How in 4 ways you can preempt the challenges of Automation Testing

Test automation strategy

 

 

The digital transformation initiative is no longer about the number game but of quality. That quality has tipped the scales to meet the requirements of customer satisfaction is not lost on businesses anymore. So, be it a software product or service, ensuring that it meets the quality parameters of functionality, performance, usability, and security has become significant. This can be achieved by engaging automation testing services, which are far better than the traditional waterfall model of manual testing.

The benefits of using automation testing services are immense. These range from enhancing the test coverage area and eliminating glitches in the development stages to streamlining the product launches, improving the user experience, and achieving the ROI. However, with each test automation strategy comes a host of complications or challenges. And if these are not nipped in the bud, the consequent benefits can easily fizzle out leaving the business roiled and customers frustrated. Let us find out four of these complications and how best can they be addressed. Remember! Testing of any kind should enhance the user experience, which in the ultimate analysis will ensure the rest fall into their places.

#1 Buy-in from the management: The benefits of automation testing services notwithstanding, the management needs to be taken on board as far as emphasizing the usefulness and deriving benefits are concerned. Since implementing and maintaining the test automation platform can be expensive, the management should be apprised of the cost benefit analysis. It should not happen that the IT team plans an elaborate test automation exercise but is forced to abandon the same due to cost considerations.

The cost benefit analysis should focus on the tangible and intangible benefits such as savings on time and money and enhancing the user experience. It is better to be transparent about the whole thing instead of being hush hush by stating - it will only be a one-time investment when it is evident that the maintenance cost too will figure in the scheme of things. It is imperative that the management understands and agrees to your test automation strategy. 

#2 Higher cost: It is important that the testing team buys QA automation testing tools based on the process requirements. The team should weigh the pros and cons of buying a licensed or an open source test platform. Thereafter, the focus should shift towards selecting the test processes. It is often seen that the development and testing teams (read in the Agile model) carry out additional tests to prevent software failures or address risk mitigation issues. These additional unplanned tests can eat into the overall test budget and force the test teams to cut corners later. To avoid such pitfalls of unplanned testing, the teams should set up processes that identify and eliminate glitches in the first round of shift-left testing. This calls for engaging experienced and knowledgeable team members who know their jobs well.

#3 Setting test expectations: It must be understood that software test automation is not the be all and end all of testing. This is not a standalone model but should be used in conjunction with non-automated tests as well. The latter becomes important as there are some tests that simply cannot be automated due to their inherent complexities. Also, we cannot eliminate the human factor in testing non automated tests no matter how sophisticated or efficient your automation testing strategy is. In the ultimate analysis, the objective of conducting testing is to derive the right outcomes and take suitable decisions based on them. It is not about the number or frequency of tests conducted. It must be understood that test automation is not a one-time process but should be carried out on a consistent basis to eliminate glitches.

#4 Choose the tests to automate: First understand that not all manual tests can be automated save the repetitive ones. Moreover, ensure the application is stable enough before being put through the tests even in an Agile environment. So, understand the cost escalation that can come with a user interface testing – change of user script with every interface change. On the other hand, validating the API calls through automation can be beneficial.

Conclusion

Test automation is arguably the best testing method to ensure a glitch free application. However, the complications associated with it should be pre-empted with proper planning to garner a multitude of benefits. 

This Article is originally published at Medium.com, 4 ways to remove complications from your Automation Testing strategy.