Service providers and network equipment manufacturers are adding automation to their pre-production testing process for a combination of reasons: improved test coverage, accelerated time-to-market for products or services, reduced capital and operational expense, optimized equipment use, reduced training time, greater test collaboration, reduced test backlog, and reuse. All of these automation drivers are intertwined and focus on delivering better quality to the customer. This Market Snapshot will focus on the need for test automation of networks and connected devices, identify a path to automation adoption and provide an overview of where the market is with respect to the right processes, technical skills and technology.

Virtualization is poised to become the defining technology of the 21st century. Virtual lab automation, a new use for virtualization in the application development and quality assurance organizations has made inroads to the pre-deployment side of the application lifecycle equation. In this Market SnapshotTM, we will examine the organization and its metamorphosis as virtual lab automation becomes more pervasive. We will also define the value and benefits of Virtual lab automation.