How to Evaluate Telecom Testing Tools

As increasing device fragmentation and the proliferation of different protocols continue to inflate the number of use cases that require testing, human testers are struggling to keep up.

But, if you’re reading this, you probably know all that. More than that, you’re probably almost ready to take the plunge and seriously consider an automated testing solution for your business. The question at this point is, how do you choose the right tool?

Obviously, there is no one easy answer to this question—but here are a few considerations that might help you identify testing tools that can improve your test coverage and increase your testing ROI.

Ease of Scripting

Ultimately, success or failure in adopting new technology tends to come down to its implementation: Is it incorporated into existing test frameworks in such a way as to promote ease of use? Does it actually provide results in a way that users can access and turn into added value?

No matter how fancy or sophisticated a piece of software (or hardware) is, its real value is going to be limited by the user’s ability to understand and interact with the technology. For businesses in the telecom sphere, this means that a valuable solution will often have to be usable by both technical and non-technical personnel—meaning that it will have to be evaluated by two different standards of usability.

For the first category (technical users), we find that good proxy for how well a solution will slot into existing frameworks is ease-of-scripting. How easy or difficult is it for users to define parameters and use cases in the appropriate programming language?

How quickly are users able to learn any new scripting languages and use them to extract value from the tool at hand? The answers to these questions will tell you a lot about overall usability.

Non-technical Usability

If a tool requires too much time for scripting use cases and defining frameworks for technical users, the potential time and cost savings can quickly go out the window. By the same token, if non-technical users can’t interact with the tool in the desired way, any time saved can be cancelled out once the testing process moves beyond the engineer’s desk.

A tool that maximizes the ease of use for technical users could easily fail to prioritize non-technical users, which would make it difficult to expand the impact of the test automation into the rest of the organization.

If, for example, you’re automating your VoIP tests, and the executive making the go-no-go decision for a particular rollout of network updates can’t access or understand the results of those tests, then from a decision-making standpoint you’ve added little to no value.

If, by contrast, users with limited programming ability are still able to navigate the test infrastructure to pinpoint areas of improvement and understand service levels, you create an environment where decision-makers are empowered by data.

Reporting

Speaking of being empowered by data—the next big consideration when evaluating a telecom test automation tool is the quality of reporting being offered. First off, you’ll want to see what formats the reports can actually be exported to.

If a piece of software only lets you view reports as some arcane file type and can’t support Excel spreadsheets and other common software, then you run every risk that the results of your tests will be siloized and inaccessible.

If, on the contrary, you can store test data in an Excel file, or visualize it cleanly and easily through the software interface itself, you put your company in a position where even users who are not directly involved in the nitty gritty of your test operations can analyze and understand the results.

If you’re evaluating a test solution that uses a keyword based framework, those the results of your test should be easy to filter by keyword.

Vendor Quality

Here, things get a little bit nebulous. Whether or not a testing solution successfully meets the needs of both technical and non-technical candidates, and whether or not it offer readable, usable reporting functionality, should be pretty clear from a little research or a quick trial.

But what do we mean by vendor quality? Should the vendor really matter if the product itself has been deemed satisfactory? Well, as a matter of fact it should. Why? Because the quality of the product doesn’t necessarily tell you everything you need to know about the quality of support you’ll receive in using the product.

This is the type of thing that you can often ascertain from online vendor reviews, but you should also make sure that any potential partner has a clear support plan in place that they can communicate to you.

Also, given the complexities of the telecom domain when it comes to protocols, network elements, diversity of devices and operating systems, etc., you might give strong consideration to how much telecom-specific experience your vendor can offer.

Have they worked with telecoms in the past to automate testing? Do they specialize in the field? If so, they may be better poised to help you with issues that are specific to your industry.

Cost

Last but not least, we have what is arguably the biggest factor in your return on investment: the investment itself. Cost is, of course, always a major consideration—but it’s complicated by the fact that ROI is difficult to measure in advance with any precision.

Sure, you might find that you want to balance cost against likely payoff, but until you’ve actually adopted a solution and used it for a while it will be difficult to assign a precise dollar (or euro) amount to the purchase.

For this reason, one of the best ways to tackle the uncertainty inherent in cost calculations is to seek out solutions that can be deployed on a limited basis and then scaled up or down as needed.

Scalability is, of course, a valuable asset on its own, but in this context it offers you the ability to know what you’re getting into before you make a companywide commitment to a vendor. That way, you can do comparatively precise cost-benefit accounting and make sure that your automated testing will save time and money in the long run.

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Senior SaaS System Administrator

Technical Skills :
  • Oversee the sysadmin related tasks in our SaaS infrastructure (partially cloud based, partially bare metal)
  • Daily operation and maintenance of the system
  • Analysing and resolving incidents
  • Follow and help improving the incident and change management procedures
  • Design procedures for system troubleshooting and maintenance
  • Incorporating base OS updates and security patches
  • Ensure that systems are safe and secure against cybersecurity threats by raising change requests where potential threat is possible
  • Performing SW updates for the Segron SaaS SW stack (distributed architecture with clusters)
  • Configuring solutions like reverse proxy, firewalls, etc.
  • Building tools to automate procedures & reduce occurrences of errors and improve customer experience
  • Tutoring & coaching newcomers & less senior experts in the team
  • Interworking with the architects and IT admins of Segron to have the SaaS procedures inline with the Segron processes
Non-technical skills:
  • We are looking for a self-motivated, self-improving individual with a highly independent mindset and open and straightforward technical communication to help us to improve and maintain our cloud infrastructure of our powerful end-to-end testing solution ATF (Automated Testing Framework)
  • 3+ years hands-on experience with operation and monitoring of cloud / linux systems
  • 3+ years of hands-on experience with network devops elements: configuring routers, switches, networks
  • Hands-on experience with running live systems with infrastructure as a code mode of operation
  • Specific knowledge which brings direct advantage: Docker, Docker Compose, Grafana, Prometheus, Ansible, Debian Linux OS administration, Security
  • Experience in building and maintaining distributed systems (incl. redundancy, resiliency, load-balancing) is welcome
  • Excellent knowledge of English
Location :
  • Place of work: Bratislava (partially home office possible)
  • Rate: from 30 EUR/hour (possible higher rate, depends on experience)
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CI/CD Senior Developer

Technical Skills :
  • A senior role with a proven expertise in software development, cloud computing, DevOps, and CI/CD
  • Experience in planning, designing, and overseeing the CI/CD strategy and architecture on the level of organization
  • Ability to tailor testing strategies which define and follow the best practices, standards, and policies for the software delivery process
  • Hands-on experience in creating and managing CI/CD pipelines and workflows (PaaC)
  • Ability to evaluate and recommend the best tools, technologies, and methodologies for the CI/CD implementation
  • Prior hands-on experience working with different CI/CD toolsets (Jenkins, Bitbucket, GitLab, artifactory, Ansible ..)
  • Proficient with DevOps tools API automation capabilities
  • Proficient with Atlassian Tools (BitBucket, Jira, Confluence) and agile SW development methodologies
  • Familiar with cloud patterns and best practices
  • Familiar with web performance best practices
  • Comfortable working in cloud DevOps ecosystem
  • Comfortable working with Linux platforms
  • Initial working experience in SW development is an advantage.
Non-technical skills:
  • Effective communication with technical as well and business stakeholders
  • Self-motivating, self-improving mindset
  • Ownership of relevant industry certificates is a plus
Location :
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia (with hybrid flexibility)
  • Rate: from 30 EUR/hour (possible higher rate, depends on experience)
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Test Automation Engineer

Job description, responsibilities:

Hardware Testing: Conduct verification and testing of hardware during the HW/SW products
assembly process.
Technical Support: Provide technical assistance during testing activities and troubleshoot any
hardware issues that arise. Support to internal teams and customers by managing priorities and
meeting deadlines.
Equipment Maintenance: Configure and maintain SEGRON laboratory and customer equipment.
Logistics Support: Handle hardware ordering and logistics.
Troubleshooting: Analyze and resolve SEGRON product issues through effective problem-solving.
Ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues that arise during the integration process.
Collaboration: Work with the SEGRON Development Team on product or software issues and assist
the Project Team with planned activities.
Root Cause Analysis: Investigate production errors to identify underlying causes.
Software Deployment: Implement software updates and fixes.
Team Collaboration: Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment, especially in serving global
customers.

Requirements/ Skills:

Networking knowledge: Understanding TCP/IP networks and LAN/WAN configurations. Routing and
switching and related protocols strongly desired.
Hardware Proficiency: Understanding of hardware components, including servers, routers, and
peripherals, to ensure proper assembly and integration. Experience in data centers is a plus.
Travel Abilities: Willing to travel for customer on-site support for hardware installations, migrations,
upgrades, troubleshooting, etc. (few times a year, 3-5 days)
Hand Tools: Proficiency in using hand tools like screwdrivers, pliers, crimpers, and punches for
assembling and disassembling components.
Operating Systems: Knowledge of Linux and Windows. VM experience (Hyper-V, VMWare, Oracle
Virtual Box, Proxmox etc.)
Tools Proficiency: Basic understanding of Ansible.
Telecommunications Experience: Previous experience in the telecom sector is a plus.
Education: Degree in Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent work experience.
Experience: At least 2 years of relevant work experience preferred. A strong desire to continuously
improve skills and knowledge in hardware and software integration, with an openness to feedback and
new ideas. Key is openminded person willing to learn fast in great team.
Communication Skills: Effective oral and written Eng

Others:

• Full time job (employment)
• Onsite work during onboarding period, then it can be 3 days onsite, 2 days home office
Offered salary: from 2000 Euro (depends on seniority and skills level)
Variety of financial benefits
Place of work: Bratislava

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Senior Python Developer

Technical Skills :

  • A solid, experienced SW developer with at least 10 years of experience in active SW development in different programming paradigms
  • Minimum 5 years of professional Python development experience
  • Master or college degree from Computer Science, Mathematics or STEM domain
  • Well educated in design and programming patterns that increase software’s efficiency and readability.
  • Very good analytical and problem solving skills.
  • At least three skills out of the following 4 skills are requested:
    • Microservices based architectures (Docker containers)
    • Linux
    • Ansible
    • Robot  Framework
  • Comfortable with sysadmin and DevOps skills (Ansible, YML files, Network Programming, IP protocols, designing and developing proxy servers for different protocols – example: streaming, integrating and compiling third party libraries on Linux (Debian))
  • Proficient with Atlassian Tools (BitBucket, Jira, Confluence) thorough understanding of Git and version control best practices
  • Familiar with cloud patterns and best practices
  • Familiar with web performance best practices

Non-technical skills:

  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Ability to abstract and explain your work
  • Strong understanding of Agile development process and experience working in an agile team
  • Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Location :
  • Bratislava, Slovakia (with hybrid flexibility)
  • Rate: from 35 EUR/hour (possible higher rate, but depends on experience)
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