About the Client
The client is a leading Automotive and e-mobility supplier based in the US. They have more than 50000 employees with a presence in over 20 countries globally. They approached Kovair to migrate their Test Management data for their Europe team. The organization used HP ALM tool for many years for managing their legacy Test Cases and Test execution activities.
Thousands of Test Cases were designed in HP ALM Test Plan and execution team prepared Test Labs by selecting relevant Test Cases for the QA purposes. Due to the organizational need they wanted to migrate their important Test Cases to Microsoft Azure DevOps and continue to work in this target tool.
Business Need
Based on the management driven decision, the global automotive company required to move some of their historical Test Management application data from HP ALM, its outdated data platform, to Azure DevOps, a more modern platform.
About the Tools
- HP ALM: With the help of this online Application Life Cycle Management solution, businesses can better oversee the whole application lifecycle, from project planning and requirements collection to end-to-end testing and deployment. This was the client’s source tool.
- Azure DevOps: Azure DevOps provides end-to-end traceability, which lets its users track work throughout the entire product lifecycle starting from requirements management to testing and subsequent deployment. This was the client’s target tool.
Kovair Role
To successfully migrate large volumes of data from multiple projects, you need to have an in-depth understanding of data migration processes. You also need to understand the methodologies involved and the potential challenges that come with such a complex project undertaking.
The client needed someone who had the knowledge and skills to design and implement a feasible and cost-effective solution that would help them navigate the migration process. That’s where Kovair Software came into the picture.
Kovair Flexible Architecture
Kovair QuickSync has been trusted, used, and appreciated by several small, medium and Fortune 500 companies globally. Kovair QuickSync has carried out many migration projects since its inception.
The client evaluated various alternative vendors. However, their requirement was to acquire a dependable platform that possesses the necessary flexibility to seamlessly adapt to their specific business needs.
Migration Project Challenges
As the automotive giant embarked on the journey of migrating their Test Management data from HP ALM to Microsoft Azure DevOps, several challenges emerged, each demanding strategic solutions to ensure a seamless transition.
Here’s a breakdown of the key challenges encountered during this intricate migration project:
- Migration of the Test Cases which are only been used in Test Labs: The need to migrate Test Cases from specific Test Lab Folders prompted the team to devise a solution for fetching these cases, along with intricate Design Step details, from chosen Test Lab Folders. This required meticulous handling to preserve the integrity of the data.
- Migration of the Test Plan related to Test Labs: Unlike HP ALM, where Test Plans were standalone entities, Azure DevOps structured Test Cases within Test Plans and Test Suites. The challenge was to migrate the top-level Test Folder as a Test Plan and subsequent folders as Test Suites while ensuring accurate mapping.
- Maintaining the Test Plan Folder hierarchy: The extensive hierarchy of Test Plan folders in HP ALM, ranging from zero to five levels, posed a critical challenge. Maintaining this logical order was imperative for preserving the organizational structure established in the source tool.
- Difference in Placeholder in the source and target for Test Step information: The disparity in the placeholders for Test Step information between HP ALM and Azure DevOps introduced complexity. HP ALM utilized three placeholders (Step Name, Description, and Expected Result), while Azure DevOps only had two fields (Action and Expected Result), requiring meticulous attribute-level mapping.
- Selective Data Retrieval from Test Lab Sub-Folders: The migration wasn’t a blanket transfer of entire Test Lab Folders; instead, specific Lab folders within the hierarchy were earmarked for migration. This selective retrieval added an extra layer of complexity.
- Maintaining the order of Test Cases inside Test Folders: The order of Test Cases in Test Plans might not align with their execution sequence in Test Labs. Post-migration, retaining the original order within Test Plan Folders presented a substantial challenge that needed careful consideration.
- Migration of Test Parameters, Step Attachments, Comments and Audit logs: While migrating the Design Steps embedded inside the Test Cases, critical data are kept with in Test Parameters, Step Attachments. Moreover, the Change History of the Test Cases and Comments added by the end users are very important to migrate in the target tool.
- Excluding Automated Test Cases from Migration: The decision to keep Automated Test Cases (QTP/UFT Test Scripts) out of scope added another layer of complexity. The challenge was to identify and segregate these cases, ensuring they were excluded from the migration scope.
All these challenges added up to the complexity of the data migration and the quality of migration of the data needed to be verified.
Kovair QuickSync as Solution
In the ever-evolving landscape of project management and development, the seamless transition of data between tools is a critical component for organizations aiming to optimize efficiency and productivity. What sets Kovair QuickSync apart from other data migration solutions is its intuitive interface for mapping tools and seamless data migration or synchronizations. QuickSync is a cost-effective and comprehensive data migration solution for enterprises in a variety of industries.
As a Windows-based desktop solution, Kovair QuickSync offers a user-friendly experience with minimal infrastructure requirements. Its versatility allows for migrating data from one source to one target or from one source to multiple targets. The key features of Kovair QuickSync include zero data loss migration, zero downtime migration, reusable template-based migration, consistent data migration, real-time monitoring supported by high scalability potential.
To initiate the migration project work, Kovair began to gain a better understanding of the data structure and came to an understanding on migration use cases. The migration and synchronization solution – Kovair QuickSync was used by Kovair for migrating the legacy data.
As part of the HP ALM to Azure DevOps migration project work, Kovair had to investigate Test management data such as Test Cases, Test Steps, Test Plans, Test Parameters, Step Attachments, Comments, Audit logs, etc.
Unlocking the Potential of Kovair QuickSync
Some of the notable USPs of using Kovair QuickSync standalone product, in comparison to similar tools that are available in the market are as follows:
- Comprehensive Migration: QuickSync ensures the consistent migration of Epics, Stories, Bugs, Tasks, Test Cycles, Test Cases, Test steps, Test runs, and other workitems along with their relationships, associated attachments, comments, and change history. The implementation of connection, entity and field mapping creates a hierarchy of data flow logic.
- Ease of Use: QuickSync ensures easy tool installation and a quick initial setup, reducing the learning curve for users.
- Codeless Configuration: With codeless configuration for mapping, users can seamlessly set up and manage migrations without the need for coding expertise.
- Template-Based Migration: The platform offers a template-based migration approach, allowing users to create configurations once and reuse them for efficiency.
- Transformation and Data Overriding Support: QuickSync supports transformation and data overriding, offering flexibility and customization during the migration process.
- Real-Time Monitoring: QuickSync provides real-time monitoring, allowing users to check the status or the health of the migration process with considerable ease. Generate on-screen reports for quick analysis of data volume that is getting migrated.
- Built-In Recovery Mechanism: The tool includes an in-built recovery mechanism and re-migration capability, ensuring data integrity throughout the migration. Easily watch out on ‘Success’ or ‘Error’ statuses and opt to re-execute the ones that failed.
- Time and Effort Savings: Kovair QuickSync saves time and effort with its automated data checker that generates post-migration data comparison reports for data validation. The parallel migration capabilities of QuickSync empower you to transport a large volume of data at comparatively quicker rates.
- Simple Licensing: Costing is based on successful transactions across all configurations and all projects by any number of users.
Project Execution and Overcoming Challenges
Addressing the intricacies of migrating Test Management data from HP ALM to Microsoft Azure DevOps posed a myriad of challenges for the automotive company. Despite the inherent difficulties, powered by the innovative solutions offered by Kovair QuickSync, the migration process became more efficient and streamlined.
Here’s an insightful exploration of the solutions devised to overcome each challenge:
- Selective Test Case Migration from Test Labs: Kovair QuickSync introduced a targeted migration approach. Instead of a direct migration from Test Plans, the tool leverages the Test Lab Folder path as a migration condition. This ensures that only pertinent Test Cases associated with specific Test Labs are migrated.
- Mapping Test Plans to Azure DevOps: QuickSync excels in identifying Test Labs that contain Test Sets utilizing specific Test Cases within the Test Plan. The Test Lab Folder path becomes a crucial migration condition, ensuring the migration of Test Plan Folders along with Test Cases linked to designated Test Labs.
- Preserving Test Plan Folder Hierarchy: QuickSync’s migration process meticulously maintains the hierarchical structure of HP ALM within Azure DevOps. This ensures that the logical order of Test Plan folders, ranging from zero to five levels, is preserved in the new environment.
- Mapping Test Step Information: The tool adeptly handles the disparity in Test Step information placeholders. QuickSync navigates the one-to-one mapping challenge by aligning the three placeholders in HP ALM (Step Name, Description, Expected Result) with the two fields in Azure DevOps (Action, Expected Result) using some advanced data transformation rule.
- Selective Data Retrieval from Test Lab Sub-Folders: QuickSync’s efficiency shines in selectively retrieving data. The tool identifies and migrates specific Lab folders within the Test Lab hierarchy, ensuring a focused and organized transfer of relevant information.
- Maintaining Test Case Order in Test Folders: QuickSync recognizes the challenge of maintaining Test Case order post-migration. The tool employs a systematic approach to retain the original order within Test Plan Folders, ensuring a seamless transition.
- Comprehensive Migration of Test Parameters and Audit Logs: Kovair QuickSync goes beyond standard migration by ensuring the comprehensive transfer of critical data embedded within Test Cases. This includes Test Parameters, Step Attachments, Comments, and Audit logs, preserving the integrity of the information.
- Excluding Automated Test Cases from Migration: Kovair QuickSync aligns with the client’s decision to exclude Automated Test Cases from the migration scope. The tool facilitates the identification and segregation of these cases, ensuring a targeted and controlled migration process.
In summary, Kovair QuickSync emerges as the cornerstone in overcoming the intricate challenges of migrating Test Management data. Its efficient and targeted approach ensures a seamless transition, minimizing data transfer complexities and reducing the risk of errors. As our esteemed client of the automotive sector navigates the migration landscape, Kovair QuickSync stands as a reliable ally, facilitating a successful and organized transition to Microsoft Azure DevOps.
Migration Experiences
Kovair’s experience from various similar migration projects has been stated below:
- Proven track record of migrating more than 10 million records with less than 0.1 % error.
- Migration of 3 million data being executed in 4 months.
- With Parallel Migration, transaction rates are around 300+ records per minute.
- Rapid migration of data with maximum data availability to the business with zero application downtime.
- No impact on applications data or performance on either side.
- Data integrity retained with business-oriented data transformation performed only with the click of a mouse. The hierarchy and relationships are maintained for all the records across Artifacts.
Conclusion
Kovair QuickSync stands as a testament to innovation and efficiency in the realm of data migration. As an integration and migration specialist with decades of experience, Kovair provides organizations with a tool that seamlessly organizes and moves data, ensuring a smooth transition without any downtime.
Elevate your data migration experience, maximize efficiency, and unlock the full potential of your tools with Kovair QuickSync. Explore a new era of streamlined data management and propel your organization towards greater success!