Why choose Test Automation for QA

Why Test Automation?

Software testing is basically aimed at evaluating an attribute or capability of a program or system and determining whether it meets the expected outcomes. Software testing can be very costly and time-consuming.

Hence automation is a good way to cut downtime and cost.

Advantages of test automation:

Test automation provides numerous benefits to any organization. Some of them are listed below:

• Reduced test execution time and cost
• Increased test coverage on each testing cycle
• Increased value of manual testing effort
• Reduced manual work

Reasons for failure in test automation:

There are a number of reasons why test automation fails to achieve expected results. Some of the most common include:

• Poor quality of tests
• Lack of a good test automation framework and process
• Inability to adapt changes in the system under test

Five Steps for Successful Test Automation:

To avoid the above reason and to achieve the full potential of test automation, the emphasis has to be given on the below steps:

• Planning
• Preparation
• Proof of concept
• Implementation
• Maintenance

Planning

Each phase in the project must be planned with a clear view of the current testing methods and information of the infrastructure. Gather information from key people who have experience in test automation.

Preparation

During the preparation phase, a pilot project should be defined and test cases that need to be automated have to be selected. Define the roles and responsibilities and prepare input test data.

Proof of Concept

The test automation tool must be configured in order to be compatible with the application under test (AUT). The tool must be able to capture user actions. Since more and more application types may be being used, the configuration part is not as easy. It is possible that the test tool will not recognize the application “out-of-the-box”, which means you need to configure the tool.
Then the team needs to automate a limited amount of test cases to prove that the application can be automated. Select an easy, normal, and a complex test case. Demonstrate execution and reporting of the automated test cases to decision-makers.

Implementation

If proof of concept is successful, the automation of selected test cases (scope defined at the preparation step) can start. Analyze selected tests, think about data separation, functional decomposition, reusability of certain business components. Modularize your script into clear-cut building blocks. During this phase, you can set up a test automation framework that can vary from documentation on tool usage to a full-scaled framework based on a spreadsheet or database layer.

Maintenance

A test automation project expands together with the application under test. A new release may offer new functionality that needs to be automated. The existing automated scripts need to be maintained, new automated tests need to be added and there is a possibility that other organizations may take over the automation projects in the future. The team has to prepare for these events by providing documentation for each script, by constantly allocating the proper resources for the project, and by training newcomers in the tool, the script, and the execution.

Conclusion

Test Automation in today’s competitive environment is much needed than desired; to keep operating efficiently and considerably cut down costs and efforts, without compromising on quality and security. However, you must adopt a well-planned and structured approach to automation in order to ensure a higher return on investment. It is suggested that prior to opting for automation, QA teams need to perform an exhaustive automation assessment to identify the right set of automation methods, tools, and techniques that will complement their QA needs.