AUTOMATION
Automation was devised around the year 1946 by the automobile industry to give a description to the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanized production lines. Automation is derived from the Greek and means self-dedicated. In a most general state, automation can be defined as a technology devised with carrying out a process by means of programmed commands combined with the automatic feedback of data relating to the execution of those commands. The resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention.
During automation, we come across many types of costs like tool cost, script development cost, execution cost, and many other costs. It is necessary to visualize the profit that automation will be giving to an organization over many years on investment.
They are different equations for calculating the Return on Investment . A simple equation is as follows:
ROI:
Return
——————
Investment
Automation Framework characteristics
Re-usability
An automation team designs all the tasks as reusable components. The reusable libraries can be used in multiple situations.
Reliability
We need to see that tests are reliable and unattended. This allows us to execute tests on multiple machines.
Modularity
We need to author tests into smaller scripts. This enables effortless modification and maintenance.
Recoverability
Tests need to recover in case of any unhandled application errors.
Error Handling
We need to see that all application errors are managed with exception handlers. In case of errors, the test case would be marked and the details are written to the result file.
Manage Results
The automation framework should generate a detailed result log file with a complete description of Pass/Fail status.
Independent
We need to see that scripts designed are independent in nature. No two scripts are dependent unless they are functionally dependent on each other.
Maintainability
The automation suite should be maintainable.
Rational Automation Framework is a computer software product in the Application release automation category,[1][2] providing automation for middleware installation, middleware management, middleware operations, and application deployment.
The product was initially released in May 2009 as IBM Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere,[3] based on technology developed by Ascendant Technology.[4] With release 3.0 in 2012, IBM generalized the name of the product to IBM Rational Automation Framework to recognize the work done by MidVision to extend the functionality to products other than those from WebSphere.[5]
Architecture
The Rational Automation Framework software runs on a framework server, where it maintains configuration information that corresponds to product installations on one or more target systems. Target systems can be physical, virtualized, or in the cloud and can act as source systems, destination systems, or both. The product runs actions, actually elements within Apache Ant build files, to:
- Update the framework server configuration data from a target system, or vice versa
- Install or update custom applications and application artifacts
- Compare framework server configuration data with live data
- Start, stop, or restart managed product instances
- Install or patch managed products
The product uses an automation engine to automate any of those tasks.[6]
Pure Application System
IBM Pure Application System contains the Rational Automation Framework functionality in the form of a workload named Advanced Middleware Configuration. Advanced Middleware Configuration is typically used in this context for onboarding existing applications to the cloud.[7]
References
- ^ "Application Release Automation Is a Key to DevOps | 1773923". Gartner.com. 2011-08-23. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
- ^ http://www.hurwitz.com/index.php/recent-research/cloud-computing/doc_download/126-demonstrated-benefits-of-software-delivery-automation--an-analyst-study[permanent dead link]
- ^ Burt, Jeffrey (April 30, 2009). "IBM Bridges SOA, Cloud Computing". eWeek. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ "Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere (RAFW)". Ascendant Technology. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ "MidVision Extensions to IBM RAF". MidVision. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ "IBM product site". Ibm.com. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
- ^ IBM DeveloperWorks