Featured Resource: Test Automation for Legacy Code

Leading up to DevOps Enterprise Summit 2017 San Francisco, we’ll be releasing our most valuable DevOps resources to our community on a weekly basis.

Each of these resources come to you straight from the DevOps Enterprise Forum, where more than 50 technology leaders and thinkers gather for three days to create written guidance on the best-known methods for overcoming the top obstacles in the DevOps Enterprise community.

Many of the organizations adopting DevOps practices struggle when dealing with their large legacy code bases, especially when trying to apply test automation. And because of this they scramble with where to start with test automation and how to justify the effort, often feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work involved. Because of this, many give up before even trying—consequently missing out on the benefits that test automation can provide.

Therefore, this week’s resource, we will address how to meet and overcome the challenges associated with test automation for legacy code, by:

1. Introducing Fictitious Company with Large Legacy Code Base — We describe a fictitious organization and the context in which years-old legacy could code exist. While the organization and context may not exactly match yours, it should will feel similar enough such that you are able to relate to the circumstances.
2. Building A Case: Justification — In order to justifying test automation to others within your organization, you will need a solid approach. So, in this section, we identify some qualitative “pillars” as key concepts in your justification. We also give you a framework for evaluating the expected value of a test automation effort, along with a case study of how that framework applied in real life.
3. Objections— Next, we identify some of the most common objections to test automation, as well as insights into the source of the objections (i.e., what the person might be thinking or feeling.)
4. Tactic details — While identifying some of the most common objection is the first piece of the puzzle, in this section we show multiple tactics you should consider when responding to each objection.
5. The Ask — Finally, now that you’ve concluded that adding test automation to your legacy codebase will be beneficial — it’s time to make “the ask” from the decision maker in your organizations. In this section we highlight the following principles and concepts in mind when making “the ask.”

The authors on each of these resources will be prominent figures in the industry, and on this particular one, we have five industry leaders working together. They include:

• Jeff Gallimore, Partner & Co-Founder, Excella Consulting
• Steve Neely, Vice President of Engineering, Apto
• Terri Potts, Software Architect, Raytheon
• Scott Prugh, Chief Architect & VP Software Development, CSG International
• Tim Wilson, Solution Architect, IBM

Plus, contributions from:

• William Hertling, Web Strategist & Developer, HP
• Anders Wallgren, CTO, Electric Cloud
• Jeremy Van Haren, Director of Software Development, CSG International
  

Here are two amazing presentations from authors on this week’s resource.

Terri Potts

 Scott Prugh

If you’re eager to continue learning about these topics and more, come see how you can be a part of DevOps Enterprise Summit 2017 San Francisco. We spend three days talking with the leaders of large, complex organizations implementing DevOps principles and practices, with the goal to give leaders (like you) the tools and practices they need to develop and deploy software faster and to win in the marketplace.

- About The Authors

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