"Universal test management for all projects"

1. DB Systel – Information Communications Technology
service provider for Deutsche Bahn
“The standard Test Management Tool, based on
HP Quality Center, gives us transparency
regarding test progress and the quality of our
software releases, it also reduces our reporting
costs and makes it easier to control our service
providers.” Dr. Eberhard Kurz, CIO Passenger Transport at
Deutsche Bahn
Objective
DB Systel has gone to great lengths to
standardise its testing environment. Previously,
there was no integrated, universal test platform
that covered all projects from request, through
test specification, to error management
and standard build-to-run tests. Employees
learned how to use testing tools for specific
projects, but this reduced flexibility in terms
of project implementation. Time and costs
for the evaluation of testing tools were being
incurred.
HP customer case study:
Universal test management Approach
for all projects DB Systel implemented HP Quality Center (QC)
Industry: as a standard test management tool for all
Service provider current and future projects. Uniformity is ensured
by linking HP Service Center to the tools for
requirement management and IT service provider DB Systel designs, implements and
software-supported incident management, operates software for leading international transport
whilst the HP Quality Center Dashboard module and logistics service provider, Deutsche Bahn. To align
provides the necessary transparency. its software production more closely with industry
standards, an integrated Test Management Tool (TMT)
for quality assurance has been used throughout the
IT improvements
company since 2008.
• Uniform error management system with a
comprehensive error database, reduces the The company has around 5,000 employees whose
number of repeated errors. duties range from developing software to operating
data centres. The Development Centre is responsible
• Reduction of delays as several employees can
for technical architecture, design and implementation
work in parallel on the same tests.
and software testing. Together with the Competence
• By using HP Quality Center, DB Systel has Centre, it delivers approximately 1,500 years in
increased its Capability Maturity Model consulting and development services in the areas of
Integration (CMMI) rating from two to three. individual and standard software. Over 500 processes
are developed, refined and maintained.
Business benefits
When it comes to rail traffic safety, the Federal
• Due to high reliability and increased security it
Railway Authority is ruthless; every single function of
has achieved low expenditure and cost savings.
every item of software used in business-critical areas
• In extensive development projects, with new of Deutsche Bahn must be successfully tested prior to
versions constantly appearing, redundancy is
at 60 to 80 per cent, whilst across all projects it
is 10 to 20 per cent.

2. Therefore, DB Systel decided to introduce a standard
“We now make very few expensive software platform for the entire testing department. This
mistakes in the earlier development was intended to complete the standardisation of the
testing process and to be mandatory for all software
phases, such as during the design phase, projects, replacing the other tools. Existing tests were
because we can take countermeasures in to be migrated to the new environment, and the new
tool integrated as seamlessly as possible. “Although
good time.” we already had defined comprehensive management
processes, we still needed a software platform that
Gunnar Rühl, senior vice president of the worked in an equally standardised way,” comments
Development Center at DB Systel Klaus Metzlaff, head of the Development Centre,
Quality Assurance and responsible for central process
management in the testing department at DB Systel.
To enable functional Graphical User Interface (GUI)
tests to run automatically, DB Systel was using ‘DBS Test
automation,’ a solution developed in-house using HP
LoadRunner for load and performance testing.
Rühl also promised that a central Test Management
implementation. Furthermore, this procedure must be Tool would make it possible for the new test software
repeated every time such a programme is modified. projects to be set up centrally. “This means that, when
projects are forwarded to the project teams, you
To meet its customer’s long term high expectations, DB already have a series of basic tests that are the same
Systel has clearly relied upon defined standards for for all projects,” explains Rühl.
processes and structures: the benchmark for software
development is Capability Maturity Model Integration Service providers have complete
(CMMI), whilst IT operating processes are handled
according to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). As
mastery of the software tools
Gunnar Rühl, senior vice president of the Development The decision to introduce a standard TMT was made
Center at DB Systel explains: “This enables us to at the end of 2005. DB Systel then began to look for
guarantee high quality for our working results and a suitable tool. At the same time it also had to find
transparency for our processes.” a suitable service provider; one that would need to
be very familiar with the selected tool and bring with
Rühl’s long-term objective is to achieve a largely
it demonstrable expertise in the implementation of
automated testing and development environment. In
equally challenging test environments. HP Quality
order to achieve this he wanted to make software tests
Center was finally chosen as the comprehensive
more standardised and transparent. Even though there
test platform. The design and implementation was
was already a central process management system in
to be handled by professional software testing and
the testing department, and a test process library, the
consulting company, C1 SetCon.
central test management activities were not reproduced
in the form of software. A standard test infrastructure “We realised that using a standard TMT would enable
encompassing all projects and all stages was missing. us to reduce software development costs,” explains
The individual project teams were able to select their Detlef Exner, chairman of the board of DB Systel.
test documentation tools themselves, which costs time
and money. The problem was that the results, or tests The TPN train paths portal
from the individual projects, were virtually impossible
Producing and maintaining the software for the
to reproduce because of the different tools used. It was
Deutsche Bahn train paths portal is one of DB Systel’s
very difficult to compare the efficiency and success of
most complex projects. A train path is the infrastructure
individual projects. Employees who switched from one
capacity needed to run a train between two places
project to another had to relearn how to work within a
over a given time period. This means that several train
new tool environment.
paths usually run along the same track throughout the
“New, centrally implemented software projects, when course of a day. The regulations state that each of the
they are forwarded to the project teams, already have several hundred external rail companies which use
a range of basic functions common to all projects. the Deutsche Bahn rail network must be able to order
Therefore the software-supported management a train path via the portal at any time. Approximately
varies between each specific project only in special 30 per cent of train paths are accounted for by
functions,” explains Rühl. regular, recurrent traffic, mainly passenger trains. The
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3. remaining 70 per cent consists of special traffic, in
particular freight trains. These need to be ‘merged’ into Customer solution at a glance
the overall traffic and must be ordered by Deutsche
Primary software
Bahn’s customers up to 24 hours before the scheduled
• HP Quality Center
departure. If the portal fails, this would breach • HP Service Center
regulations; nobody would be able to order a train • HP Quality Center Dashboard module
path and the railway would lose train path sales. • HP Performance Center
• HP Loadrunner
The continuity of the test solution across projects
and phases and the associated efficiency and cost
benefits were convincing, as was progress towards
process automation. The management supported
the implementation, and not just by authorising the Each software project was able to determine a
introduction of the tool for the entire two years securing timeframe for the migration process. “This participation-
a significant budget for the project. What mattered based approach increased motivation for those
more was that the management was clearly behind involved,” explains Michael Bangel, head of the
the project for the entire period, which underlined the Technology Centre, Testing at DB Systel, who had
importance of the project and motivated the staff. It operational responsibility for the Test Management
meant that team leaders in the individual project teams Tool project. Each project now pays a flat fee for use of
no longer needed to hold basic discussions about tool TMT, irrespective of the number of users.
migration.
A number of suitable pilot projects lent themselves to
In 2006, staff from C1 SetCon and DB Systel large-scale implementation. “I wanted to select large
developed and tested the migration concept. The most and important projects,” says Rühl. “If the project you
suitable way of organising the implementation was in choose is too straightforward, new challenges often
the form of a project. The project team comprised up to arise during implementation in more complex areas.”
six employees from the two companies. The integration The software for ticket sales was selected which is
expert played a significant role in the implementation operated by rail advisers in service centres on their
methodology. “We know from similar projects that it is screens when customers are ordering their tickets. The
crucial for future tool users to be convinced at an early second pilot project was the Train Path Portal (TPN)
stage, otherwise such a project is very difficult to carry where migration ran smoothly in both projects. The
out,” emphasises Dr. Stephan Fassbender. existing tests could be restructured in Excel and from
“Although we had already defined comprehensive there implemented in HP Quality Center. Both projects
management processes, we still needed a software succeeded in migrating to the new environment by the
platform that worked in an equally standardised way,” end of 2006.
explains Klaus Metzlaff.
Strong push for rollout
Consultation increases motivation The next stage was the rollout across the board. Of
Extensive information and motivational events were the 80 or so software projects of varying scale, four or
held at the outset. These explained why migration to five were to be migrated to the new test platform every
a standard tool is a useful and beneficial process, month. As users were able to coordinate the schedule
even if many employees and projects need to adapt to suit their own test phases, the completion deadline
their current working methods. Additional workshops planned for the end of 2007 was deferred until April
were held in each target group for project-specific 2008. “We had very few problems, because the users
adaptation of the tool and for user training. could see that their needs were being respected,”
recalls Susanne Meyer-Fehlhaber, project manager at
An aspect that was crucial to the successful DB Systel.
introduction of the tool throughout the company was
standardisation. Many clearly defined areas of the test Every project migration started with a two-hour
platform are uniform across all projects, whilst very customising workshop for project managers, test
few have to be modified by the project teams. Reports managers and key users, at which the rollout managers
were to have standardised formats. Communication, explained the tool and demonstrated the options
user interfaces, roles and metrics for higher-level available for adapting it. Participants learned how
control were to be the same in all projects. Every effort many users would use the new tool, the number of
was made to leave as many HP Quality Center core tests – between a few hundred and tens of thousands
functions unchanged as possible, thereby keeping depending on the project – and the anticipated
the overall system in cost-effective operation and migration timescale.
compatible with new upgraded versions.
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4. The TMT project team then prepared the project-specific
prototype from a standardised TMT template and C1 SetCon - the success factor
modified it, where possible and permitted, according
C1 SetCon is part of the C1 Group. The business
to the user specifications. After importing the tests, the
was formed at the beginning of 2005 and
users were instructed on their future roles in the test
specialises in software development and in quality
process and in operating the tool. The duration of such
assurance. With over 70 highly trained consultants
a rollout phase was two to four weeks for each project.
and IT specialists, C1 SetCon enjoys great success
in many different industries. By focussing on core
Greater transparency issues, such as – professional software testing, C1
“We now enjoy far greater transparency in software SetCon can offer its customers particularly innovative
testing,” explains Rühl happily. There is now an error and cost-effective solutions as well as sound strategic
management system with standardised reporting for advice. In the “Test Management Tool” project for
all projects, in which all errors and their processing DB Systel, C1 SetCon was in control at all stages:
status are documented. Therefore, repeat errors and from design, tool customising, rollout strategy and
mail communication can be avoided. The automated implementation, to user training. www.c1-setcon.de
integration of data from projects gives visibility across
all projects, including the development phases in which
most errors occur. “We now make very few costly if necessary. As far as its customer Deutsche Bahn
mistakes in the earlier development phases, such as is concerned, this is clear evidence that DB Systel is
during the design phase, because we can take action offering a professional service.
in good time,” explains Rühl.
The advantages of TMT are so convincing that
The HP Quality Center Dashboard tool summarises HP Quality Center is now also used in software
the development status of all software projects at DB projects for parent company, Deutsche Bahn. “The
Systel and displays the results graphically. This enables standard TMT based on HP Quality Center, gives
both project managers and other key decision-makers us transparency regarding test progress and the
to obtain rapid information about work progress. They quality of our software releases, it also reduces our
can see at a glance whether all the main processes are reporting costs and makes it easier to control our
in the ‘green area’, or if there are problems. service providers,” comments Dr. Eberhard Kurz, CIO
Passenger Transport at Deutsche Bahn.
Improved testing with HP Quality
Gunnar Rühl still has many plans for the testing
Center infrastructure based predominantly on HP tools: “We
Security and confidentiality are assured with HP want to develop it further in breadth and depth.” A tool
Quality Center which maintains an extremely simple yet for demand management is currently being evaluated.
intelligent role concept, whereby each user sees only the Furthermore, HP Quality Center has been linked to the
information that he or she needs to see. This means that existing solutions for GUI test automation, an in-house
summarised management information is reserved for development, and HP LoadRunner. As DB Systel also
administrative levels that need it for their work. “Thanks uses an HP solution for incident management, future
to HP Quality Center and other measures, we have now events registered by this tool may flow directly back
risen from CMMI Level 2 to CMMI Level 3,” says Rühl. to the HP Quality Center error management system.
This means that all processes are closely merged and This means that problems resulting from software
made transparent by IT tools, enabling management to errors are remedied at their root. “We are gradually
obtain a current view at all times of the main processes, getting closer to our long-term objective of having an
as well as their effect on the business result, and respond automated test environment,” concludes Rühl.
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4AA3-1212EEW, Created September 2010