Option3: Test Automation and RPA - the cognitive way

The increasing complexity of enterprise applications in combination with distributed application architecture has made it imperative for organizations to have a testing approach that would enable them to effortlessly design and execute functional, regression, and performance tests. The end-to-end automation of the regression testing cycles contributes significantly to reduced labor costs and boosts time-to-market while ensuring the reusability of the test components to improve productivity and support collaborative testing. “However, what we have observed is that most of the standard test automation products are static in nature. This means that, these products do not have the intelligence to execute the relevant critical tests based on a change to the application, thus requiring a considerable manual effort for testing,” points out Sudhir Sen, Founder and Products Head, Option3. For enterprises keen on implementing a continuous automation framework—be it for their DevOps, test automation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), or analytics—for their Retail or Banking Solutions such as SAP, Manhattan, and IBM Sterling Commerce Applications, Bangalore-based Option3 provides them with a comprehensive cognitive automation package.

The company’s test automation suite—Jiffy—has a tailored module designed to automate the validation of IBM Order Management and Fulfilment Suite including Sterling DOM (Distributed Order Management), Sterling SOM (Store), and Sterling COM (Call Centre) applications. In addition to offering pre-packaged automated functional validation flows along with the reusable test components, Jiffy is equipped with an intuitive script-less automation interface to assist functional or business users or business analysts who do not possess the scripting skills to automate their testing scenarios.

With options to drag, drop, and connect the pre-defined Retail or Banking components, Jiffy allows users to map them and run automation scripts against a configured application environment of their choice. It results in reduced testing timeframe to the tune of 40 to 60 percent, improved requirements coverage, and thus ensuring code quality. The benefits offered through this has already seen Jiffy adopted by some of the leading Fortune 100 corporations in the retail, banking, and manufacturing domain.

Jiffy RPA is Option3's cognitive robotic process automation (RPA) solution. Running upto 50 self-learning robots per machine, deploying machine learning algorithms to auto-rectify data input errors and making human like decisions, Jiffy RPA allows extremely complicated processes to be automated in a Jiffy. As Payeli Ghosh, Founder and Partner of Option3, puts it, “We offer a combination of UI/data-based automation with a strong cognitive layer to derive deeper insights into the performance of robots handling multiple processes. A dynamic business needs a dynamic RPA. RPA solutions need the agility to adapt to changes in business processes without extensive maintenance efforts. Our focus has been to deliver a product that addresses these challenges.”

Additionally, Option3 provides their clients with an end-to-end self-service analytics solution— Docube—that offers data storage, visualization, data mashups/ETL, and advanced analytics. Docube also provides the IBM Sterling suite users with application monitoring and management options to proactively monitor IBM Sterling application performance from development to production and create their own visual analytics preview. Docube’s continuous monitoring feature ensures that the application issues are detected in near real time and are resolved way before the production phase.

Equipped with an inter-disciplinary team of domain experts, technology architects, and data analysts, Option3 is committed to delivering business value to their clients by making processes more efficient through automation. The firm has already invested substantially in R&D to make the DevOps cycle even more intelligent using cognitive robotics, which in turn will minimize human intervention. Although the firm plans to offer a few variations of their automation solutions to cater to the emerging markets in India and Africa, their current focus continues to be locked in on the U.S., Europe, Middle-east, and Latin American markets.