SOLAR Testing Toolkit - Peace of Mind in One Single Package
The SOLAR Testing Toolkit was the first product we released when we began operations in 2014 – a solid solution that handles the functional, integration, regression, and performance testing of payment processing systems. Right from the beginning, we developed and used the Toolkit to test our very own products, and all our other solutions and projects have benefited from the solid test coverage it provides. With the Toolkit, the most revolutionary updates can be integrated seamlessly and swiftly into the most complex solutions.
A COMPACT MODEL OF THE GLOBAL PAYMENTS WORLD
The SOLAR Testing Toolkit simulates all the elements that make up the global payments world: ATMs, POS terminals, international and domestic card schemes (VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, JCB, UPI). It supports online and batch file interfaces and can test clearing files and reports. A simple test script setup language defines rules for interactions between elements, allowing true-to-life simulated transactions to be submitted to the testing system without involving the external infrastructure. Results can be speedily analysed and compared with expected values across infinite sets of parameters. Basically, it’s a compact model of the electronic payment world that you can parameterise to your heart’s content.
SMALL INVESTMENTS, BIG RETURNS
There is no doubt about it: our faith in this product has paid off in a big way. The SOLAR Testing Toolkit is not just a success in our SOLAR product testing laboratories. Our customers are also reaping the benefits from implementing it in testing solutions developed by themselves or by other vendors.
Our continuing product analysis and research confirms that the SOLAR Testing Toolkit has proved to be a cost-effective solution at every bank it has been implemented. This has proved true even for those with no in-house development, and for those whose testing is limited to vendor products.
TEST CREATION WITHOUT THE FUSS
We wanted to simplify the process of creating tests for our users. The larger the test model, the more cumbersome the support, so cutting out the complexity was a big goal. That is why we stepped away from classic programming languages in the test setup process, and made test creation possible through a user-friendly test description interface that requires no programming experience at all. Other special interfaces allow the SOLAR Testing Toolkit to be continuously integrated for every software build. Our solid testing platform is the base for all of our projects, whether it is product development or implementation.
FUNCTIONAL TESTING
A new software feature for your system must be subjected to a variety of tests before commercial operation to ensure that it fully meets requirements. For example, testing can verify that the interest on account balances is being accrued on the correct days in the correct amount, and that accounting transactions meet central bank requirements. After testing, errors must be corrected and the testing process repeated again. The SOLAR Testing Toolkit allows you to do this hassle-free by submitting simulated transactions such as authorisations and financial documents through standard interfaces, running end-of-day transactions automatically, and initiating the uploading of required interface files while using smart pattern matching mode to verify them.
The SOLAR Testing Toolkit can also be used to create tests based on specific business requirements entered for the tested software, and to match up results with requirements. Test coverage and completion can be tracked using a handy set of statistics reports.
INTEGRATION TESTING
Manually testing information systems can turn into a monumental challenge if they contain a large number of external online and file interfaces that support various protocols. Consider that a complete test requires the system’s test instance to be connected to the compatible test instances of all auxiliary systems – not to mention the test hosts of all external payment service providers and international payment schemes.
With the SOLAR Testing Toolkit, you get decide the level of accuracy you need in your system’s simulation. You can do more than submit actions and analyse results with the Toolkit’s smart mocks. For example, the Toolkit can simulate any IPS and will give the right response based on the use case. A single installation can simulate several systems at once; when testing how your ATMs process payment cards of another bank, the Toolkit simulates both the ATM sending the authorisation request and the payment scheme which responds to it.
REGRESSION TESTING
So you have successfully navigated the loop of feature upgrades by testing new features, correcting errors, testing again, and over and over until everything works like a charm. Is the system now ready for commercial operation? Not necessarily. One of the last hurdles after functional testing is regression testing, where you verify that older features are operating correctly along with the new.
The SOLAR Testing Toolkit gives you the edge here too by saving and initiating sets of regression tests. No more need to divert expensive specialist resources to manual result analysis, taking up several days. With this Toolkit, it is likely that all you are doing is making sure that about 95 percent of tests have run correctly and fixing the remaining 5 percent. And this definitely pays off – according to our research, the Toolkit saves time usually spent on regression testing many times over and boosts test performance significantly.
PERFORMANCE TESTING
We’d all like to think that updating an information system will speed up processing and performance, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes a bug can slip undetected past the regression testing stage and show up only as a lag in operating speed.
You can catch hidden bottlenecks easily with the SOLAR Testing Toolkit by setting up a custom load profile that most closely matches actual loads, and initiating simultaneous loading of the system from all channels with maximum capacity. The Toolkit can handle stable, step and peak loads within the preset period, then record and analyse results, and finally, create a productivity report after test completion.