TestShield is a unique solution that helps you automatically test your End to End Dynamics 365 processes. It is built on the proven and robust North52 Business Process Activities rules engine and offers the ability to repetitively test and report on your key business processes.
TestShield is a collaborative automated testing solution. It features a codeless testing framework that enables multiple cross-functional team members to design and execute automated end to end tests. With TestShield, you can dramatically reduce the cost of validation and increase test coverage without increasing resources.
End to End Testing
The key to testing your software is not whether or not it passes software unit tests – these tests are useful to ensure a piece of code does what it is meant to do in isolation – it is whether the whole business process functions as expected – including long-running background (asynchronous) processes.
Before TestShield, end to end testing for Dynamics 365 required very time-intensive manual testing, which could be very slow and difficult to repeat on a timely basis. It simply would not be feasible to do such manual tests after each daily software build. TestShield not only makes it easy to set up the automated tests, you can schedule the tests to run as often as you need.
Advantages of automated end to end testing
- Reduces cost and saves money
- Less time and effort
- Better integration testing
- Early detection of issues
- Improved quality
- Better documented processes
Assemble. Arrange. Act. Assert.®
TestShield is a testing solution for Dynamics 365 which covers what we call the “four A’s of automated software testing“:
Assemble – describe the feature or process that you are testing and 'record' your desired scenario in your systems
Arrange – TestShield helps you automate the creation of test data – simply select from existing records and their related records (from your 'recording' in the Assemble stage) and TestShield will automatically arrange a ‘slice’ of your test data based on your selection
Act – easily define the processes you wish to trigger as part of your test
Assert – define the expected results to match your desired outcome
Business Challenges solved with TestShield
Delivering high-quality applications is vital to an organization’s longevity. Development has become more agile, but QA testings tools and processes have remained fairly static. Many tests are still run manually and the use of shareable, reusable test assets is often limited or doesn’t exist. Organizations are aware of the need to automate tests yet find that they revert to manual testing processes. Some of the main reasons for this include:
End to end testing is difficult
Dynamics applications are complicated and often tests need to span across multiple entities, workflows, plugins, business rules and external sources (e.g. Azure, Logic Apps, Flow). Further, some end to end processes can take several hours or days to complete. Manual testing is the only way most organizations are able to tackle these challenges.
Release cycles for features are shorter
Build cycles for feature updates are getting shorter and testing is unable to keep up. This adds to the backlog of manual tests that should be automated.
Technical skills not available
Automated testing often requires developers to build (e.g. Visual Studio) the test cases and keep them updated. Due to other pressures on their time, they often don’t have the time to do this and therefore manual testing is used.
TestShield has been built to overcome these challenges with some of the key features outlined below.
Key Features
100% native to the Dynamics 365 platform
TestShield is the only 100% Dynamics 365 native end to end testing solution available. This makes it easy to deploy and set up, and requires no additional servers to provision.
Easy to use by BAs, Testers, and Developers
TestShield’s interface makes it very easy and fast to create end to end functional tests by BAs, Testers and Developers alike.
Advanced test data generation
TestShield enables you to generate test data easily from your existing information. Simply search for Dynamics records, select them and then click a button to automatically take a ‘slice’ of the data. This data slice can then be used when setting up your automated tests.
Over 450 built in functions
TestShield has over 450 built in functions that can be used to create and manipulate test data, execute internal and external processes, and define logic for your test asserts.
Test and validate across all layers with a single test
TestShield has a unique ability to invoke and verify a single test across all layers of the application. This makes it a great fit for organizations that need to test Dynamics 365 applications that have processes which span across legacy systems, custom applications and cloud based services.