US-based software testing provider BrowserStack has developed and launched a new test automation platform that is low code based.
BrowserStack, a web and mobile testing tech provider that is venture capital-backed, claims the new platform will give automated testing a shot in the arm.
Because software teams face critical challenges, such as slow manual testing cycles bottleneck releases, traditional automation tools like Selenium require steep learning curves with long ramp-up periods before showing ROI.
Therefore, many financial organisations and other firms struggle with a shortage of automation engineers while talented testers lack coding skills, stressed Nakul Aggarwal, CTO and a co-founder of BrowserStack.
“AI is further revolutionizing how test automation is done,” he continued, so “our low-code automation eliminates these barriers, enabling to create and maintain AI-driven automated tests without code.”
In fact, Aggarwal went on to claim that “with low code automation, we’re transforming how teams approach quality assurance, [because] by empowering everyone to create automated tests, we’re enabling a true culture of quality.”
BrowserStack is one of the most-used software testing firms in the banking and financial services space, particularly across North America. Among its prominent finserv clients are Wells Fargo, Capital One, Stripe and Mastercard.
He was keen to point out that the platform stands out because of its “intuitive test recorder with no learning curve”, which can build tests in minutes by interacting with webapps in a browser.
Moreover, the solution simplifies complex assertions into a one-click visual validation and contains AI-driven self-healing tests that adapt to UI changes and reduce failures by up to 40%, Aggarwal explained.
Wave of deals
BrowserStack, which is venture capital-backed and was recently valued at around $4 billion, has been profitable since its inception.
The firm has rapidly expanded its product portfolio in recent years, to include over 15 products, with ten alone launching in the last 18 months.
The company’s latest buy, Bird Eats Bug in August, marked BrowserStack’s fifth acquisition since Percy, a visual testing platform, in 2020.
Bird Eats Bug is a bug reporting platform based in Berlin.
BrowserStack is currently in the process of integrating Bird Eats Bug’s capabilities into its existing QA ecosystem, culminating in the launch of Bug Capture, a new solution for manual testing.
“The acquisition not only aligns with BrowserStack’s vision of creating a developer-first end-to-end test platform but also underscores its urgent need to resolve gaps in bug-reporting processes and eliminate fragmented toolchains in testing,” stressed Ritesh Arora, CEO and co-founder of BrowserStack.
He went on to say that “by integrating Bug Capture’s approach to bug reporting into our platform, we’re not just streamlining workflows; we’re boosting development teams’ productivity so they can focus more on building great products and less on managing the intricacies of the testing process.”
Current software development suffers from inefficiencies in bug-reporting processes. Bug Capture allows teams to debug issues 30% faster on average, Arora claimed.
When asked to discuss the tool, he said the key features include instant replays, screen recording, and auto-captured technical logs, such as console and network logs, system details, and steps to reproduce, “all consolidated into one clean bug report.”
“These features work in harmony to eliminate the need for extensive back-and-forth between testers, product managers, developers, support teams, and customers,” Arora noted.
Legal battle with Deque
Despite the rapid expansion and range of takeovers, one of BrowserStack’s main rivals, software test equipment provider Deque Systems, filed a lawsuit against BrowserStack earlier this year in the U.S. over the use of one of its testing platforms.
Deque Systems reportedly alleges that BrowserStack acquired Deque’s proprietary testing platform DevTools, only for it to be taken apart and directly access its codes.
The codes, as Deque Systems claims, were then duplicated in order to develop BrowserStack’s own testing tool, which was subsequently launched and brought to market by BrowserStack at the end of last year.
“When we looked at the extent of the copying, the theft was intentional, pervasive, blatant and frankly, really shameless,” clarified Preety Kumar, the CEO and founder of Deque Systems, in a statement in March.
“So they even use their work emails, with ‘browserstack.com’ when they signed up for our trials [so] we have decided that we’re going to have to vigorously defend our intellectual property rights,” Kumar said.
Deque Systems develops accessibility software and testing tools and is used by a range of large U.S. banks, including PNC Financial services and U.S. Bancorp.
“Right the wrong, stop stealing and selling things based on what you have stolen from us.”
–Preety Kumar
Kumar said Deque Systems spent more than five years developing the testing platform. She stressed designing efforts evolved around ensuring that the product remains usable for novice users and still be compatible with algorithms at the backend.
“Some of the questions that are in BrowserStack’s product are verbatim stolen questions from our product, as well as in addition to some of the code that they saw,” Kumar claimed.
At the time BrowserStack allegedly signed up “for hundreds of accounts”, as she put it, Deque Systems’ product was in beta first.
When Deque subsequently launched the software product, it drastically limited the option to use it during a free trial.
It was then however, according to Kumar, that BrowserStack attempted to sign up for a subscription with a generic email like “test@browserstack.com”.
Deque objected since such a generic email meant the account would be open to many multiple users. In response, BrowserStack acquired a range of subscriptions from Deque Systems, which allowed them access to the entire product.
Kumar stressed it is the first time ever Deque Systems has filed such a large lawsuit.
She expects more information to come out as the litigation continues regarding how BrowserStack is allegedly “poaching” Deque Systems’ customers by claiming its product is much better than Kumar’s firm.
She is convinced that the best outcome of any lawsuit would be for BrowserStack to end all its alleged illegal activities and compensate Deque Systems accordingly.
“Right the wrong, stop stealing and selling things based on what you have stolen from us and pay for the damages,” Kumar concluded.
When approached by QA Financial, both BrowserStack and Deque Systems declined to discuss the pending case.
UPCOMING EVENTS
QA FINANCIAL FORUM LONDON: RECAP
Last month, on September 11, QA Financial held the London conference of the QA Financial Forum, a global series of conference and networking meetings for software risk managers.
The agenda was designed to meet the needs of software testers working for banks and other financial firms working in regulated, complex markets.
Please check our special post-conference flipbook by clicking here.
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