Test Automation Solution

Test Automation - Solution Brief

This is an invitation to tender for a key University of Birmingham requirement for a commercial Test Automation solution. The tool is required to enable the university to automate business critical test cases and execute them quicker and faster during the regression cycles.

The Test Automation solution must fit into the Modular/Component/Object based framework/category of test automation tools (as opposed to Record & Playback or Keyword Driven category) - i.e. the tool must allow users to locate and arrange elements/objects on the page/application into a workflow and provide capability to reuse components across multiple test cases.

The Test Automation solution will be used by Test Analysts, Developers (as well as Business Users) and therefore will need to be intuitive and less technical as possible.

The requirement is primarily driven by the University's implementation of a cloud based Oracle Fusion ERP system to replace key HR, Payroll and Finance functions however the solution would need to be compatible with our large estate of applications across the university.

The key objectives of a Test Automation solution are; o Automation of GUI, API and Database layers of Web and Packaged Applications o Automation of manual test cases (for Oracle Fusion and other university applications), to be run during regression phases following patches, upgrades and enhancements o Reduction in time/cost of running test cases manually o Quicker and frequent testing of functional and repetitive tests that span multiple builds o Increased focus on data driven testing - testing of wider data sets o Automation of mundane testing tasks e.g. Setup of prerequisite data, transactions, orders etc.

Selection Process

This procurement exercise will be taking place under the Competitive Dialogue procedure. Minimum standards for participation, award criteria and weightings are set out in the contract documents. There is the intention to invite a minimum of three participants to continue to Stage 2, with three being the desired number.

The process will comprise of the following stages;

Stage 1 - Invitation to Tender o SQ and responses required to set questions o Evaluation of tender responses to shortlist participants to take forward to Stage 2 (Invitation to Participate in Dialogue - ITPD)

Stage 2 - Dialogue Stage o Demonstrate/present products by automating a test case provided by UoB (Test Case 1) o Mini trials carried out by project team (against criteria) o Clarifications followed by Invitation to Submit a Final Tender (ISFT) o Scoring and evaluation based on above - shortlist ONE product/tool to take forward to Proof of Concept stage

Stage 3 o Proof of Concept of the shortlisted product from stage 2 against a UoB application (Oracle Fusion) o The Proof of Concept will involve automation of three test cases - Simp...

Additional information: Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No