The Blazemeter Continuous Testing Platform is key for BT to unlock the potential of Agile and DevOps. We’ve increased speed to market and quality of products delivered through different, and often dependent, delivery streams and methodologies. You can only get so far with automated tests and using Jenkins. You are only as strong as your weakest link and using cutting edge techniques to automate all aspects of the software delivery cycle, and all those aspects working together is the way to achieve this.
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THE CHALLENGE
BT faced the huge challenge of implementing a massive DevOps transformation at scale, while adopting automation testing and delivery across multiple teams and multiple business units. While the transformation initially focused on continuous integration processes, it was being done on a component level (e.g. using Jenkins and GitLab with some automated unit testing) and not at scale across the organisation.
Test data were being created manually (and with low coverage), and were not able to scale outside of long, bulky releases. This resulted in testing being a bottleneck in the devops transformation. Performance and load were not part of the test automation process at all, and testing occurred at the end of the SDLC rather than continuously throughout it. BT was using legacy solutions that limited testing to only certain departments, and made the goal of continuous testing a challenge.
Back to topTHE SOLUTION
By partnering with Perforce, BT has moved from slow, cumbersome releases to agile releases using the BlazeMeter Continuous Testing Platform. They are shifting left performance/load testing throughout the development process, utilizing BlazeMeter.
Back to topTHE RESULTS
BT Group is now able to plan, manage, test and optimize the continuous delivery pipeline.
BDD/unit testing is not done in isolation anymore and is becoming part of every build. Shift left performance/load testing will be done for every release, and is done early in the application lifecycle. By embracing BlazeMeter (that by nature is open-source friendly), it has become much easier to onboard new teams, and with the newly implemented train-the trainer program their own internal team is taking a major role in the adoption and transformation process.
Having the right tools, partner and ecosystem was a game changer in BT’s journey of fully automated CI/CD/CT pipelines.
“It's also important for me to note that the continuous testing and DevOps tools (found in BlazeMeter) are enterprise-grade and scalable - BT is a hugely complex environment. It's also key to have a partner that is working hand in glove with a desire to deliver our business outcomes and values. “In a competitive market place these are the ingredients that will help differentiate us from our competitors and truly enable our digital ambitions.”--Glyn Martin, Senior Manager, Test, Transformation QA, BT