performance of thin-client ASP.NET applications with its integrated WebSmart Visual Scripting engine. In addition, e-TEST suite 7.0 provides integrated .NET server monitoring during performance testing with included ServerStats monitors for .NET.

• .NET Windows Forms Testing -- A new module allows users to test Web applications that incorporate .NET Windows Forms (WinForms) browser plug-ins. e-TEST can now natively record user interactions with Windows Forms -- providing a level of user experience validation that traditional GUI functional testing tools simply cannot provide.

• .NET Web Services Testing -- Users can test the functionality and performance of .NET Web Services with e-TEST suite's unique Web Services script generation wizard. This Wizard allows users to create reusable functional and performance test harnesses that automatically validate Web Services at the component level and as a part of larger transactions.

• Visual Studio .NET Integration -- Empirix has integrated e-TEST suite 7.0 with Visual Studio .NET and is a member of the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) Program.

Enhanced .NET And J2EE Functional Testing Capabilities

e-TEST Suite 7.0 also includes several new features that remove obstacles to automated functional testing of both .NET and J2EE Web applications. Alwan noted that until today, QA teams had to choose between code-based testing solutions that require complex programming approaches to manage and maintain test libraries, or highly productive Visual Scripting solutions like e-TEST suite that could require re-recording scripts in response to application changes.

"e-TEST Suite 7.0 is the only solution to combine the script maintenance and management capabilities previously only available in complex code-based tools with the enhanced productivity of a visual scripting environment," said Alwan.

e-TEST suite's 7.0 functional testing enhancements include:

• Adaptive Visual Scripting -- e-TEST suite now provides integrated capabilities that attack the script maintenance burden head-on, removing one of the biggest barriers to successful functional and regression test automation. Adaptive Visual Scripting incorporates Intelligent Object Identification (which controls the sensitivity of test scripts, enabling them to automatically adapt to non-critical application changes) and Modular Scripting (which allows users to create script components that can be updated centrally and reused in many scripts).
• Process and Task-oriented User Interface Redesign -- e-TEST suite's e-Tester has a series of user interface enhancements designed to simplify many of the most common tasks during testing. Enhancements include more efficient Workspace and Options management, new intuitive script node icons and easier access to key features.
• e-Manager Enterprise 3.0 -- e-Manager Enterprise 3.0, the newest generation of e-TEST suite's integrated Test Management module, includes a new test asset Grid View, a new Reports Manager user interface and a series of new management-level dashboard reports.

Empirix also offers a solution for monitoring .NET and J2EE Web applications in production -- OneSight -- thus enabling companies to cover the full application lifecycle.