HP Beefs Up App Testing Tools For Virtual, Mobile Environments

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday launched Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI) version 2.5, a set of software development tools that speeds up the testing process for apps in mobile and virtual environments.

ALI 2.5 now works with a wider range of development environments and software configuration management systems. When software code is changed, there are requirements that need to be validated, and ALI 2.5 takes artifacts and provides traceable information between them.

"This is valuable in virtual environments, where testing and development need to be built and torn down when validating bunch of changes," Matthew Morgan, senior director of product and solution marketing for HP Software, said in an interview.

Change-based testing is common in Agile software development environments, and ALI 2.5 will be available through all HP software resellers, said Morgan. "Partners can wrap in their own value-added expertise on how to be successful in an Agile environment," he said. "There is also a change based testing component."

HP is also integrating its functionality for testing mobile apps using real devices in the cloud. While HP's existing LoadRunner in the Cloud product is for testing apps, the new HP Testing for Mobility Services handles the other side of the equation: functionally validating apps to ensure that they work as intended.

Developers need to ensure that apps work on all devices, but going out and buying every Android and smartphone and iPhone obviously isn’t feasible. HP Testing for Mobility Services, a joint effort between HP and partner Perfecto Mobile, determines whether apps work on these devices and operating systems.

This is not an emulator, but a service that sits in the cloud and enables developers to run test cases. Developers using the service will find the image of the device they wish to test against, and then load their app into the cloud based device -- which is a fully functional smartphone that includes GPS and camera features, according to Morgan.

"By having all test cases automated across all devices, we're able to do run automated tests against the devices, and developers see the results right away," said Morgan. "Without this, they would have to do all this manually."

HP also rolled out Enterprise Mobility Services for SAP Applications, a service that boosts employee efficiency by allowing mobile users to obtain data from SAP NetWeaver and Sybase's Unwired platforms.