Thinking about software automation tests?

Nowadays, software automation tests have become a trending topic.

Many companies are talking about the need to automate their tests even when they are not clear about the costs, times or what benefits will this bring to the company. Many decisions are taken to start an automation process as if it was a fashion trend that needed to be followed. If you are considering an automation approach, the first important recommendation is discussing it with your tech team.

Software Automation can bring a lot of benefits.

Speed up your tests, make your QA testing process error-free. Tests will always run in the same way, you’ll have the possibility to create tests to stress the system to know the real response power your system has as well as many other benefits.

Answer these questions to proceed with your software automation:

• Is the system stable or are there any changes in progress?
• Does the test team have the required knowledge to automate the tests?
• Does the company have the budget to acquire a proprietary testing environment or any other automation tool?
• What kind of test will be automated: regression, performance or usability tests? (Just to mention a set of them)
• Define with your tech team what other questions you should consider.

Automation tests have their associated costs. It’s required to have a technical test team to develop a testing framework and testing scripts. In short, it must be thought of like another dedicated software development team-oriented in developing automated tests. That team perhaps will require better computers, a control version system, acquire automation test tools, learn about these tools and creates the strategy to include automated tests in the overall development cycle. Proprietary testing software tends to be expensive although there are free options with good reviews.

There is a crucial thing to think about: Will software automation bring real benefits to the company?

If the system is being continuously modified or if it is an unstable product, all the efforts to automate can be lost because test scripts will tend to be out of date very quickly with almost every change in the application. The idea is to automate everything that won’t be changed and work manually in new functionalities. Remember that automated tests and manual tests are not divorced.

Another aspect to consider is usability tests. Few things can be covered with automated tools, like colors, font size and so on. But if we are talking about user experience, there is no other option to perform manual tests with human testers. They can determine if the system is easy to use and what the client is expecting, according to the specified requirements.

The last comment if about performance tests. That kind of test requires repetitive tasks, simultaneous requests, several scenarios simulating users, data, actions, and the best option is automated test-oriented to generate traffic, load, and resource consumption. Manual tests wouldn’t make sense unless you have the budget to pay for the necessary qualified manpower that is needed to work together in groups to obtain what an automated process can achieve at a fraction of the cost.

Automated tests can improve QA, reduce costs to become more cost-effective.  Analyze the reasons why they are needed and once a conclusion has been made, the correct strategy to follow will be in your hands.