ATM Testing - February 8, 2024
Projects fail. Run over-budget. Miss deadlines. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
In our introductory blog in this series, we discussed the high failure rates for large complex projects like upgrading your ATMs to Windows 10, as well as the impact testing – or lack of testing - can have on the overall success of any project.
Using the ATM Test Plan Checklist as a guide, we’ll explore in more detail how careful attention to the first four checklist items are key to a building a strong foundation for the migration project at your organization.
Establish a Solid Baseline
- Make a complete virtual inventory of all your Windows 7 ATM images and device configurations to provide an accurate baseline for your Windows 10 testing.
Because the new Windows 10 based machines are fundamentally different than the devices they are replacing, it is critically important for you to maintain an easily accessible inventory of all your Windows 7 ATMs to help you understand where you have been and ensure you get where you are going. By establishing a virtual inventory of all your existing machines, you have access to them long after all the physical devices in your ATM lab have been upgraded to Windows 10. No more hard drive swaps or other hardware configuration changes required.
Validate and Verify
- Perform side-by-side comparisons of your Windows 7 and Windows 10 ATM operations to verify the transaction flows, validate functional changes that you are making on your Windows 10 machines, and guard against negative customer experiences.
After you have established the virtual inventory of all your Windows 7 machines, you can easily use these “virtual ATMs” to compare the behavior and performance of your new/upgraded Windows 10 devices. This even makes it possible for a single tester to simultaneously run transactions using images from both a Window 7 and 10 machine on the same workstation. This helps ensure there are no issues when the Windows 10 images are actually deployed in the field.
Don’t Make Staff Wait, Have ATMs Waiting for Them
- Clone the physical ATMs in your laboratory to enable access to virtual ATMs by more testers. Set up and “stage” your virtualized ATMs to keep them ready for use when and where your staff needs them.
Another advantage of virtualized images is that you can replicate or clone the images as many times as needed. This capability takes some of the burden off your support team by easing the set-up and preparation of your required testing scenarios. Multiple images also come in handy if you need to expand the number of testers working with the images (either Windows 7 or Windows 10) at any time during the project.
Go Global
- Make your Windows 10 testing environment accessible 24/7 to your remote development, testing, and QA resources. Manage user roles and permissions to enable your staff to easily collaborate and share ATM profiles, test scripts, and media (cards, cash, checks, etc.).
Not only does virtualizing your ATM images allow for easy set up and duplication, it also means that the images can be made available to your test, development and QA resources no matter where they are based. We have heard stories about test ATMs being flown from one side of the world to the other to allow access by offshore teams. Virtualization eliminates that sort of expensive, time consuming and risky complication. This accessibility factor carries over to all of the test cards, test scripts, results, reports etc., and effectively puts your entire test lab in the cloud.
Clearly, there are many things to consider when setting up your Window 10 migration project, and no two organizations have the same business case or the same set of requirements. With that said, there is a lot of commonality in how the testing phases of any ATM project works. Getting the initial set-up done right is always important.
There are significant benefits to virtualizing both the Windows 7 and Windows 10 images to ensure that you deliver the intended features and functions in the new machines, with no negative consumer experiences. Virtualization also has several additional benefits, including connectivity, communication and collaboration, as well as capacity and resources management.
After you have established this solid foundation, you will be in a great position to automate various aspects of your testing to drive much higher levels of productivity and performance.
Paragon is here to help, contact us today.
