Westmont, IL-Original Software, provider of automated software testing and quality assurance solutions, has received praise for its capabilities in enabling agile development in a recent report by independent industry analyst group Ovum. In the report, written by Ovum analyst Paul Herzlich, the company’s solutions were applauded for being a better fit for agile processes than any competitive functional test automation suite.

“In its totality, Original’s suite is appropriate for automation specialists, non-technical testers and even business users for acceptance testing,” says Herzlich. “It fits in with classic waterfall processes, and it can also be used in agile processes more easily than other functional test automation suites.”

“The feedback from our customers has been resounding, and we are pleased to see that the major analyst groups are acknowledging our leadership in this space,” says Colin Armitage, chief executive officer of Original. “Customers practicing agile methodologies are finding our tools easy to implement, and the reuse and repeatability of our manual tests really pay off. Automation can be a powerful enabler in agile development and TestDrive’s self-healing technology adds value in each iteration, enabling scripts to be re-run even when the application under test has undergone tweaks and changes.

The Ovum report notes: “One area in which TestDrive-Assist can be surprisingly appropriate is in unstable, changing circumstances. The two most notable situations are the first release of an application and in agile processes.”

“By recording your manual test, you may not have the benefit of full automation, such as automatic data entry and validation,” says Herzlich. “However, you do get an audit trail and clear information for reproducing bugs. The ability to automatically migrate your test to an automated one may pay off immediately, if you are lucky, but in any case, by the end of your scrum or iteration, it will form the foundation of a future automated test. “

The report can bedownloaded free of charge from Original Software’s Web site.