In 2015, quality management company Cigniti Technologies reported that about 64% of test automation projects in companies failed to meet their goals.
However, Global Market Insights found that between 2018 and 2020, more than half of the surveyed IT companies successfully automated at least 50% of their testing tasks, and that number is growing steadily.
Some companies’ negative experiences with test automation have highlighted the importance of having an appropriate test automation strategy for such projects. Explore the guidelines for a successful test automation strategy in this article to make the invested funds and effort bring the desired outcome.
Clear Goals as the Basis of Your Strategy
A comprehensive and measurable goal is the foundation for any successful project, and test automation is no exception. Starting a project as challenging as test automation without a clear objective can lead to unnecessary and ineffective costs.
As mentioned earlier, your goal should be measurable, otherwise, it will be difficult to assess whether it has been achieved or not. Furthermore, it should also have a specific timeframe.
Recommendations for Goal Definition
Vague or ambiguous objectives, such as “automate testing to improve software quality,” are particularly dangerous because they make it challenging to develop an appropriate strategy to achieve such a goal.
Aside from the fact that it is unclear what exactly test automation is supposed to accomplish in an organization, such a statement highlights several serious mistakes including unrealistic expectations of the technology.
Automation itself does not help improve software quality, as it still depends on the testers whether they manage to create effective test scripts or not. Testing itself does not improve quality, it identifies the problems, which are then fixed by developers. This, in turn, contributes to quality.
Make sure the goal also has a clear business value and addresses the maintenance needs of the test scripts.
Finally, overemphasizing quantity is dangerous too, as you may end up with a bloated but inefficient test suite.
Examples of Appropriate Test Automation Objectives
Below are some ideas for defining your test automation goals:
- Automate 80% of UI test cases in six months;
- Automate tests to catch critical defects within 40 minutes after a change in the codebase;
- Reduce testing costs by 20% within a year by automating time-consuming tests.
If you rely on a third-party software suite, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM applications, you might consider the reduction of the time from software update to rollout by a certain percentage as an alternative goal for your test automation project.
Choose the Right Test Automation Tool
Although it is not the only factor that will determine the success of your test automation strategy, the impact of your choice of a test automation tool cannot be underestimated.
It is impossible to name a single best test automation product, as the choice should be based on an organization’s specific needs and capabilities, including the purpose of the tool, the budget that can be allocated to test automation, and the expertise of the staff that will be involved in testing.
For example, there are open-source frameworks such as Selenium that can be used for Microsoft Dynamics 365 testing. Meanwhile, you also have a choice to opt for a proprietary product such as Executive Automats.
Selenium is provided free of charge, but it requires time and effort to set up a testing infrastructure, which generates significant costs as this task requires assistance from professional developers.
On the other hand, Executive Automats is a no-code tool. It is ready-to-use and is generally particularly user-friendly. However, this application requires paying a licensing fee.
The best decision will depend on the exact needs of your organization, and you will be hard-pressed to make it without calculating the return on investment (ROI), which takes into account both the costs associated with test automation and the quantitative benefits of this project.
These benefits could include reducing the costs associated with manual testing, maintenance, and script update costs, as well as skill development costs, as possible expenses, in addition to license fees or hardware and infrastructure costs.
Find more at: (https://www.executiveautomats.com/resources/articles/test-automation-strategy-best-practices)
Tips for Creating Your Test Scripts
The effectiveness of test automation can be significantly impacted by inadequate test scripts. Adequate test scripts, on the other hand, are reliable, maintainable, and designed to provide testers and developers with meaningful feedback about software quality.
When creating test scripts, keep in mind the importance of prioritization. Even though test automation allows you to greatly expand the scope of testing, you still need to work on scripts. Therefore, it makes sense to focus your efforts primarily on testing for the most critical functions.
A great approach to creating test scripts is to keep them modular and simple, which makes them more reusable and easy to maintain.
This, in turn, also helps you save time and effort on scaling the test suite in the future. In addition, you should use parameterization in test scripts instead of hard-coding data to make your tests more adaptable to different scenarios.
Test scripts should also be equipped with error-handling mechanisms.
Remember to organize your tests neatly, including using a consistent naming convention for tests, variables, and functions, descriptive comments, and documentation that should include setup instructions and known issues.
Remember that sensitive data used in test scripts, such as personal information or passwords, must be stored securely and kept confidential.
Conclusions
Your strategy starts with a goal, which should be comprehensive, measurable, and aligned with your business values. Choosing a test automation tool is another essential component of project success, but regardless of your choice, you need to create efficient test scripts.
Meanwhile, an effective test automation strategy requires many other essential elements, including establishing clear milestones, developing effective communication and collaboration, creating training plans for employees, and more.
