Who we are
OpenTAP is an open source project for fast and easy development, deployment and execution of automated tests.
The goal of OpenTAP is to transform test automation from a largely homegrown, isolated endeavor into a standardized activity that speeds test development and adds innovative capabilities. OpenTAP leverages open source collaboration as a proven strategy to create broadly interoperable and reusable technology.
Who benefits
Anyone feeling trapped by legacy test tools — homegrown, proprietary — and looking to migrate
End customers who will receive product faster
The test automation community as more people join and contribute new plugins
Integrators of legacy commercial test environments
Initiators of entirely new “green field” test automation projects
Bypass the dead end of homegrown approaches
Many organizations developed their own hardware testing software. This homegrown approach evolved over time and used whatever software tools the engineers had on hand.
But the limitations of homegrown software became painfully visible when product test requirements changed faster than in-house code. No standardization existed, even within companies; individual teams took their own path to a bottleneck of expertise because only a few developers understand how the tools work. New opportunities such as multi-function products and high-performance 5G infrastructure equipment left roll-your-own approaches and custom platforms struggling to keep pace.
The solution needed to be more open, standards-based, and agile.
That's where OpenTAP comes in, offering a wide range of applications, a strong technical community, and an ecosystem of third-party hardware and software vendors — all dedicated to streamlining and accelerating test automation.
Our Mission
The OpenTAP mission is to provide a test automation solution built on simplicity, scalability, and speed to make test automation easier and more accessible for all.
We love to experiment and innovate. We invite you to do the same. Working together, we will inspire and teach one another better ways to automate. Join our community.
Our ecosystem partners
The OpenTAP ecosystem grows stronger every day from the contributions of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), test and measurement vendors, integrators, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), universities, and research labs:
OpenTAP History
The invaluable disruptive role of open source
The 1980s brought the standard practice of system vendors and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) supplying software exclusively as precompiled binaries that were opaque and inaccessible. But developers and academics wanted the freedom to understand how software systems function. They wanted to repair and modify code for unique needs and circumstances. These needs drove the creation of the Free Software movement. By the late 1990s, the term "open source" joined the lexicon and open source software rose to prominence in the software industry.
Today, developers, system vendors, and device manufacturers embrace open source for its fast speed of evolution, short time-to-innovation, and diversity of business models. By building on a global community of trained engineers, open source brings the peace of mind of avoiding vendor lock-in and reducing long-term risk.
The rise of open source in test and measurement
The test and measurement industry has historically centered around proprietary test instruments with specialized hardware running custom embedded software. As confirmed by a recent survey, 91% of companies still use software tools built in-house for testing and verification*. However, change is underway as open source software facilitates innovation and interoperability.
The emergence of OpenTAP
OpenTAP was born on a rainy afternoon in the city of Aalborg, Denmark. Inspired by innovative Danish brewers who collaborate with established breweries to create their own recipes, OpenTAP aims to brew something great together for test and measurement automation.
First as an inner source effort and then as an enabler of Keysight Technologies products, OpenTAP development has been driven by simplicity, scalability, and speed for users since 2009. A decade later, in 2019, Keysight Technologies released its test automation platform as a new open source project named OpenTAP.
OpenTAP today gives test engineers a path out of external and internal lock-in by legacy in-house and proprietary incumbent test automation.
With its core platform and open architecture that invites contributed plugins, the OpenTAP project offers participants a unique opportunity for leadership in test and measurement.
*Dimensional Research for Keysight