Perforce acquires 21 Labs, scriptless shifts-left

Perforce Software this summer acquired 21 Labs, an AI-based mobile testing provider that helps businesses deliver quality software faster.

Perforce works extensively in the software application development space (and does a lot of work in the video games sector) and describes itself as a provider of software for teams requiring productivity, visibility and scale along the development lifecycle – which, in other words, makes it a Software Change & Configuration Management (SCCM) player.

This is Perforce’s second scriptless testing acquisition.

It acquired TestCraft Technologies back in June 2020, a provider of an AI-driven codeless Selenium testing solution that allows teams to automate tests without coding.

Following the Perfecto Scriptless solution for no-code web testing and the addition of virtual devices, the Perfecto platform offers a set of digital tools for mobile and web environments.

“In today’s crowded testing market, enterprises are looking for a solution that addresses the testing lifecycle across all digital channels, from creation, to execution, to analysis. Together with 21 Labs, we’re able to provide organisations with a continuous testing solution for mobile and web that delivers combined, AI-driven insights to improve application quality,” said Mark Ties, CEO and President, Perforce.

Ties suggests that as the industry continues to shift-left, enterprises struggle with automating QA and speeding the feedback loop from development and testing to ensure a quality user experience.

A scriptless shift leftwards

Challenged by the unique skill sets needed to implement test automation throughout the software delivery lifecycle, businesses require a seamless, user-friendly platform that will help streamline testing so they can focus their time and energy on innovation.

“Together, Perforce’s portfolio of intelligent test automation solutions and 21 Labs’ AI-based technology will help customers solve their hardest DevOps challenges. The skill set gap, integration complexity, and lengthy test creation and maintenance cycles are a sore spot for enterprises,” said Shani Shoham, CEO and Founder, 21 Labs.

Shoham says that these challenges are further amplified in mobile due to the different development frameworks and the fragmentation of devices and operating systems. C

“Companies can now achieve continuous testing in weeks vs. months or years through a self-learning and framework-agnostic intelligent test creation and maintenance platform,” said Shoham. “By joining forces with Perforce, we will be able to see out our vision of leveraging data to make QA more autonomous and close the feedback loop between development and production.”

In total here… 21 Labs’ framework-agnostic, self-learning and auto-maintenance test automation engine leverages AI and visual analysis to help customers author mobile tests in a code-free environment on real or virtual devices.

Today, the solution is integrated with the Perfecto Intelligent Test Automation platform.