Product Update: QACube Version 4.0
The new QACube Quality Assurance Platform for DevOps 4.0 release has major changes in all components. It introduces Master Objects in the Platform and a new document-oriented database which enables quick retrieval and data import. The new release offers various possibilities in terms of seeing the history of all metrics and maturity levels of the selected KPIs instantly in one place. Also, there are new options for user groups creation, improvements across various displays and metrics, and the Status Report enhancements. All QACube components now bring even more flexibility and advanced insights and analytics for the users, in the form of compelling and easy-to-digest reports and visuals.
Platform Component
Introducing the New Master Object Entity
Master Object is a new facility in QACube applications.
Master Object can be of application type or project type. Depending on the type, we can associate Master Object with datasets of the same type from various sources. This allows the user to see the data and metrics from different applications/ projects of the same or different source within a single object.
Also, we can make one Report for all merged datasets.
Mapping Master Objects to Structure
We can map a Master Object to a structure node.
Once the desired structure is selected, its node tree will appear in the panel on the left, and the list of all available mapping entities will appear in the panel on the right.
There is an option to map either projects or applications to the selected structure, but not both at the same time.
For that reason, a drop-down menu at the top of the right-side panel allows a selection of the projects or applications exclusively.
ElasticSearch and Jira Incremental Import
As an initial point in building data lake, QACube introduced an ElasticSearch instance in its architecture.
ElasticSearch is an ultra-fast, document-oriented database, very suitable for intermediate storage of data imported into QACube.
By utilizing ElasticSearch, QACube is capable of quickly retrieving a large amount of data from the source system and incremental import into QACube relational database.
Users Groups in the Management Section
On this page system admins and supervisors can create user groups. The table has three columns: Name, Description, and Actions.
With Users groups, we assign rights to the User group faster and easier.
Archiving Datasets
The Archive option can be found in the Action column of Dataset in Datasets page
A user with the role of Systemadmin or Supervisor can archive a dataset.
Once the dataset is archived, the Status column of the dataset will contain the Archived information.
New Metric "Defect Duration" in Days for Top Priority Defects is Added
Defect Duration shows the average duration of defects from the moment of their creation date until their closing date (the duration is shown in days)
It tells the user how fast the reaction is to the appearance of the defect and its fix.
KPI Component
KPI Wheel History Charts
The History bar charts in the KPI Wheel Start page appear immediately, without having to select any wheel element.
A user can see the metric maturity level history already with the initial page load.
It is possible to see the history of all metrics of the selected wheel in parallel and in a single place.
Global Search of the Structure Nodes
Global search can now retrieve the structure nodes based on the entered External ID of the node.
Besides using the name or the person in charge, a user can now easily find the desired structure element by entering the External ID of the searched structure node.
Sparklines with Maturity Level History in the KPI Wheel Compare Page
Added possibility to see the history of the metric maturity levels in the KPI Wheel Compare page.
There is now a possibility to see the history of the last six recorded metric maturity levels in a form of a sparkline bar chart for each individual metric cell in the KPI Wheel Compare page table.
KPI Wheels with Pre-aggregated Data
Added possibility to display KPI Wheel with pre-aggregated metrics data in all pages of KPI Wheel section.
A user can now choose to have all the data pre-calculated and imported to the KPI Wheel as such. This option provides more flexibility if there is a need for special kind of metric aggregation that is not already available in QACube.
Export to Excel File Functionality in Detailed View of KPI Wheel Metrics
The Export functionality of the tree table from the Detailed View page is improved in multiple ways to help users make the best of the exported data sheet.
It is now also possible to export the filtered results from the Detailed View tree grid. Export can support filtering applied in any column filter of the tree table and the advanced filtering as well.
The export of the tree table now provides the display of the parent structure elements in multiple columns.
Testing Component
Release Dashboard Improvements
Now the user can show orange exclamation mark for the defined orange thresholds. With this option, the user can make a difference between warnings and issues.
There is a possibility of filtering data by warnings and issues. This helps the user to easily locate applications and projects with some problems.
Release Dashboard page has been enhanced with additional information about Moved RFCs (Request for Change). We need to get informed once an RFC gets shifted to another release or an RFC was added to the current release.
We are checking daily RFC fluctuations with this new status.
There is also an additional overview of information about all different types of RFCs and the possibility to filter data from the Release Dashboard using RFC filters.
Contribution Widget with Requirement Details
Contribution widget is improved by an option to display the requirement details. This enables the user to:
select the specific and the most important requirements and represent only their data into the contribution chart.
see the requirement information like a name, number of the test cases which are attached to the requirement, requirement’s contribution, and priority.
Master Improvements
The Start page displays master applications or projects and corresponding core information for all datasets related to these master objects.
The New chooser allows the user to select more different combinations of releases and environments. As the result of this new operation, QACube represents data for different combinations of releases and environments for different applications and projects.
Operations Component
Ticketing and Changes Overview in Status Report
Status Report now has the option of including Ticketing and Changes Overview Reports as possible widgets.
Ticketing Overview helps the user to find out useful information about:
• Mean Time to Resolve
• Quality of Incident Resolution
• Speed of Problem Resolution
• Quality of Problem Resolution
Changes Overview helps the user to find out about this information:
• Quality of Planning I (Change Information without Delivery)
• Quality of Planning II (Delivery without Change Data)
• Quality of Reliability
• Quality of Timeline Compliance
Development Component
Development Widgets in Status Report with New Metrics
Status Report is enhanced with three new Development widgets important for the developers’ daily work.
Deployment Volume widget has three metrics that represent the average daily number of deployment executions and the percentage/number of successful/failed executions.
Deployment Speed is the widget with three metrics. Every metric selects data from Jenkins imported measurement, where there is a successful build job.
The widget Development Performance shows four different metrics from Gitlab/Github imported measurement:
• Total number of commits for the selected date range
• Average number of commits per day
• Average number of authors per day
• Total number of merge requests for selected date range
Threshold values will be automatically calculated using setup values for commits, authors and merge requests.
Affected Files are Marked in the Structure
The requirements in the structure, whose changes affect more than one file in the QACube application, are highlighted. With this option, the user can:
find out easily the list of the changed requirements in the File Structure
figure out impact of this change to the whole application through the list of affected files
Product Update: QACube Version 3.4
The new release 3.4 of the QACube Quality Assurance Platform for DevOps has major changes and improvements, mainly in the KPI Component.
KPI Component
Sticky Notes
Sometimes, data behaviour needs explanation. QACube Sticky Notes allow you to:
Directly add a comment in the Historical Chart for everyone to see
Improvements in Usability
Improvements in usability facilitate the use of QACube
Users can save a default structure that will be displayed when opening QACube
Users can save settings (last selection of the structure, structure node and View tab) and continue work in the same place before being logged out or switching the component
The new structure is user-friendly and allows at-a-glance view of the blue levels where the data is available
The View tabs can be moved into the desired position with drag and drop
Introduction of ‘YES / NO’ Metrics
Some metrics are of ‘YES or NO’ type instead of the arbitrary values, e.g. “Has there been a security breach in the first week after GoLive?”
Metrics of ‘YES or NO’ type are automatically recognised by QACube and the configuration settings change accordingly.
Metric frequency can now also be set to quarterly for all types of metrics
Level Insight View
Clicking on a value allows drill-down to the details of the respective value
Clicking on the structure element on top of a column lets the user jump directly to the next lower level of hierarchical structure
KPI Wheel: The Wheel
The KPI Wheel offers a brand-new possibility to display maturity levels in different areas across an organisation.
Metrics can be fact-based, automatically loaded from other sources, or gathered from the organization using questionnaires
The wheel shows dimensions, areas, themes, and their underlying metrics on every level within the structure
KPI Wheel: Questionnaire
For each KPI Wheel a questionnaire can be defined, which is afterwards sent as a link to each party who should answer the questions
Questionnaires can be sent out regularly to gather answers over time
KPI Wheel: Historical Charts
Historical Charts show the change over time for each metric
Charts can be displayed for any level within the structure
KPI Wheel: Compare Maturity Levels
Compare metrics of different structural elements (e.g. teams or applications) and an at-a-glance view of the difference between their maturity levels.
KPI Wheel: Detailed View
See details of each metric in the table view for each structural element
Use Advanced Filters to search for specific metrics or e.g. for maturity level values that are < 4.0
Excel Export allows the user to export the table and do any additional modification they like with the given data
New Internal Metrics
Additional 12 metrics from the Testing Component are now available in the KPI Component and can be combined with any of the KPI Views or KPI Wheels.
Product Update: QACube Version 3.2
The new release 3.2 of QACube Quality Assurance Platform for DevOps has major changes in all components. With this release, an entirely new component Operations has been introduced that allows you to display incidents and problem tickets from your service tools.
KPI Component
New KPI Page - Level Insights
This
new view allows users to observe and compare all metric, KPI, and characteristic
statuses in a table form among structure nodes of the same level.
Possibility
to display only the characteristics, or only the characteristics and KPIs, without going
into metric details
Possibility
to display only the alarming (red) data
Customer-Definable KPI Views
Customers can define their own views of their KPIs.
Each view is a separate tab that can be restricted for users in order to allow access to confidential data to the selected users only
Do you have to display confidential KPIs? For each view, user access can be individually restricted in the KPI component settings
Flexible Calculation Methods for Traffic Lights
Customers can define which calculation method and which thresholds they want to use for the traffic light colours
Selection between “RAG” and “at least one” method allows flexibility when adjusting the severity of the traffic light colours from green to red
Metric Import Results Visible in Source Data Quality
Source Data Quality has been enhanced with metric import information to ensure clean data quality
Treemap View for Individual Metrics
The Treemap View now has the possibility to show the Traffic Light Status for specific characteristics, KPIs or metrics
Testing Component
New Heartbeat
The old beta version of the Heartbeat has been completely redesigned and enhanced with a new functionality
Usability of the Heartbeat was the top priority and updates have been made to make it as easy as possible to use the Heartbeat
Preset filters allow to quickly analyse the Test Case repository to find which Test Cases need cleanup
Structure Treemap with Detailed Defect View
The structure view for Defects has been enhanced with a table and a gauge chart to display additional Defect details on each selected structure level
NEW Operations Component
Operations - Start Page
With our Operations Component, we 'close the gap' and provide a holistic DevOps end-to-end view. We support ITIL-standards by integrating incident, problem and change management. The new navigation reflects the differentiation between Data (Cockpit) and Metrics (Dashboard).
The Start Page shows an overview of all impacted applications. Data imported from different sources is mapped to the associated application.
Application tiles with detailed information
One-click navigation
Gauges for quick evaluation
Operations - Cockpit
The Cockpit provides you with a simple and understandable graphical status (open, closed, etc.) and the corresponding history of tickets, change requests and more.
Quick filters
Date range selection
Simple and easy-to-understand
Operations – Dashboard
The Dashboard provides a quick interpretation of the ‘state of health’ by theme (e.g. ticketing). The traffic light gauges show status.
The Executive Summary shows metrics in a comprehensive way by using meaningful sentences.
Direct link to the causative elements (filtered elements in core data)
At-a-glance overview of open issues
Gauges for quick evaluation of the underlying metrics
Operations - Core Data
From the point of view of 'continuing well-established views' QACube Operations Component provides again the list of all imported basic elements for analysis in core data.
Fading in and out of columns
Export to Excel
Icon colors matching the status
Core data by topic
Development Component
See All the Files Affected by a Change
Right after having source code checked in the Source Code Sunburst, all the files per requirement that have been affected by the change are shown.
Highlighted areas represent the spread of changes across the application, indicating risks and complexity of testing.
Platform Component
New Importers for Test Tools
New qTest and Azure DevOps importers support testing activities and their integration into well-known standardized reporting.
qTest
Azure DevOps
New Importers for Service Desk Tools
Importers for widely-used service desk tools allow to import incidents and problems to support ITIL processes.
Service Now
Jira Service Desk
Zendesk
Freshservice
Product Update: QACube Version 3.0
The QACube Quality Assurance Platform for DevOps has taken another big step forward with the new release of QACube 3.0, by adding an entirely new component to display metrics and KPIs, their history and trends. The newly implemented structure functionality allows companies to use organizational, process, or other structures to view their data besides the existing Project, Application, Portfolio and Release Views. Development Component got an easy-to-configure Dashboard View, while Platform Component has invested effort in Importer enhancements.
KPI Component
Get Transparency on your Company’s Product Health
Aggregated view of metrics and KPIs on any level of an organization, business process, product level or other structure.
At-a-glance indication of current status with traffic lights on KPIs.
High-level overview for management levels.
Detailed Information on Data
Drill-down functionality to detailed view for application responsible persons and other interested stakeholders.
Historical and Trend Charts
Historical Line Charts to display historical and current data, and whether they are hitting a threshold.
Trend Charts to track long term progress of metrics.
State-of-the-Art Navigation
The Treemap Drill-Down is another way to navigate through the structure levels and see aggregated metrics and KPI Traffic Lights.
An Intelligent Search allows to jump easily to the level in the navigation structure you’re interested in.
KPI Configuration
The KPI Configuration allows to add new KPIs and metrics and configure them accordingly.
Add and edit KPIs, set thresholds and weights.
Add and edit metrics, set thresholds, moving history average period and weights.
Testing Component
Drill-Down Functionality in Public Status Report
All widgets that offer drill-down in widgets of the Status Report have now also the drill-down possibility for Public Reports.
Enhanced Structure View
The Structure View on the Start Page is now also available for Defect View.
The Structure Treemap was enhanced to display the numbers in the Treemap sections.
From the Structure Treemap a Status Report can directly be created and the selected Structure View will be saved as a new Portfolio in “My Portfolio” on Start Page.
Status Report Improvements
Now it is possible to save custom widget height for Status Report widgets that had adjustable height (Milestones Overview, Notes, iFrame Widget, Image Widget, Portfolio Overview, Release Overview, Production Readiness Verification Environment Overview).
For grid widgets (Milestones Overview, Portfolio Overview, etc.), it is now possible to save the selected columns in the Status Report Template.
Development Component
User-friendly Dashboard
New engine for Dashboard layout allows easy widget sizing and positioning.
Platform Component
Structure Import
The existing views of Project, Application, Portfolio and Release has been enhanced with a Structure View. Structure allows to cover different views of your data, e.g. on an organizational or business process level.
Import of structure with Excel Structure Importer.
Structure can be used in Testing Component as well as in KPI Component.
Import of Metric Data for KPI Component
A new Excel Importer allows to import any metrics for KPI Component.
Email Notifications Available
Users can receive Email Notifications for various events.
Customization of parameters for Email Notification in System Settings .
Users can configure which notifications they would like to receive.
Improvements in Importers
Various importers have been improved to allow faster loads and offer enhanced functionality.
Jira Importer supports all issue links to create Project/Application Structure.
Jira Importer has been enhanced with a JQL filter possibility to reduce data import.
Jira Xray supports import of the Test Case Regression type from a custom field.
Accelerated Project Import for Jira, Tosca and Spira Importers.
Product Update: QACube Version 2.10
The QACube Quality Assurance Platform for DevOps is now available with several exciting new features, including enhancements for the new Development Component: drill-down possibilities into most graphics, new Sunbursts for Execution, Progress and Code quality, a Development Time Series graph, a Code Page with Statistics and easier handling of Repository Connections for system administrators.
Testing Component
See Details by Drilling down into the Graphics
Many widgets like Sunburst, Defect Matrix, Time Series or Pie/Bar Chart now allow to click on a dot or a bar to display the underlying data in the Core Data section.
The same drill-down functionality is also implemented in the charts in the Dashboard.
New Sunbursts for Execution Lists and Progress
Two new types of Sunbursts have been added to the widgets list in the Testing Component.
The Execution Sunburst shows the execution lists and the status of their test cases.
The Progress Sunburst shows the progress of the requirements and their workstate.
Development Component
New Code Page with Statistics
The Code Page shows the repository with the file structure of the code.
The new Code Page contains additional information about the lines of code, issues derived from the source quality tools, duplications, code coverage and execution of the unit test cases.
The Code Page can be personalized by hiding/unhiding columns, changing their position and using filters.
The Overview shows statistical information at-a-glance.
Time Series Chart with Code Metrics
The Time Series Chart displays various metrics derived from SonarQube that keep you up-to-date regarding code quality:
Number of total and open issues.
Information about the unit test errors, failures and the test success density.
Code metrics such as complexity, lines of code, duplicates and coverage.
Code Sunburst
A new type of Sunburst has been added to the Development Dashboard to display code information on each level of the code file structure:
Number of duplicated blocks of lines
Number of lines of code
Coverage (covered lines by unit tests)
Platform Component
New Connection for Source Code Tools
This new adapter allows to connect any source code management tool to QACube.
Connect easily any source code management tool and visualize source code structure and metrics in QACube.
Merge Applications
So far, in the Repository Connections only the merge of projects was possible. With the QACube Release 2.10, it is now possible to merge the applications for import as well.
Possibility of Duplicating Repository Connections
Save time by copying the existing Repository Connections.
New Repository Connections had to be created from scratch. With the QACube Release 2.10 it is possible to copy the existing connections and modify them as needed.
New Feature Highlights: Version 2.9
Visualize the most important Project results in the new Relase Dashboard
Set different “quality gates” or KPIs for the release and define ranges for Requirements, Test Cases, Test Instances and Defects per Release Stage.
If a particular KPI is not within the defined range, a warning message will immediately indicate a breach of any range that has been preset.
show warning if more than 22% of failed Test Cases have no Defects linked.
The Statistics Overview Section displays the number of Projects/Applications, Warnings, Requirements, Test Cases, and Defects in the selected Release.
Check out the Video Tutorial of the New Release Dashboard!
New Adaptors support connection to more Source Systems!
New Print Solution provides customized printout of Widgets
Select between A4 “portrait” and “landscape” printing.
Widgets can be removed or resized for printing.
Additional blank pages can be added in order to rearrange the Widgets on the page.
New Feature Highlights: Version 2.8
New Statuses “Blocked” and “Not Completed” are available for Test Execution
The ALM Test Status Section and all Widgets containing Test Execution Status information have been enhanced with the new Statuses “Blocked” and “Not Completed”.
Test Execution Status now also displays “Blocked” and “Not Completed” Test Cases.
Track the progress of Requirements
In the ALM Progress Page, Time Series, and Sunburst Widgets you can now visualize the progress of the Requirements.
The progress can be displayed according to the Requirements Statuses, including: “Planned”, “In Work” and “Completed”.
Use the new “Codebook” to configure Types, Statuses, and their respective colors
The new Codebook enables the Administrator to configure the labelling for graphics.
This new functionality enables the Administrator to dynamically configure the labelling of the Requirement Status codes, and Requirement and Test Case Types. The newly configured labels appear in ALM Requirements and the Test Cases View, as well as in the Widgets Pie/Bar Charts, Requirement Status Bullet Chart, and Test Case Type Bullet Chart.
- You can set different colors based on the Types and Statuses, which will be automatically reflected in the Pie/Bar Chart Widgets including: Requirements Types (e.g. Story, Requirement, Improvement, etc.) and Statuses (New, In Progress, etc.)
- Test Cases: Types (e.g. Functional, Regression, etc.)
Rename Requirement Statuses, Requirement and Test Case Types to meet your needs.
Set your own colors for each customized setting referenced above.
Learn about the additional value from other QACube 2.8 enhancements
Risk Management can now also be configured in a centralized section such as Milestones.
It is possible to set the number of rows to be shown in the ALM Pages Tables (Requirements, Test Cases, Execution Lists, Defects, Tasks, Progress), which improves the performance of the QACube ALM Grids.
A company-wide setting can be activated to show a Pop-up Message after each Login to warn the users about displaying the Client Identifying Data (CID).
There is a new Info Icon in the Widget header with the ability to display the description of each Widget.
