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The Advanced Technology Group (ATG) is focused on speeding emerging technologies
based on Java, XML, COM, and WAP to the e-commerce market. As with many leading-
edge Internet businesses, ATG evolved from creating advanced web site
applications for our clients to a specialized team of e-business technologists
that are continually redefining how Fixia conducts product and web site
development.
Software Development
Although Fixia's clients still provide a focal point for providing
early adopter use-cases for ATG, the team also develops prototypes based on
review and implementation of emerging Internet-related protocols and standards.
This "best of breed" analysis and engineering methodology is incorporated back
into the technologies deployed for our clients. This not only reduces
development time and speeds technologies to market, but allows Fixia to gauge the
interest, success or validity of ATG's software and design innovations. The ATG
team works internally with user feedback, performance monitoring, and real-time
statistics to build a business case around each technology and to determine the
next step for a product.
Capacity Planning and Host Scalability
The Capacity Planning and Host Scalability service offered by Fixia is
designed to provide webmasters, site administrators, and designers the information they need to
plan and verify the capacity of a Web site. Typically this includes planning for support of high
volume access by simulating system throughput at the number of expected users.
Stress and Load Testing
Our Stress and Load Testing stage is the main data-gathering stage of the Capacity Planning and
Host Scalability service. It is during this stage that we apply varying user and transaction loads to
the system. While doing this we monitor several data points. These typically include:
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Transactions per Second
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Data Throughput
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Response Time
Data Analysis
Data Analysis involves analyzing the data that was produced as a result of the Stress and Load
Testing. From the analysis, we produce several reports. These typically include:
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User Capacity Report
Transaction Capacity Report
- Data Throughput Capacity Report
In addition to showing what was found during the Stress and Load Testing phase, the reports also
show what would happen to the system (e.g. bottlenecks, unresponsiveness) if this same data
were used to project more users, more transactions or more data throughput.
Configuration Analysis
At this point, in order to further identify the stress points, Fixia examines the
hardware and software configuration that makes up the system. We then suggest how to improve
any parts that may be limiting factors in achieving the desired capacity. This can include
software configuration (database, Web server, operating system), hardware configuration (I/O
configuration, CPU configuration, etc.), and network topology.
Life Cycle Planning
The Life Cycle Planning stage involves mapping hardware and software upgrades to planned
increases in usage of the system. Based on the data gathered and analysis performed during the
earlier phases, Fixia produces a timetable-driven by increased system
usage-of the system upgrades. This mapping allows for budgeting and planning of the hardware
and software maintenance costs over the life cycle of a Web site
Software Quality Assurance and Test
The Software Quality Assurance and Test service offered by Fixia can be
used to verify and validate all aspects of a system under development. The comprehensive nature
of this service allows for continuous monitoring of the quality of the product through the entire
software development life cycle. We achieve this by establishing a close partnership between
Fixia and your software development team.
Requirements-Based Test Planning
The Software Quality Assurance and Test offering begins with a review of the requirements of
the system under test. During this review of the software analysis and design documentation, the
team develops strategies for testing product features and components. We document these
strategies in a comprehensive test plan, outlining the approach and techniques that will be
applied during the planned test cycle. The test plan also specifies all of the automated and
manual testing mechanisms and techniques that will be used to cover the system under test.
Test Project Scheduling
Based on the requirements-driven Test Plan, the team creates and maintains a project schedule.
We synchronize it with your schedule established for software development. The Test Project
Schedule outlines all tasks described in the Test Plan, with supporting deliverables, resource
allocations, and milestones.
Test Execution
Once the test plan has been developed and agreed upon by all parties, we develop use cases. The
resulting use cases are the basis for developing scenario-based test cases. The test cases
generated are in turn used to execute full regression test cycles over the course of the
engagement period.
Test Automation
Fixia offers multi-tiered test automation services, from traditional GUI test
automation (using Mercury WinRunner, Seque Silk, etc), to stress and load
testing (Mercury LoadRunner and Radview WebLoad), to custom
test driver implementation using C++, Java, and Visual Basic. Based on the
actions outlined in the Test Plan and Test Project Schedule, we develop
automated test drivers as part of the overall test execution strategy.
For more information, please visit our contact page.
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