Test IO launches live QA Service for Jira

Crowdsourced software testing firm test IO launched QA Service for Jira today, connecting Atlassian’s Agile project management customers using Jira Software to QA professionals worldwide.

Users will be able to run acceptance tests of user stories and epics, verify fixes and view precise information for reproducing hard-to-find bugs, courtesy of test IO’s crowdtesters, all from within the Jira UI. The testers interact only with the test IO platform, which then synchronizes with Jira Software Cloud or Server instances, so there are no additional accounts needed or security to handle.

“The push for developer-driven automation in software teams these days masks the reality that a lot of development time isn’t spent designing and coding; it’s spent checking and verifying,” said Philip Soffer, CEO of test IO in the announcement. “We help teams win back valuable development hours per week, and we can do it without them leaving the Atlassian tools they love, or changing their work processes.”

InterSystems launches IRIS Data Platform

Health, business and government application platform developer InterSystems announced the InterSystems IRIS Data Platform today, which aims to consolidate critical capabilities for development.

IRIS Data Platform includes integrated data management, interoperability, analytics, cloud deployment and scalability features to accelerate development of mission-critical and data-intensive applicates.

“We created InterSystems IRIS Data Platform with solution creators in mind with all of the critical capabilities for building applications that face the future,” said Paul Grabscheid, vice president of Strategic Planning at InterSystems in the announcement.

The platform will see wide release in January 2018.

New books on DevOps on the way

DevOps specialists IT Revolution announced a series of four new books to be released from their publishing division over the next few months.

“The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations,” by IT Revolution authors Gene Kim, John Willis, Patrick Debois and Jez Humble and “A Seat at the Table: IT Leadership in the Age of Agility” by Mark Schwartz will be available in October.

The third edition of “The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win,” by Kevin Behr, George Spafford and Gene Kim will arrive in January 2018.

IT Revolution hasn’t announced the release date for “Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work and Flow” by Dominica DeGrandis, but all are available for preorder at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Hazelcast IMDG and Apache Cassandra combine for improved electricity metering

Open-source in-memory data grid technology developer Hazelcast has announced a new IoT platform designed by electric power generation utility developer Future Grid, which combines Hazelcast’s IMDG technology with Apache Cassandra’s database management capabilities.

According to Future Grid, collected electricity data can be processed in Cassandra 1000x faster when stored in Hazelcast’s IMDG than on traditional disk media.

For Future Grid’s utility company customer base, this solution creates what is essentially a real-time monitor for smart meters and IoT devices.