Automation testing can deliver significant value in software quality assurance testing including lower cost, greater accuracy, improve efficiency, streamline test automation processes, and faster cycle times. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, teams can concentrate on more complex and critical areas of testing, leading to the faster delivery of high-quality software products. However, it is not a panacea for every task or project. Using test automation is not always cheaper than manual testing nor is it well suited for every testing activity.
This article delves into automated testing benefits, what to automate, creating a testing plan, the best tools, organizing the testing, generating quality test data, advanced automation tools, and how to measure its value for your organization. We offer valuable insights and real-world tips to leverage the value of testing automation.
The following best practices can help CIOs (chief information officers) and testing managers understand where and how automation testing can generate the best results and ROI.
Establishing clear objectives and metrics: Clearly defining your objectives and metrics is essential for measuring the success of your testing automation. Determine what you want to achieve through automation, whether it is improving efficiency, reducing costs, or enhancing software quality. Set measurable goals and track key metrics to evaluate the impact of automation on your testing process.
Continuous integration and test automation: Integrating testing automation into your continuous integration (CI) process is crucial for achieving seamless and efficient software development. By automating tests and integrating them into your CI pipeline, you can identify issues early in the development cycle and ensure the stability and reliability of your software. By following these best practices, you can maximize the value of testing automation and drive better outcomes for your projects.
What to automate
Automating every test case is neither possible nor practical. So, test managers need to first identify cases that best play to automation’s strengths. Ideal test cases:
- Run frequently on multiple builds
- Involve copious amounts of data performing the same action
- Are prone to human error
- Feature high risk conditions for commonly used functionality
- Are difficult to perform manually
- Run on numerous hardware and software platforms & configurations
- Applications without a graphical user interface
- Composite and distributed applications
- Test cycles executed outside normal business hours
- Create a plan
Once the test cases are identified, they need to be incorporated into a comprehensive test strategy and plan. This plan should state the specific testing objectives and quality assurance goals.
Effective testing plans should break test cases down into logical and executable components focused on a single task, as opposed to application functionalities, which create large and complex test cases that are difficult to edit and debug. Focusing on small, bite-size activities enables you to maintain test scripts, test data and processes thereby improving productivity and collaboration. Also, it is easier to combine these simple automated tests into a larger automated test by application functional areas, common areas, or a base set of data.
Choose the optimal tool
The selection of a particular automation testing tool can be the difference between success and failure. Consider factors such as your project requirements, technology stack, and budget when choosing testing tools. Evaluate their features, compatibility, and ease of use to ensure they align with your testing objectives. The choice of the tool will be dependent on many business and technical factors. In general, the testing team should look for a tool that:
- Supports your hardware, operating systems, and development environment
- Enables testing by all skill and experience levels
- Is easy to use but does not lack key functionality
- Provides for the creation of reusable, maintainable and robust automated test assets
Test early and often
To maximize bug identification, automation testing should be undertaken as early as possible and run as often as needed. Fixing bugs earlier in the SDLC is always less expensive than addressing them later in production or deployment. The optimum method would be to utilize a risk-based assessment to prioritize the automation effort early towards the highest risk test cases.
Organize the testing
Success with automated testing depends on getting the people equation right. For example, putting the right people in the right roles will help maximize testing productivity. The average quality assurance engineer will not be good at everything, such as writing both test scripts and test cases. Furthermore, getting the testers to collaborate with each other will improve testing productivity and problem solving.
Develop scalable automated tests
It is common for the UI (User Interface) to change between builds, especially early in the process. These changes may affect test results. Moreover, your automated tests may no longer work with future versions of the application. One of the UI challenges centers around how the testing tool identifies and locates an object on the screen (e.g., buttons, text fields, windows … etc.). When the UI changes, the automated test script may be unable to locate the original object causing the test to fail. Quality assurance engineers would then need to update test scripts before running the test against the latest version of the application. A better approach is using unique identifiers that can make the automated tests resistant to UI changes, which makes the tests themselves more reusable.
Generate quality test data
Creating test data for your automated tests can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and boring. However, it is an essential task. The payoff is a more streamlined testing process and the ability to easily maintain and reuse the automated tests. Furthermore, high quality data allows you to easily extend the automated test to different testing scenarios within the application’s development.
Like many other technologies, automation will deliver compelling value when effectively specified and deployed. This requires a team that is versant with testing best practices, a systematic quality assurance process, and a practical understanding of automation testing tools. For organizations inexperienced with automation, we recommend starting with a clearly defined project and a limited number of test cases.
Consider advanced automation tools
Companies may want to leverage business process testing tools, which convert business processes into modularized testing components. Testing teams may also want to explore leveraging keyword-driven scripts and automated object recognition technologies that reduce the amount of rework that needs to be done.
Measuring the business value of testing automation
Testing automation can bring significant value to an organization, but how can we measure its impact? In this section, we will explore several ways to assess the business value of testing automation.
Quantitative measures are commonly used to determine the return on investment (ROI) of testing automation. By analyzing cost savings and productivity gains, we can quantify the financial benefits. For example, automated testing can reduce the time and effort required for repetitive tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and cost savings. Additionally, automated testing benefits businesses by helping to identify defects earlier in the development cycle, reducing the cost of fixing issues in production.
However, it is important to not solely rely on quantitative measures. Qualitative measures play a crucial role in assessing the value of testing automation in terms of improved quality. Automated tests can provide more comprehensive coverage, reducing the risk of undetected defects. By identifying and fixing issues early, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction and brand reputation.
When measuring the business value of testing automation, it is essential to balance the costs and benefits. While automation can yield significant advantages, it requires initial investments in tools, training, and infrastructure. It is crucial to consider these costs alongside the anticipated benefits to ensure a positive return on investment. Additionally, ongoing maintenance and updates should be factored into the equation to accurately assess the long-term value.
Conclusion
The future of testing automation is undeniably bright. With the rapid advancements in technology and the increasing complexity of software systems, organizations are realizing the immense value that testing automation brings to their development processes.
By adopting testing automation, businesses can achieve higher efficiency, improved accuracy, and faster time-to-market. The ability to run tests automatically reduces the reliance on manual testing, allowing teams to focus on more strategic tasks.
Furthermore, testing automation enables organizations to detect defects and bugs early in the development cycle, minimizing the cost and effort required for fixing them later. This not only saves time and resources but also enhances the overall quality of the software.
Key Takeaways:
- The value of testing automation is crucial for organizations to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
- Automated testing benefits include improved efficiency, accuracy, and time-to-market.
- Early defect detection leads to cost and time savings.
Based on our experience with dozens of automation projects, automated testing can powerfully improve testing outcomes – when deployed intelligently. The best way to exploit its benefits is by identifying the right testing activities for automation and then choosing the right tools, people, and structural model to support it.
QA Consultants has extensive experience in designing automation strategies, deploying automation tools, and building automation frameworks, either as a stand-alone initiative or part of an end-to-end quality assurance initiative. Our automation solutions are designed to speed up the testing effort, improve quality, and reduce the cost of testing. For example, our turn-key automation product allows customers to only pay for the use of the automation results, plus an annual maintenance fee.
