Steps for Succeeding with Test Automation in Agile

As tech-savvy people, we all are well aware of the shorter release cycles in agile. That’s the highlighting reason behind the switch of organizations from agile to automation when it comes to developing software. Nowadays quite a large number of organizations and their development team are realizing the prevailing need for automation and hence adopting it as a means of continuously ensuring the best quality software product. 

This is a major change from conventional software development practices. In traditional software development practices, testing normally occurs at the last of the development process and is considered as a workload of the process instead of a potential gain. That’s why testers working in an organization that adopts agile software development switches to a DevOps culture and accept continuous integration and continuous delivery, at least need to have a basic understanding of how to effectively implement test automation as part of their daily activities.

Woefully, a lot of organizations fail to get the desired outcome out of their test automation efforts even if they’ve partnered with a third-party automation testing company. Why? Because there’s a lack of proper and well-aligned testing strategy with the business requirements. To get 100% out of your test automation efforts and to avoid any discrepancy, we are here revealing here step by step guide for your assistance.

Let’s discuss it in detail;

Must set Logical Expectations – The success of any automation effort depends upon the rational or irrational expectations associated with it. Test automation needs specific skills, time, and efforts for its successful implementation. Organizations must digest it hard that automation is a support system for testers not a replacement of testers. Despite these realities, organizations still believe that automation works like a magic stick. They think that would just raise the stick in the air and it will magically transform everything around. With this sort of mindset and expectations, after months of hard work to build and execute tests, when this idea becomes a dream, men and women who have been working to make the automated system work are often left alone or even fired. Such stupid expectations must be avoided and organizations must think rationally. 

Pay enough attention towards automation – The reason behind the failure of automation efforts is because of the time limitation testers have to create useful, maintainable, and effective automation solutions. This applies to projects, but also, it applies to teams working in an agile environment. Although automation is high on the wishlist of many software development teams, when the sprint is about to end, providing attributes almost always takes precedence over automation. Automation requires enough attention and priority. If a team lacks to give the priority that automation deserves, organizations then must expect to suffer and suffer. 

Treat Test Automation as a software development part – As a leader of your organization, it is your responsibility to provide enough introduction about test automation to all the stakeholders involved and ensure that knowledge about automation is as much important as introducing a software development project. 

Indulge dedicated resources to automation – If you want to achieve success with your test automation efforts on agile development, it is your responsibility to make sure that the resources you assign to the automation are good enough knowledgeable, have an appropriate skillset and expertise. 

The number of team members who invest time before automation depends on a series of variables, including their skills, the type of automation that should be created, and the complexity of the risks associated with the application that needs to be developed. If your organization does not currently employ enough people to meet your automation needs, or these people lack the required expertise, then temporarily hiring external experts may be an alternative worth considering. 

Be wise when choosing an automation tool – One of the most challenging tasks when it comes to implementing automation testing is the right selection of automation tools that align best with the business needs and requirements. If you fail to invest in evaluating the capabilities of your automation tool, then you might end up wasting your time, efforts, and money. When you are looking for an automation tool, make sure it meets your testing requirements and ensures the success of your test automation efforts.

Conclusion

Businesses are now heading towards an advanced software development environment just because of the agile methods and approaches. To get the most out of agile development depends upon the knowledge and skilled resources to cope up with the new and emerging industry trends and innovations, and automation testing is an integral part of agile development.