14. In a general purpose computer, a method for automatically testing a business intelligence artifact in a business intelligence system, comprising: authoring a business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system, wherein the business intelligence artifact produces output when the business intelligence artifact is executed in the business intelligence system, and wherein the business intelligence artifact is selected from the group consisting of: a report specification and an analysis cube; executing the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system to generate a business intelligence output; creating at least one assertion with conditions to verify the desired function of the business intelligence artifact when executed in the business intelligence system; testing, with an automated agent interfaced with the business intelligence system, the business intelligence artifact for problems by determining whether the business intelligence output generated by the business intelligence artifact satisfies the conditions of the at least one assertion after execution of the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system; and reporting if the conditions of the at least one assertion are not satisfied after execution of the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the conditions of the at least one assertion comprise expectations pertaining to the quantity of data in the business intelligence output.