Automated business process testing that spans multiple platforms or applications

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose computer;

wherein execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer enables the general purpose computer to:

define within a database a generic data model of a business process that is independent of a specific execution platform for testing the business process that operates across a plurality of execution platforms during execution, wherein the generic data model of the business process includes the business process, a data component, a component type, an action to be performed on the data component and an expected result of the action performed on the data component that may be implemented on the plurality of execution platforms;

identify at least one available location for at least one function library for implementing the generic data model of the business process for testing each of the plurality of execution platforms for the business process that is operating across the plurality of execution platforms;

access the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms;

execute the generic data model of the business process using at least one function in the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms and obtaining test results therefrom; and

return the test results of the execution to the database.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer further enables the general purpose computer to:

select the business process from the database;

select a location of a platform for the business process;

select a component from the business process;

look up a component type in the database;

select an action to be performed on the component based on its type; and

provide data parameters for the action.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer further enables the general purpose computer to look up the at least one available location in the database and retrieve an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the identified at least one function library for the business process.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer further enables the general purpose computer to compare the test results of the execution against expected test results.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer further enables the general purpose computer to return the test results of the execution and the comparison to the database.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the general purpose computer further enables the general purpose computer to store the test results in the database.

7. A system for providing automated software testing, comprising:

a database, stored on a non-transitory machine readable medium, for enabling a creation and storage of a generic data model of a business process that is independent of a specific execution platform for testing the business process that operates across a plurality of execution platforms during execution, wherein the generic data model of the business process includes the business process, a data component, a component type, an action to be performed on the data component and an expected result of the action performed on the data component that may be implemented on the plurality of execution platforms;

a plurality of function libraries, stored on a non-transitory machine readable medium, including functions, each function for implementing specific actions necessary for executing the generic data model of the business process for a particular execution platform of the plurality of execution platforms; and

an application program interface (API), stored on a non-transitory machine readable medium, located between the database and the plurality of function libraries, for locating and selecting an appropriate function library and for invoking the specific actions with the plurality of function libraries for executing the generic data model of the business process for the plurality of execution platforms on which the business process is being tested.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of function libraries execute a selected action against a selected component.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the database further comprises:

data describing a plurality of applications;

data describing a plurality of platforms and their locations, a set of application components, each representing a field or control for receiving or returning data or status in an application;

data describing a plurality of component types; and

data describing a plurality of actions that may be associated with the plurality of component types.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the API selects one of the plurality of function libraries responsive to testing the business process based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address provided by the database.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of function libraries are written in a plurality of programming languages enabling execution across the plurality of execution platforms across which the business process may be executed.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of function libraries provide data describing an actual test result of execution of a selected component and a selected action.

13. A method for automated software testing, comprising the steps of:

defining within a database a generic data model of a business process that is independent of a specific execution platform for testing the business process that operates across a plurality of execution platforms during execution, wherein the generic data model of the business process includes at least one application, a data component, a component type, an action to be performed on the data component and an expected result of the action performed on the data component that may be implemented on the plurality of execution platforms;

identifying at least one available location for at least one function library for implementing the generic data model of the business process based on each of the plurality of execution platforms for the business process;

accessing the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms;

executing the generic data model of the business process using at least one function in the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms at a remote location and obtaining test results therefrom;

returning the test results of the execution to the database; and

storing the test results of the execution in the database.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of defining within the database the generic data model of the business process further comprises the steps of:

selecting the at least one application from the database;

selecting a location of a platform for the at least one application;

selecting a component from the at least one application;

looking up a component type in the database;

selecting an action to be performed on the component based on its type; and

providing data parameters for the action.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of identifying further comprises the steps of looking up the at least one available location in the database and retrieving an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the identified at least one function library for the at least one application.

16. The method of claim 13 further including the step of comparing the test results of the execution against expected test results.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the step of returning further includes the step of returning the test results of the execution and the comparison to the database.

18. A system for automated software testing, comprising:

means for defining within a database a genetic data model of a business process that is independent of a specific execution platform for testing the business process that operates across a plurality of execution platforms during execution, wherein the genetic data model of the business process includes at least one application, a data component, a component type, an action to be performed on the data component and an expected result of the action performed on the data component that may be implemented on the plurality of execution platforms;

means for identifying at least one available location for at least one function library for implementing the generic data model of the business process based on each of the plurality of execution platforms for the business process;

means for accessing the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms;

means for executing the generic data model of the business process using at least one function in the identified at least one function library for each of the plurality of execution platforms at a remote location and obtaining test results therefrom; and

means for returning the test results of the execution to the database.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the means for defining within the database the generic data model of the business process further comprises:

means for selecting the at least one application from the database;

means for selecting a location of a platform for the at least one application;

means for selecting a component from the at least one application;

means for looking up a component type in the database;

means for selecting an action to be performed on the component based on its type; and

means for providing data parameters for the action.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the means for identifying further comprises:

means for looking up the at least one available location in the database; and

means for retrieving the Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the identified at least one function library for the at least one application.

21. The system of claim 18 further including means for comparing the test results of the execution against expected test results.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the means for returning further includes means for returning the test results of the execution and the comparison to the database.

23. The system of claim 18 further including means for storing the test results in the database.