Ten iOS 7 features that could make enterprises smile

Now that developers have had a few days to delve into the iOS 7 beta, it’s becoming clear that the iPhone version of the software could prove beneficial to enterprises.

Many members of the 120-person development team at Solstice Mobile in Chicago have been scouring the many iOS 7 Application Programming Interfaces for features that can help large enterprises better build apps on iOS, Android, HTML5 and Windows Phone.

In a keynote speech at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, iOS development chief Craig Federighi said the beta version of the new operating system update sports some 1500 APIs.

Solstice CEO J Schwan says his development team is still uncovering the ingredients of many of the new enterprise-focused features.

In an interview with Computerworld, Schwan says he’s especially excited about Apple’s new Activation Lock feature, as well as a single sign-on tool aimed at enterprise users as it works across multiple apps. (More details below.)

Schwan says he’s also intrigued by the support for low-cost iBeacons transmitters that can connect an iPhone to a range of devices over Bluetooth 4.0 in a machine-to-machine world. The device would let the iPhone activate doors, lights and other things as a person holding it moves by.

Of all the platforms that Solstice Mobile supports, iOS – especially on the iPad – is the most important and interesting to the consulting firm’s two dozen Fortune 500 customers, many with tens of thousands of employees and customers using iOS apps, Schwan says.

“iPad has been driving more of the interest from the enterprise standpoint than anything,” Schwan says. “IOS is still kind of king here.”

So far, only the iOS 7 beta for the iPhone has been released, but Federighi said he expects the iPad version to be available soon. The new iOS 7 software is slated to be available this spring.

In a blog post this week, Schwan summarises iOS 7′s opportunities for enterprise users, and elaborated on many of the those points in the interview.

Apple officials barely mentioned the business advantages of iOS 7 at WWDC, though it did offer a brief explanation on its website.

“iOS 7 includes many new features designed to make it easier for businesses to put iOS devices in the hands of employees,” Apple said on the website. “Features such as better protection of work and personal data, management of app licences, seamless enrollment in Mobile Device Management, wireless app configuration, enterprise single sign-on support and default data protection for third-party apps.”

Schwan says some iOS 7 innovations are unique, while others match some already available features in Android, such as the new Control Center, which quickly allows a user to toggle to a screen to turn on Wi-Fi or Airport Mode.

Schwan’s views, and some additional ones (and criticisms) from industry analysts, are incorporated in 10 new enterprise-focused iOS 7 features below:

1. Enterprise single sign-on
Users can log in once and be authenticated across all of an enterprise’s apps and services. Today, users must log in separately for each app. Many third-party mobile management software systems already allow this capability, but Schwan says will help developers and be more convenient for users to have single sign-on capabilities within iOS.

“We’re still digging into it, but if I could log on in one app, such as CRM, with iOS 7, then I could jump to an order-tracking app without another sign-on,” Schwan says. “Right now it’s very difficult to support single sign-on between those apps.”

Apple’s single sign-on feature is “all driving toward ‘mobile first’ for enterprise,” Schwan adds.

The downside to single sign-on is the risk that the theft of a password or other user credential could give thieves access to all kinds of apps, not just one, says Jack Gold, an analyst at J Gold Associates.

“Single sign-on also means Apple controls the credential, not the app provider,” Gold adds. “Do I, as app provider, want Apple to monitor every time someone signs in to my app? That’s shades of Big Brother.”

2. Activation lock
With this new feature, a lost or stolen iPhone can’t be reactivated without the owner’s iCloud username and password.

In the bring-your-own-device world, activation lock can “help ease some of the fears of the CIO” that a lost or stolen iPhone could be used to access an enterprise system and the critical data it holds, Schwan says.

3. Per-app VPN
This feature allows a user to open a secure VPN (virtual private network) connection within any app. The user wouldn’t first have to go to the iPhone settings to configure a VPN session before opening an app, as is required today.

The separate network tunnel is seen as more secure, while other apps – such as personal apps that don’t require a VPN – could be used outside the VPN, Schwan said.

“If an employee has a CRM app that requires using a VPN, he could open that and still go to Facebook or another app the company is blocking without having to turn off the VPN,” Schwan says. “This enables greater support for BYOD strategies.”

4. AirDrop Sharing for Apps
This allows app developers to add ways for users to share documents and content over the air, the same way that consumers use AirDrop to share photos and songs.

AirDrop works over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which allows sharing over greater distances than the 10-centimetre distance required by the NFC (near field communication) technology used in Android Beam, as Federighi noted on Monday.

“What’s cool about AirDrop is its ability to share pictures, directions and contacts within custom apps,” Schwan says. “If I have a custom app to use to present reports to employees, I can now proximity-share that information with anybody in the room, which streamlines the experience,” compared to what you do today.

Schwan says a financial adviser could show a customer his investment portfolio, with the data moving to and from an iOS device. “I could go through a prospectus and, with just a tap or two, I could directly share information with my client without going outside that app experience,” Schwan says. “The data that is structured to a specific app will mean I can send data that my app understands.”

Schwan says that AirDrop could prove to be a more seamless sharing tool than Android Beam. He also noted that AirDrop means Apple doesn’t have to support NFC – at least not yet – for data sharing. Apple may eventually adopt NFC for mobile payments as a secure technology, he added.

“Apple is continuing to come up with technologies that don’t require NFC,” Schwan says. “AirDrop shows that NFC is less likely on Apple’s immediate roadmap. NFC is a great technology and will be a part of the machine-to-machine revolution, but Apple doesn’t seem to be jumping on it yet.”

Solstice customers are asking for NFC in devices running iOS and other platforms, as well as for apps that make use of NFC, Schwan says. “Apple’s payment strategy has yet to be uncovered,” he says.

The iOS 7 update also lets users scan QR (quick response) codes to get Passbook passes such as coupons or other customer incentives, Schwan says. “That’s another feature that Apple’s providing that doesn’t require NFC,” he says.

Gold is concerned that while data sent over AirDrop is encrypted, there is still the potential for a loss of corporate data. “We all know that security in wireless gets broken,” Gold says.

5. Multitasking APIs
Enterprise developers can write apps that keep content up-to-date when the app is running in the background. This feature got a big cheer from the WWDC crowd. Schwan says it will improve the experience by allowing a user to move to another app while the update proceeds.

Gold says that multitasking of apps could prove very beneficial to enterprises as many corporate users must run two or more apps at once. “But done badly, this approach could really burn through a device battery very quickly,” he says. “We need to see how this is implemented and how well it works.”

6. Viewing of PDF annotations
This innovation allows a user to see annotations inside a PDF without using a third-party PDF reader. The feature is great for collaboration, Schwan says.

7. Control Center
Schwan says that Android has offered this capability for a while, but it will be welcome in iOS to get almost instant access to frequently used controls, such as aeroplane mode.

8. iBeacons
Apple’s iOS 7 supports low-cost transmitters that can work with an iPhone or iPad to collect location data, even if there’s no location system installed in a workplace or other environment. The system works over Bluetooth 4.0 and can be used to open doors and turn on lights just by passing through an area.

“This would allow your phone to automate processes and to communicate with other devices in proximity without your telling it to look for a device,” Schwan says. Bluetooth typically works to a distance of about eight metres.

Gold says that iBeacons offer potential uses to enterprises, though “not revolutionary” ones. Other approaches for proximity transmissions have used Bluetooth and Wi-Fi triangulation, but such approaches haven’t been used very often to date, Gold says.

9. Extended MDM
Gold and Phillip Redman, an analyst at Gartner, noticed a quick mention in the WWDC keynote about iOS 7 allowing enterprises to easily provide mobile device management (MDM) software to iOS 7-based devices. MDM software is now available from dozens of providers. It isn’t clear whether Apple is providing part or all of the MDM capability, will support third-party MDM connections, or do both.

Apple hasn’t given many details, but Gold says, ["Such a capability] could have a major impact on what enterprises do with the iOS device. [It could] potentially eliminate or limit the need for third-party MDM solutions.”

10. Audio-only FaceTime calls
Federighi briefly mentioned that iOS 7 offers the ability to voice-chat over Wi-Fi through FaceTime.

Gerry Purdy, an analyst at MobileTrax, says the feature could one day compete with Skype and other voice over internet protocol providers, which offer services that allow free calls over Wi-Fi.

“This is the first time that voice calls on Apple mobile devices will be easy to make to another iOS user outside of the voice minute plan,” Purdy says. “Many Apple users will be able to greatly reduce their consumption of voice call minutes and migrate them over to their data plan in which voice calls will be incurred at a lower cost [or] marginally zero cost.”

While audio-only FaceTime calls are going to be an advantage for consumers, their impact on workers could be equally as important, analysts say.

Source: http://www.macworld.com.au/blogs/ten-ios-7-features-that-could-make-enterprises-smile-98887/#.Ub5y-PbibNQ

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Mobile app development for enterprise: Do’s and Don’ts

An Apple iPhone and a Nokia 3G

Smartphones and tablets are completely changing the way that people run their lives. There seems to an app for just about every aspect of our personal life. Now, more and more businesses are looking at creating mobile apps for employees and customers alike.

But developing software for today’s distributed enterprises is not a simple task. Developers must often work with multiple technologies, highly distributed environments and computing networks often built on a hybrid infrastructure combing legacy systems with newer ones. Add the pressure to develop applications for the growing range of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices and you can understand how many may balk at the idea.

For those aiming to develop a mobile app that will make employees more productive or customers more informed, there are some common mistakes that developers often make. Issues such as security and real-time monitoring are ones that are uniquely enterprise and need to be addressed as such.

To help avoid these, here are some do’s and don’ts:

Do’s

1. Think about the user experience

Regardless of whether it’s a tablet or a smartphone, mobile devices are fundamentally different from desktop and laptop computers. As such, it’s imperative that you don’t try to simply port an existing desktop application over to mobile.

Mobile devices have a different form factor (and screen size) and usually have less processing resources as well as very different input mechanisms. Trying to simply copy the interface as a one-to-one will make for an app that is unintuitive and hard to manage.

In the same way as many websites have developed a separate version optimised for mobile, your app needs to be designed with the user experience at its core.

2. Incorporate the sensors and form factor

It’s worth remembering that most of today’s mobile devices have 3G or LTE, a camera, GPS, accelerometers, Bluetooth and WiFi (and some also include near field communication sensors too).

Make the most of these sensors. From basic features like reorienting the display if the device is tilted, through to allowing users to snap a picture and upload it straight into the system or get real-time updates based on location.

3. Mesh services with a business context

Just as mobile devices place a wide array of sensors at your disposal, so too are there a lot of third party applications that can easily be integrated into your business app, such as mapping and traffic information or even social media feeds if that’s applicable.

4. Empower the users

Our mobile devices are always within reach and highly personal. When developing a enterprise mobile app, make sure it delivers something that truly empowers them.

Instead of just maintaining the status quo but in mobile form, a well thought-out app can enable users to be more productive, make their jobs easier and even revolutionise a workforce. And this can just be the low-hanging fruit; a small change that makes a process smoother or shaves a few minutes off a task can make all the difference.

5. Consider real-time

Mobile devices are with us almost all the time. Their always-on and connected status means that a good enterprise mobile app can help a business become more operationally responsive.

By integrating real-time updates into your business app, users can respond to changing conditions based on information from a variety of sources. This could be inventory or logistics management, CRM systems or third party feeds such as traffic updates.

Don’ts

1. Don’t create an app for the sake of it

When everyone and their dog is creating an app, there can often be pressure from senior management to create one as well.

Avoid creating an app for the sake of it. Spend the time to identify a need within the business or industry that a mobile app can help solve. Think about how the app can shake up the way things are done to deliver better results.

2. Learn from consumer apps but don’t try to copy them

There are hundreds of thousands of consumer mobile apps around today. When developing a mobile app for your business there’s a lot that can be gleaned from consumer apps to improve functionality. But be careful not to get too blinded by the slick, simple features.

Sometimes business applications need to offer deep, rich functionality and complex features. These can obfuscate to some degree, but shouldn’t be avoided if needed.

3. Don’t try to ‘mobile’ everything

Just as you shouldn’t create a mobile app for the sake of it, not every aspect of a business is suited to being run over mobile. A lot of mid and back-office services won’t benefit from an app.

There’s no definitive list about what industries, functions or processes will and won’t suit mobile. Spending some time thinking about what applications and services can benefit from a mobile app will ensure you don’t waste time developing something no one will use.

4. Don’t ignore security and governance

It’s easy to think of mobile apps as ‘light’ versions and hence not required to stand up to the same scrutiny as desktop applications. But an enterprise app will provide access to sensitive corporate information, and needs to be treated as such.

In fact, the ease with which mobile devices can be lost or stolen makes security and governance even more an imperative when developing a mobile app for your business.

5. Don’t develop like a desktop application

Many desktop enterprise applications were developed over the course of months or even years with long development and QA cycles.

Mobile development is extremely well suited for more agile development platforms and methodologies. When developing a mobile app, you can iterate quickly with short development cycles. Once the core functionality is there, you can deploy the app, listen to feedback and adapt to business changes.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2013/06/12/3779921.htm

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Herausforderungen der mobilen App-Testen

Testen und validierende Apps auf Kombinationen von verschiedenen Modellen und Betriebssystem-Versionen sind in den Prozess der Entwicklung von mobiler Anwendungen erforderlich. Und die einzige die Zeitpläne, die beibehalten werden können, ist automatisiertes Testen von mobilen Anwendungen.

Im Folgenden werden einige Herausforderungen, die Tester in der automatisierten Prüfung von mobilen Anwendungen auftreten können

+ Bedarf für automatisierte Skripts. Wenn mobile Anwendungen freigegeben werden, müssen nachfolgende Aktualisierungen ausgerollt werden. Um sicherzustellen, dass keine Regression Fehler mit den Updates aufgetreten ist, müssen alle vorhandene Funktionen getestet werden, jedes mal wenn eine Aktualisierung durchgeführt wird.
.
+ Post lassen Sie durch automatisierte Bug und Absturz verfolgen. Nach ein paar Stürzen wollen die Benutzer mobile Apps aufgeben. Mobile apps müssen daher im Beta Test-Modus intern vor seiner Freigabe sein. Automatisierten Testwerkzeuges können zur Überwachung und Verfolgung Bugs und Abstürze verwendet werden.

+ Prozessor Einschränkungen mit Simulatoren. Andere Prozessoren können auf Laptops, Desktops oder von Handy-Simulatoren verwendet werden. Automatisierte Tests sollten auf tatsächliche Handys statt Simulatoren allein durchgeführt werden. Auf diese Weise kann die Prüfung vollständig und zuverlässig sein.

+ Remote-Reaktion zu testen. Manchmal mobile Apps konnte während der Ausführung durchgeführt werden. In diesem Fall muss Remote-Test in die automatisierte Tests einbezogen werden. Dabei sind Reaktionszeiten auf die Apps verantwortlich, irgendwann diese Apps verwendet werden.

In China wurde mobile App-Testen immer mehr beobachtet. Tester werden systematisch trainiert. Zahlreiche Institutionen wurden eingerichtet, Software-Tester in China ausschließlich, um ihre Fähigkeiten zu verbessern. Darüber hinaus verfügen Software-Testing-Unternehmen hier über Technologien für das automatisierte Tests, d. h. Verbesserung der Softwarefunktionen wird innerhalb eines kurzen Zeitraums wirksam und preisgünstig ausgestattet.

UniTesting als ein führender Software-Tests Unternehmen in China bietet Software-testing-Services wie Unternehmen Anwendungstests, mobile Anwendungstests, Anwendungen im Gesundheitswesen und Testen von Web-Anwendungen an. Unsere Teammitglieder sind professionelle und engagiert.

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SmartBear HTML5 Testing Tool Now Supports Sencha

SmartBear Software, a provider of quality-assurance products for developers and testers, has announced a new version of TestComplete, its tool for testing Web and HTML5 applications.

The new version of TestComplete features several upgrades over the previous release, including support for Sencha Ext JS, a popular HTML5/JavaScript framework for building rich Internet applications. The latest version of TestComplete also increases cross-browser testing with support for Opera and Safari as well as updated support for the most recent versions of Chrome and Firefox.

Gautam Agrawal, senior product manager at Sencha, said Sencha Ext JS is used for business-grade Web application development and features more than 100 examples, 1,000 APIs, hundreds of components, a documentation suite and built-in themes. "Web application testing is critical for our users, particularly the use of Ext JS 4 UI controls in HTML5," he said. "Users can now build even more robust applications, backed by the most comprehensive Web application testing available with TestComplete."

Sencha’s CEO Michael Mullany recently spoke with eWEEK about HTML5 demand, tooling and the future of the technology.

Mullany said demand for HTML5 is growing for four primary reasons. "I think it’s a combination of a few factors," he said. "First, every major browser now has support for what we like to call HTML5.0—all the fundamental HTML5 features for styling, graphics, media, animation and content. Second, HTML5 browsers have reached a critical mass of installed base, on mobile in particular. Third, developers are genuinely excited by the kinds of experiences that it’s possible to develop with these features. And finally, particularly within the enterprise, people have realized that putting a huge amount of engineering investment into native application development isn’t a supersmart move given the market share volatility among mobile devices in the last few years. HTML5 is looking really to them as the future proof investment."

In addition to Sencha Ext JS, the new version of TestComplete adds support for JavaFX 2, Qt 5 and Apache Flex 4.9. Integration with third-party Agile tools is updated to include JIRA 6.0, 5.2 and 5.0 as well as Axosoft OnTime 2012 and 2013. The latest TestComplete works with SmartBear’s AQTime 8 application profiler to automatically analyze performance and memory usage, and test coverage during test execution.

"Web testing continues to drive growth in the desktop test automation market," said Sergei Sokolov, vice president of product management, test and performance at SmartBear, in a statement. "TestComplete keeps apace with the requirements of this growing market, including all-important support for Sencha Ext JS and complete cross-browser testing using all five commonly used browsers on the Windows platform."

TestComplete is being demonstrated at FalafelCon, a two-day developer training event being held at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus on June 10-11. Developers and testers can try out TestComplete here.

SmartBear officials said more than 1 million developers, testers and operations professionals use the company’s software tools to ensure the quality and performance of their APIs, mobile, cloud-based and Web applications. There have been more than 5 million downloads of SmartBear products. In addition, free tools and plug-ins for automation and performance testing, code review and Website monitoring are available for download on the SmartBear Website.

Source: http://www.eweek.com/developer/smartbear-html5-testing-solution-now-supports-sencha/

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What it takes to build a mobile health care app: Time and teamwork

Health insurance companies aren’t exactly known for streamlined information access and delivery. Independence Blue Cross thought a mobile health care app might change that, helping it take a competitive stance and better support customers.

“Providing access to [customers’] health information anywhere, anytime, is what we call the ‘retailization of health care,’” said Greg Barnowsky, chief enterprise architect of Independence Blue Cross (IBC). Earlier this year, the insurance company launched the IBX App, an iOS and Android mobile health care app that offers its 3.8 million subscribers access to their medical information at any time, such as during a doctor’s visit. It’s the first mobile venture for the Philadelphia-based company, which plans to expand the app over time.

Modern Infrastructure recently spoke with Barnowsky, who led the charge on IBX’s app, to discuss the business and technical decisions that went into its creation.

How did the idea for the IBX mobile health care app come about?

We launched the Digital Engagement Center of Excellence [CoE] to help us create consumer “stickiness” to our brand. We think of digital engagement as applying mobile applications that address three pillars: those applications that differentiate us as a health care payer, those applications that address mobile health, and those applications that promote gamification or fun. All three of these pillars can be applied standalone or in combination with any mobile application. The underlying theme across all of this is the customer experience. We run our prospective application look and feel through customer experience trials before we finalize the details of the application.

What were some of your upfront technical considerations?

We had a mobile technology strategy before launching our Digital Engagement CoE. A key principle of our strategy was to ensure applications we built were portable and adhered and aligned to industry standards such as HTML5. We did not want to lock ourselves into a proprietary tool set because the vendor didn’t adhere to industry standards. We looked at public-domain mobile tools as well. We decided against these tools for a number of reasons, but the main reason was supportability and risk, including potential issues with scalability, security, testing costs, cross platform support, etc., over time.

Did you develop the app in-house or outsource it?

It was a combined effort of multiple departments. We decided early on that we would partner with Kony, an application tools development vendor. We used our own people to develop our first Kony-based mobile application. We wanted to build and own our intellectual property. We teamed closely with our marketing department, which told us what they wanted from an overall digital engagement strategy. Our internal corporate communications department created all of the themes and graphical design. Finally, we partnered with our informatics data warehouse teams for providing the back-end data. Our information services department developed and assembled the application, tested it and deployed it to the Android and Apple stores. In upcoming releases, we will provide support for Windows Phone, as well as iPad, Android and Windows tablets.

What kind of integration challenges did you face?

When you talk about any mobile application, the challenge is getting access to data. The first thing we discovered is that we had data-access gaps in regards to retrieving data in a format that was easy to use.

Having a Web-oriented architecture or APIs [application programming interfaces] to access back-end information is a plus. So, when building a mobile application, one starts to think in terms of APIs. That is, “How [can we] create APIs across these individual platforms to improve my delivery speed?”

So identification of the data access gaps and creation of flexible API wrappers that can be leveraged in the next mobile application becomes a key focus in application development. The result is a faster time to market for the next release with better customer experience due to improved application response times.

In addition to development tools, we had to consider mobile device management [MDM] tools. The MDM tools are complementary to mobile development tools and allow us to deploy applications internally via the MDM tool set, as well as ensure that if needed, we can do remote wiping of devices that we choose to control using MDM.

What else did you learn?

Select top talent and expect a lot from your teams. To mitigate risk, we evaluated, interviewed and selected team members who knew the company’s investment in mobility would require a similar investment in their own personal time [outside of regular work hours].

Once we picked the team, we also picked a seasoned professional to run the mobile development team who had the right mix of management, technology and leadership skills.

Both business and technology departments were asked to contribute funding by way of resources and time to the Digital Engagement CoE effort. We also chose to develop and deliver applications iteratively using the Agile development methodology — a real must-have when developing mobile applications.

How do you measure your application usage?

We have a plethora of measurements to report on what’s being accessed, including how often the application is being accessed and what functions are being accessed and when. The issue is: What do you want to turn into actionable items that are meaningful to our business?

For example, based on utilization, we can determine what is and isn’t working to improve features. Based on business needs, we can improve individual member medication utilization so that the next version of the app would include new features such as reminders to your medicine cabinet or to exclude other features that are not being used.

What other areas are you planning to address?

Mobile health and gamification are two other areas we will continue to pursue over the current health care payer core mobile capabilities. You see [other possibilities for] mobile health in the medicine cabinet, and personal health records for example, with health and wellness tracking. Every app we build has some pieces of core intellectual payer support, mobile health or some level of gamification. We see both mobile health and gamification as key areas to continue to pursue. Consumers expect their apps to provide some fun and be a positive experience, driving them back to our applications.

Have you seen a return on investment yet?

The uptake in the release of the application since we delivered it into app stores in January has tripled. We don’t charge for this app, but we’ve seen the investment we’re going after is a really great consumer experience. We are very early in our investment but continue to seek out areas to improve customer convenience and satisfaction.

Source: http://searchconsumerization.techtarget.com/feature/What-it-takes-to-build-a-mobile-health-care-app-Time-and-teamwork

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6 Benefits of Cloud Computing: If You Haven’t Considered It, You’re Way Behind

6 Benefits of Cloud Computing: If You Haven’t Considered It, You’re Way Behind image cloud 300x177

The cloud, cloud computing, SaaS…like it or not, we hear these terms mentioned incessantly in the technology and business world. And for a good reason – the benefits of cloud computing are vast.

The fact is that the role of the CIO has shifted in a way that makes cloud very difficult to ignore. The CIOs of today’s organizations are no longer solely responsible for the management of IT, but now for supporting business growth by reducing costs and driving innovation in effort to build a strategic advantage.

Driving innovation AND lowering costs? That’s a lot of pressure. The solution is the cloud. By adopting cloud solutions, businesses can lower total costs and transition from a fixed cost structure to a variable one while freeing up critical IT resources for strategic initiatives and innovation.

Unlike traditional on-premise software applications, cloud applications are located and managed remotely and built with a single code-base customized to the company’s needs. Cloud applications also differ in that the cloud provider, not the customer, is responsible for the maintenance, operations, and bandwidth of the software. Finally, cloud applications are typically accessed through standard web browsers, providing scalability and agility to the customer.

The whitepaper The Cloud: When & Why from SuccessFactors, an SAP company, summed up the biggest benefits of cloud computing perfectly. Here are their six top benefits of cloud:

1. Increased speed in responding to unforeseen events
With cloud deployments, capacity and location planning are no longer in the hands of the customer, but are the responsibility of the cloud vendor. This allows companies to respond quickly to any business changes that may arise unexpectedly because operations are handled by the cloud vendors.

2. Easy to get the latest and greatest updates
Software updates and renewals are also handled by the cloud vendor and occur several times a year at no cost to the customer. This ensures that the user interface remains modern and up-to-date with business demands.

3. Adoption is quick and simple
As mentioned earlier, users access cloud applications on standard web browsers anytime, anywhere. Using web style user interfaces, like that of eBay or Yahoo, allows for more widespread adoption across the company without the need for detailed training.

4. Improved information security
One of the top concerns of cloud skeptics is the fear of sacrificing data security when allowing company data to exist outside the internal firewall. Well according to SuccessFactors, security is actually increased when using cloud solutions due to strict ISO security standards that cloud providers must adhere to, in addition to the regular security audits. This means no more worrying about lost laptops with confidential data and treacherous hacking threats.

5. Deployment time decreases from years to months
Time to value with cloud solutions is significantly lower than with on-premise applications. A “go live” for cloud solutions takes typically 2-3 quarters, whereas on-premise solutions require 2-3 years to implement. Not only is implementation time reduced, but the IT resources required to roll-out cloud solutions are much less.

6. Lower risk with subscription based cost model
With a pay-as-you-go, subscription-based cost structure, cloud services require a lower initial investment and typically much lower overall costs than on-premise. In addition, cloud solutions provide an “easy out” if the customer is dissatisfied with the product. Therefore, the business risk is in the hands of the cloud vendor and not the company itself.

According to SuccessFactors, “software will never be the same again.”

Increased strategic agility, short deployment times, lower risk and costs – the advantages of cloud computing are compelling. And yet, companies still struggle with the decision to purchase cloud solutions and therefore, miss out on a massive business opportunity.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/cloud-computing/6-benefits-of-cloud-computing-if-you-havent-considered-it-youre-way-behind-0515533

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Windows Phone 8.1 In Testing?

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If new screenshots posted to the Reddit social network are true, Windows Phone 8.1 a possible update to Windows Phone 8 could now be in testing on a small amount of devices.

The screenshot, taken by a Reddit user who created the Archiver application that’s currently available for download in the Windows Phone Store, depicts a breakdown of what versions of Windows Phone his application has come in contact with.

While those version numbers are completely dominated by code branches of the 8.0 operating system –today’s shipping version of Windows Phone, near the very bottom of the photo is a notation for Windows Phone 8.10.12076.0.

So far, this is the first time that version number has shown up publicly. What makes it more interesting is that this number lines up with the branding that Microsoft’s using on Windows 8.1 or what it had been codenamed Windows “Blue” until Microsoft announced its final branding for the update back in May.

Analytics results from Windows Phone app Archiver that depicts the small scale usage of an operating system reporting it's self as Windows Phone 8.10

Unfortunately, if it the operating system is in testing, it might not be widespread as the Archiver application has only come in contact with that version of the operating system just twice. The developer hasn’t yet posted any information about a possible time frame for when his application first encountered the operating system.

Currently next to nothing is officially known about the next version of Windows Phone 8 other than the “Blue” codenamed that has been a topic of discussion for Microsoft watchers who are usually pretty accurate like Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet. It’s been her assertion that the Blue codenamed referred to an entire wave of products updates across many of Microsoft’s businesses.

If that’s true, it’s logical that this 8.1 operating is the final branding for a coming up to Windows Phone, as Microsoft seems to be attempting to keep its consumer operating system branding for Windows Phone and Windows in lockstep, even if it has to fudge update numbers to do so as is the case with Windows 8.1.

According to Foley, Windows Phone Blue is believed to include developer facing features and an application development model that mirrors the one used in Windows 8, further unifying the two operating systems. If this is true, users could expect a much better application situation than the one they are saddled with now.

While Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 have interfaces inspired by Microsoft’s Metro design principles, applications purchased for one operating system don’t work on the other. As a result apps like the new Halo: Spartan Assault game that users have been excited about recently, will require separate purchases if a user wants to play the game on both of Microsoft’s mobile platforms.

Microsoft plans to discuss Windows Phone development at its BUILD conference later this month according it’s the conference’s website.

Source: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/06/05/windows-phone-8-1-in-testing/

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In software testing, ‘perception is reality’ is really a myth

One of the best things about attending technology conferences is that they keep me from falling prey to the idea that perception is reality.

This is especially true when it comes to the techniques and tools that real-world software organizations actually use. The gap between the tools and technologies that dominate the headlines and those that organizations are actively working with today is huge. This has always been the case. But when I sit in my office interviewing experts on mobile testing, Agile development, application security — and a host of other topics relevant to software professionals, it’s easy to lose sight of this truth.

Talking to test pros at the recent STAREAST 2013 event in Orlando and at other conferences has served as a good reality check for me. I met testers who aren’t doing mobile testing because they aren’t developing mobile apps. I met test pros who work in software organizations where Waterfall, not Agile, is the dominant development methodology. I met test pros who were pretty certain that such security vulnerabilities as SQL injections could be found and fixed by running virus protection software.

In this installment of Quality Time, I’ll test the idea that perception is reality when it comes to mobile testing, Agile development, and application security.

Mobile testing perception. Software development teams — including testers — are actively engaged in building enterprise mobile applications. They recognize that testing mobile apps is more complex than testing Web and desktop software. They are working hard to figure out which set of devices, running which versions of which operating systems, will result in the most effective test coverage for their user base. These teams also are devising strategies to determine the locations where an app is most likely to be used, in order to strategically place testers in the field to provide better mobile performance.

Mobile testing reality. Many software teams have not yet begun work on mobile projects. One test manager I talked to at STAREAST said her organization is "thinking about doing a mobile version of our Web site," but plans are still in the discussion phase. It’s not surprising to hear this from a company that doesn’t sell to consumers. But this test manager works for a national retailer that operates more than 300 stores, has a strong Web presence and runs an ad campaign on national TV.

In another conversation at STAREAST, an attendee who works for a mobile app development consultancy told me, "We don’t really worry about mobile performance because we have no control over the locations and connectivity conditions under which the mobile app is used."

Agile development perception. Virtually all development projects under way today employ Agile techniques — even if the team isn’t practicing Agile with a capital A. Agile has been so widely adopted that some thought leaders at the recent STP conference in San Diego argued that Agile is no longer a trend, it’s the norm.

Another widespread perception: Large-scale, multi-location Agile projects are commonplace, and organizations have developed successful strategies to manage these challenging projects.

Agile development reality. A test manager who works for a government agency told me at STAREAST that his organization recently began work on its first Agile projects. Most of the agency’s teams still practice Waterfall development. Some test pros who previously reported to this test manager now report to Agile project managers, and they miss the camaraderie they had when they worked solely with their fellow testers, the test manager said.

Another Agile myth was busted when I began research a couple of months ago on an article on managing large-scale, multi-location projects. It was challenging to uncover real experts with actual experience managing these projects. I was able to find some good sources. But the relative lack of useful information on this topic fell short of my perception that there were well-established ways of working to ensure success of large Agile projects.

Application security. My perception of where software teams stand when it comes to application security has never been all that rosy. The difficulty of getting developers and testers to take responsibility for application security testing is well established. My understanding is that software pros recognize that application security testing is important, but many believe they lack the time and/or the skills to conduct it.

Reality fell short of even my not-so-rosy perception, when an attendee at a STARWEST session on application security testing last fall raised his hand and asked the instructor, "Doesn’t virus software find stuff like SQL injections?"

That’s an admittedly extreme example, and I’m not suggesting that one guy’s question is indicative of the norm. But it’s a useful reminder that conferences serve as a reality check for the writers and editors who cover them and for the consultants and software vendors who deliver presentations.

When it comes to politics, "perception is reality" might be words to live by. But when it comes to software testing, reality is what’s actually happening. And it’s our job to find that out.

Source: http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/news/2240185418/In-software-testing-perception-is-reality-is-really-a-myth

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Hands-On Review of qTest Test Management Tool

I’ve been checking out the latest test management tool to hit the market, qTest, developed by QASymphony. The software is designed to mesh seamlessly with a typical Agile development and it provides a comprehensive set of options for the testing end of any project. It enables you to enter project requirements, extrapolate test cases, run them, and store all the results.

In effect, you end up with a clear and transparent chain highlighting the lifecycle of every individual bug that gets raised. It’s always clear who was responsible for what. It will also plug directly into your existing bug tracking software and it’s stored in the cloud for easy access. There’s a 30-day free trial which supplies you with a license to use it for 5 users.

I put it through its paces and here’s what I found.

qTest cloud

Five-minute setup

My journey began with the free trial version of the qTest tool. After filling site address (which is your cloud-based home on QASymphony’s server), and few other details, I got a confirmation email, verified my account and I was in. That’s the great thing about cloud-based solutions – there’s no download or installation procedure and you can sign in from anywhere.

User Interface

It’s worth reading through the quick guide that pops up when you first enter qTest as it really will help you get to grips with the software and its capabilities. The help guides are context sensitive, so as you begin to explore, you’ll get relevant help explaining what you are looking at. The layout and main navigation options along the top are going to be easy to understand for any tester.

qTest dashboard

Test Plan – this enables testers to track the build schedule.

Requirements – you can enter requirements or user stories from agile development in here and it’s possible to create test cases directly from the requirements, so they’re automatically linked.

Test Design – you’ll create your test cases in here.

Test case design

Test Execution – you can plan your test cycle in this module and structure the Test Suite and Test Runs. All the results of each test that is run are recorded.

Test execution

Defects – you may already have something like JIRA or Bugzilla, in which case you can integrate it with qTest. If not, the defects module is capable of tracking all defects and storing all the details you need on them.

Reports – you can extract all sorts of useful data in here. Customize your reports to display whatever you want, drill down to individual bugs, or generate a high level overview, filtered by date or field.

qtest Test reporting

There’s a Tools menu option after the modules I just discussed where you can really get your hands dirty and dive into configuration with:

+ User permissions – dictate who has access to what.
+ Custom fields – add custom fields to design a bespoke management solution for your testing.
+ External systems – link to JIRA, Bugzilla, Fogbugz, Rally and VersionOne ALMs.
+ Notifications – decide who gets emailed and when.
+ Environments – choose the relevant environments.

Going live with qTest – Pros

As far as test management tools go, you can actually get up and running with qTest pretty quickly. You’ll naturally want to spend some time designing the test cases and much will depend on the data you can draw on for requirements. If you can import a lot of data, then the setup will be especially quick.

When you’re ready to go there’s a handy ‘Notifications icon’ at the top right which is like a running stream of real-time updates that informs you of any changes and developments in your project. I found that very useful from a management point of view as it enables you to see issues as they arise and click directly through to the defect reports or the test results.

The test management tool does a pretty good job of automatically linking records and filling in data for you, where it can. Options like the ability to clone a bug are big time savers. This makes it fast and easy to use. When you actually run tests you get a Testpad pop-up which allows you to record the results without tabbing back and forth between applications.

Every action in the system is recorded, so there’s never any doubt over who did what, and you can trace a defect from resolution all the way back to its discovery. I found the ability to generate a wide variety of reports was really handy for meetings with other departments and reporting back on progress to management.

There are many great features of this test case management tool, below are some I liked the most:

+ You can import and export test cases from Excel spreadsheet or other test management tools
+ Features to re-use test cases and test suites across multiple releases
+ Easy requirement management and traceability
+ Complete control over who modifies test cases
+ Track changes to test cases and requirements
+ Robust reporting with real time status of test cycles, test results, test progress, and team productivity

The flaws

It’s a cloud-based solution so you might notice some lag, depending on the load your Internet connection is handling. It also means that testing will grind to a halt if your connection goes down. In terms of features, qTest seems well endowed, although I would like to see the rich text editor extended beyond the Requirements module.

The Help icon, just beyond Tools, in the top navigation bar does allow you to report defects in qTest, should you encounter any, and also to suggest changes. The QASymphony team was quick to respond to my queries and seemed willing to accommodate change requests. Updates to qTest are rolling out once or twice a month, so it’s improving all the time.

A cloud worth trying

There’s very little reason not to give qTest a try. A free 30-day trial offers enough for a real assessment, and it seems likely you’ll be tempted to splash out for a few user licenses at $20 a pop and keep going with it. The cloud-based nature is the only thing that may give some users pause, but the convenience far outweighs the potential problems. I found qTest to be very accessible, it’s easy to adopt, it offers quick results, and it represents value for money. It’s also ideal if you want to scale up gradually, but don’t take my word for it – try it out for yourself. You may owe it to the cloud.

Source: http://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/test-management-tool-qtest-review/

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Every Mobile Strategy Should Include Testing In The Cloud

By year’s end, approximately 1.4 billion smartphones will be in operation. According to a new study conducted by ABI Research, 798 million will run on Android, 294 million on Apple’s iOS, and 45 million on Windows Phone. It’s clear that mobile now influences the relationship between companies and their customers, making it increasingly important for enterprises to fully develop their mobile testing strategy.

Over the next year, we’ll see a spike in mobile-app development from enterprises—and it’s extremely crucial that businesses don’t rush the testing process .  Ensuring high-quality and high-performing applications that are void of compliance and security risks will set these applications apart. And, now more than ever, a secure mobile testing strategy is needed.

The Importance Of A Mobile Cloud

Every good strategy needs the right solutions to execute on its overarching goals. That’s why it’s vital to incorporate a mobile application testing partner that can ensure the applications are developed, tested, monitored, and launched with ease.

The ability to test apps on a Web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform enables testers and developers to test on real mobile handsets and tablets connected to live mobile networks and across different geo-locations globally. Through use of the cloud, organizations can streamline development, testing, support, and monitoring processes;perform more tests on each handset; and ensure optimal compatibility of the application, site, or service on more handsets, networks, and locations.

As a result, enterprises gain better quality testing, shorter time-to-market, and an overall reduction in costs and logistical efforts. Furthermore, users receive a full-functioning mobile app without the potential glitches that arise when launched without a proper testing strategy.

Identifying The Cloud Framework

Typically, a mobile cloud would require the following components:

+ The physical devices (smartphones, tablets)
+ Dedicated cradles to hold these devices
+ A server that manages and administrates these devices (handset server)
+ A streaming server (for video-based streaming from the devices to the end user)
+ A centralized management-based server that would provide all of the functionality capabilities (engine) to the end user to operate the devices
+ Network architecture for a secure, private cloud environment (routers, etc.)

Using the above infrastructure, end users can start testing mobile phones in the cloud by remotely connecting to the device (either through a web-based or software-based solution). Users should expect the following capabilities from the cloud-based infrastructure to efficiently work with the devices and manage complex use cases:

The ability to work remotely with a device’s file system:Many mobile applications utilize internal resources that rely on mobile file systems—media files, images, audio, etc. Access to this file system allows developers to compare these against application requirements. For instance, when a bank is planning to develop a check deposit application, a developer may place pre-defined, pre-loaded images of checks on the device file system. Then, because testers can’t use real checks, they can compare file images with the actual check image via the device’s file system.

The ability to deploy iOS/Android or other applications on remote target devices:This key parameter requires the creation of various application versions with new builds. Ideally, developers need to easily and remotely install these new builds on target devices.

Obtain media feedback from the device tests: Media feedback, such as images or screen shots, or video for recording the entire session, will provide testers with the best results. Other suggestions for media feedback include establishing a USB connection over a specific protocol (RTMP) and audio for voice-related application testing (e.g., testing SIRI or another voice-related application).

Ability to install new customized ROM on the device:Support for customized ROM allows developers to change mobile OSs on devices remotely, as well as install a pre-launch version to test before an application goes to market. It ultimately gives developers a head start in the market before application deployment.

Obtain device logs and device vitals (e.g., memory consumption, CPU status, etc.):This provides insight into CPU usage and battery consumption. It reveals what end users are undergoing during application usage, which is imperative for customer retention post-deployment.

Ability to simulate location based services (GPS spoofing)for location-based applications: Tests should be able to play with location on the cloud to test the functionality of location-based mobile applications, ensuring optimal availability to end users.

Let’s look at two use cases and analyze them from a cloud-based perspective: voice-related testing in the cloud and GPS location operation. For such voice-related capabilities, the devices in the cloud would require special wired connectivity to allow voice injection through the handset server to the target device and from the device to the end user. This is possible and can be done across the various platforms.

GPS/locationtesting in the cloud can be covered by enabling (e.g., in Android) GPS Mock Location, and setting different locations via available market applications (i.e. “My Fake Location”) (Figs. 1 and 2). Then, simply check how the mobile device and application reacts to a change to its current location.

1. Mock locations are enabled for GPS spoofing/location-based testing on an Android OS.2. To perform GPS/location testing in the cloud, applications like My Fake location are useful for setting different locations.

Performance And Monitoring

Mobile continues to penetrate businesses through the rising rates of mobile commerce (mCommerce) transactions, mobile banking transactions, healthcare and retail transactions, etc. Thus it becomes crucial for such organizations to gain insight on the end-user experience during application usage on a “real phone.”

Monitoring these applications on real devices in a cloud-based environment assures device availability in a repeatable environment, as opposed to random monitoring that’s based on the device connectivity to the network, the application being in the “air” at a given time during monitoring, etc. When monitoring in a structured and scheduled way, the organization can collect key performance indicators from the device under test and gain insight into the end-user experience.

Testing and monitoring mobile performance is only possible on real devices. It’s useless to load the server while not testing and monitoring the real devices. Organizations ought to capture the real end-user experience on real devices when the server is loaded to determine carrier network problems or specific device and mobile OS issues. Failing to cover these testing and monitoring problems early will likely lead to serious financial losses and potential tarnishing of the brand or company reputation.

Taking a look at a typical mobile-application life cycle, various processes can be used by the organizations (Fig. 3). Each process has its own value and benefits (this article doesn’t cover all of them). The performance testing of an application would take place prior to the “release” stage, while the “monitoring” is done in production post deployment.

3. Various processes can be used in a typical mobile-application life cycle. Performance testing of an application occurs before the “release” stage, while “monitoring” is done in production post deployment.

Continuous Quality, Delivery And Integration

In a mobile cloud-based environment, where devices are governed, assured, and always connected, it’s easy to deploy a mechanism for continuous quality, delivery, and integration. Users can create a build engine that runs at any given time, as well as test on real devices anywhere in the world to get insights on the stability of the application, devices, and service. Furthermore, users can test their device behavior on a specific carrier while using a customized mobile operating system (in ROM) without any concern, and with the full support of the mobile cloud vendor.

The cloud vendor in a mobile cloud-based environment has the technical expertise to support an organization’s needs. In addition, the vendor enables the team to focus on real needs without worrying about the infrastructure, devices, or any other aspect (e.g., security, networking, etc.).

The Goal Of Mobile Operators

The mobile operator tester’s ultimate goal is the certification of new devices across mobile operating systems. Ensuring devices work perfectly on a carrier’s network across different geographical locations under various network conditions (2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi,)—with different operating systems, including past systems—is imperative for business.

A mobile operator (network carrier such as Verizon Wireless or Vodafone) leverages the mobile cloud in disparate ways to meet certification requirements, especially when it comes to pre-launched handsets and applications. A mobile operator needs a private, internal, and secured environment that ensures the services work prior to exposing them to all users. Standard requirements for device certification include:

+ Pre-loaded internal app testing and validationthat passes all tests across all devices, OSs, network conditions, etc. If testing a mobile Web site, then it should be tested on different Web browsers.

+ No interruptions to quality of service (QoS)for mobile services, such as SMS, browsing, or data connectivity, via incoming events (QoS with interruptions, i.e., calls, emails, text, push notifications, etc.)

+ Service assurance and monitoringof mobile services on real devices to avoid revenue leakage, optimal performance, and customer retention.

+ Debugging of deployedmobile applications and troubleshooting end user issues on real devices. If a ticket is received from the field regarding a specific device (i.e., the app crashes, fails to connect, etc.), it’s possible to test on the cloud and choose the specific device to check a bug. Testers should send a device log and a full report with evidence of the issue to R&D.

Mobile Cloud Benefits

A mobile cloud offers the flexibility of testing both new and old devices for different testing purposes. Furthermore, a mobile cloud moves with the ever-changing mobile market, allowing organizations to focus on mobile quality rather than on mobile device governance.

When testing mobile applications in the cloud, users can test both their iOS and Android application from a functional perspective and perform real device end-user testing. The latter may involve testing for loss of network during application running, enabling/disabling networks on the device, rotating screens throughout the running application, undertaking various complex scenarios involving the device camera, and doing power cycles on the devices (to observe device behavior or impact when it occurs on a live application).

Mobile cloud users also are able to measure and collect real device vitals from the device itself, such as real device logs, memory consumption, network throughput, and so on. With proper support from the mobile cloud vendor, customers working in a mobile cloud can safely deploy and test their products on customized or pre-launched mobile OS versions.

The mobile cloud is the right platform to hold new-to-the-market devices. Integrating new devices into the cloud may take a few hours, yet the benefit is huge. Mobile operators often put new and pre-released devices under their private cloud to perform handset certification prior to their market release. Because a cloud platform is secure and isolated, it eliminates concerns of such devices becoming lost, broken, etc.

The mobile cloud is a dynamic environment. Mobile cloud customers (operators, application vendors, enterprises, developers, etc.) can track the market globally, and assure that only the most up-to-date and relevant smartphones and tablets exist in both the public cloud and private cloud. Therefore, the testing itself will be highly focused, and will guarantee sufficient coverage of the market. Furthermore, it can keep track of any newly released mobile operating system, and ensure quick support (e.g., Perfecto Mobile’s mobile cloud supports the latest iOS and Android versions).

Summary

In conclusion, most enterprises have already moved to cloud-based environments for storage (DropBox, Google Drive, etc.). That said, it has become imperative to leverage the mobile environment, especially in such a dynamic, fragmented, and huge market. Testing real devices at any given time, in any location, and on any carrier gives users needed flexibility and reduces serious risks to brands, reputation, quality, and more.

Mobile introduces different and complex use cases that involves unique hardware (GPS, NFC cards, audio-based scenarios), which require different tools that are usually hard to maintain and continuously use within a small office. The mobile cloud offers a secure, scalable, and assured environment, and removes obstacles and irrelevant worries, leading to enhanced execution and delivery.

Source: http://electronicdesign.com/test-amp-measurement/every-mobile-strategy-should-include-testing-cloud

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