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Case Study • • 4 minute read

Embarking on the Automation Journey with Enterprise Fleet Management

Enterprise Fleet Management partnered with WWT to maximize IT resources and take software quality to new heights through test automation.

In this case study

 Situation

Enterprise Fleet Management (EFM) operates a network of more than 50 offices across the U.S. and Canada, providing customers with full fleet management services, from buying and leasing vehicles to real-time vehicle health tracking using telematics.

EFM's client strategy managers rely on a variety of applications to walk customers through the complexities of fleet management. As business grows, so too does demand for application updates. EFM's Core IT Team found itself adding more manual testers to the software development process to keep up.  

Core IT leadership knew that software test automation could improve software quality while at the same time increasing time for manual testers to do more exploratory testing. It would also strike a better balance between API and front-end testing, allowing IT staff to focus on more strategic efforts. They just needed help getting started.  

"We quickly recognized the opportunities in front of us, and the benefits of engaging a trusted partner to collaborate and determine actionable next steps towards implementation," said Lori Ament, a senior manager with Core IT.  

 Solution

 Assessment  

EFM Core IT is responsible for supporting upward of 70 applications, owned by different product teams that test software in different ways.  

To ensure that test automation tools and processes could consistently be applied across EFM's application portfolio, WWT began by interviewing several project teams to understand their current development processes, application technology stacks, coding skills, testing activities and even viewed demos of their applications.  

During this initial assessment period, we also worked closely with an EFM senior test engineer and conducted discovery sessions to understand the nuances around introducing new test tools into EFM's existing deployment pipelines.  

Test tool proofs of concepts (POCs) then highlighted how tests were built and executed against EFM applications for each test tool candidate, helping EFM visualize how the tools worked in their environments.

The EFM senior test automation engineer we were working with suggested Karate, an open-source API testing tool that allows integration tests to be written in readable English language using Gherkin syntax. It also supports API mock testing, which was a primary focus for the identified suite of applications to be supported.

Playwright which is an open-source test automation tool created by Microsoft, was also recommended. It supports multiple browsers and platforms. When combined with the page object coding pattern, Playwright test scripts are easy for Test Automation Engineers to write and maintain, which is a common challenge for web test automation.

In addition to detailing technical considerations for the new test tools, we also partnered with the EFM Test Automation Committee to:

  • Introduce test automation to select EFM product teams.
  • Recommend skills and training for long-term support.
  • Advise on cross-team processes that could be refined to support test automation in a unified and predictable manner.
  • Develop documentation to adopt test automation and a sustainable healthy process to support the effort.  

"WWT understood that it wasn't just about the tools," said Bernie Hobbs, a senior manager with Core IT. "We also wanted a consistent way to spin up automation for any of the teams we engage with."

 Pilot

With Core IT confident in tool selection and best practices, it was time to put automation into action.  

WWT worked with EFM's newly created automation engineering group to apply test automation to a document management application used by EFM Fleet Operations.  

The pilot included:

  • Documentation of standard practices to ensure successful adoption.
  • Development of test cases for legacy features and new features in flight.
  • Deployment guidance and development of best practices.
  • Environment configuration to support testing tools.
  • Configuration of test runtimes based on developer input for team needs and criticality.

"The pilot allowed us to see where and when we might be most effective with the approach, the tools and processes," Ament said. "That has paid dividends as we get automation established."

 Results

EFM now has a dedicated test automation engineering team with the technical skills to build automation for API and end-user functionality.

Through collaboration, they have gained the necessary tools to fix and refactor tests, positioning them well for long-term stability. Core IT can advocate for the best approach and implement test automation effectively across their application domains and unique constraints.  

"WWT's collaboration, open mindedness and willingness to explore options was instrumental in helping us identify the right approach, tools and frameworks for our current and future needs," Hobbs said.