Co-operators accelerates ServiceNow upgrades using AutomatePro

The Co-operators Group Ltd is a leading Canadian multi-line insurance and financial services company. As a ServiceNow customer since 2014, they have invested in multiple modules and customisations to match their needs and service their clients. 

Operating within a highly regulated environment, there is an increased pressure for accuracy and traceability. However, with increased customisation comes increased risk, pushing Co-operators to leverage test automation as a solution to mitigate risks within their ServiceNow platform.

The Need

Relying solely on manual testing, Co-operators were experiencing tremendous strain and stretched bandwidth. To put into perspective, creating basic tests that didn’t require approvals took experienced Test Analysts 2 hours on average. Whilst more advanced and complex forms required an excessive 4 hours. Their test execution was no better, requiring just as much time and keeping the company stuck in a vicious cycle. Coupled with their ServiceNow upgrades requiring a colossal 18 resources over a 12-week period to complete, enough was enough. Co-operators sought a test automation tool to provide accurate and efficient testing while reducing the time and resources needed to upgrade and test ServiceNow.

Initially, ServiceNow’s Automated Test Framework (ATF) was selected, and whilst it reduced the execution time of basic and complex tests, test creation remained an issue. On average, novice ATF users saved no time creating basic form tests and complex tests took 25% longer compared to manual creation.

The Solution 

Co-operator’s search for a better Test Automation tool led them to AutomatePro. Quickstart AI, a functionality of AutomatePro’s AutoTest module, has accelerated Co-operator’s test creation. As a result of the low-code and intuitive nature of the tool, novice users are creating basic tests in less than 10 minutes and complex forms in 1 hour, whilst experienced users are doing it in just half the time, saving 83% and 75% respectively, compared to ATF.

Additionally, AutomatePro’s platform empowers users to swiftly create and execute high-quality automated tests through Model Blocks, which automatically updates test steps system-wide. This, combined with defects detected earlier in the Software Development Lifecycle, has accelerated Co-operator’s release cycle from monthly to daily.

Typically, identifying changes and UAT are real challenges for organisations and using the Upgrade Comparison Report has been an enormous time saver. The report sheds light on functional differences between patches and versions of ServiceNow. Previously, a painstaking process of comparing release notes would be undertaken. Now, the AutoDoc module and its Upgrade Readiness report, reduces weeks’ worth of effort to seconds.

Ultimately, upgrades have progressed from a risk-based, manual approach to a more comprehensive, automated process, empowering Co-operators to upgrade twice a year and reap the rewards of staying on the most up-to-date version of ServiceNow.