Blog

This first in a series of blogs explores methods of cost determination for acquiring and operationalizing open source software in general and for test automation in particular. Included are discussion and analysis of key phases of the IT asset life cycle, available cost analysis tools, and example cost analyses.

The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for an asset is defined as the Acquisition cost plus the cost of Operation.  For software, Acquisition can involve licensing, subscription, and/or development . . .

Open source projects like OpenTAP start out as mostly technical efforts. Developers create code to solve a technical problem or to implement a product or service and later find it might be useful to other devs and end-users facing similar challenges. In open source terms, software built to "scratch an itch" is soon helping a whole community to scratch theirs. This blog explores the makeup of the OpenTAP ecosystem and offers resources for its diverse members.

Open Source Software is a big place, a very broad domain that addresses the technologies that support and drive almost every field of human endeavor.  And 2022 was a busy year for open source, with over 150M participants contributing to tens of millions of projects.

This blog calls out the highlights of 2022 – key statistics, notable investments and important progress – ongoing challenges in security and IP – and how they impact the business and operation of test automation.

Many testing organizations become frustrated with the limitations of a legacy test platform. They are also burdened by the overhead of keeping up with aggressive product lifecycles.  But changing test platforms can be too daunting, leaving legacy solutions in place years beyond their useful lifetimes. This blog addresses the challenges of migration to a new test automation platform and lays out the first step on a path for successful migration, a Proof of Concept (PoC).

The concept of Shifting Left has come into vogue to describe moving a process or process stage to occur earlier in a left-to-right timeline. Shifting Left applies to various types of testing, especially tests aimed at improving usability and cybersecurity.

This blog reviews the implications for Shifting Left across various software development models, and highlights the benefit of combining a leftward shift with test automation.

Interview with Keysight's Maxim Pletner, a software engineer and an expert in 5G networking who supports Keysight business development efforts and offers advocacy for OpenTAP and open source in general. The OpenTAP project team sat down with Maxim recently to chat about his background, industry experience and insights into test automation.

Recently, KeySight field engineers met with a company that produces mobile-wireless infrastructure equipment. The testing team there had been using a legacy in-house platform for several years, but with each new device, the testing framework required unwieldy customization. They could not keep up with agile software life-cycles.

Testing had become the main bottleneck in their product life-cycles.

5G is ideal for building secure local networks. One very promising use case lies in the Smart Warehouse. where 5G provides connectivity among stocking and tracking systems. At HANOVERMESSE in Germany in August 2022, Keysight featured a demonstration of using OpenTAP test automation together with CoBots (Collaborative Robots) from OpenTAP partner Universal Robots.

Open Source software increasingly dominates application stacks across industries. Enterprise software builds on Linux, Jenkins, Kubernetes and other platforms and middleware; device software looks to Android, Linux, GNU, and myriad other platforms and tools, as well as open source code used to test those devices.

Despite the popularity and ubiquity of open source, many organizations still retain misgivings about using it. This blog examines those misgivings, debunking some concerns, and examining the truth behind others. Whenever possible, the topics are related to open source in Test Automation

Systems architects increasingly embed test capabilities in feature-rich products. This trend is most visible in the automotive ecosystem, where complex subsystems require comprehensive testing during prototyping, manufacturing, integration and post-deployment.

This blogs examines the presence, functionality and benefit derived from embedding OpenTAP in three automotive application domains: electric vehicle charging, automotive networking, and cybersecurity.

This blog examines how companies and individuals make money and/or enjoy economies by using open source software (OSS). The blog highlights multiple business and technical strategies for monetizing open source in general, and examines the commercial role of OpenTAP and opportunity for the platform in the test automation ecosystem.

This blog is the first in a series documenting the use of OpenTAP in educational settings. The two projects described here - PSLab Integration and Project Wonderwall - proceeded under the auspices of the University of California Santa Cruz School of Engineering, both sponsored by KeySight Technologies.