How not to Go Wrong With Automated Testing?

November 19 10:00 2014 by Nataliia Vasylyna Print This Article

Automation has become widely utilized in course of web site testing, desktop testing and mobile application testing. It is an acknowledged method of increasing efficiency of a testing process.

Unfortunately, some managers do not understand what tests should and what shouldn’t be automated. They are guided by the thought that any tests can be automated. It is true, but automation of only certain tests increases efficiency of the project.

Before Proceeding to Automating Tests it is Necessary:

to determine what tests are to be automated, as a rule, functional testing, security testing, load testing, regression testing are suitable for this;
make sure that automation is not applied to tests that must be performed manually, for example, usability testing, exploratory testing, user acceptance testing;
evaluate the scope of automation and the available resources;
consider available tools, skills and experience of the staff, complexity of the system, peculiarities of the development process and test environment;
calculate expenses on the automation and evaluate its expediency for the project;
take into account maintenance of the automated tests; this work is usually done manually, if it is too labor-consuming, it decreases efficiency of the automated tests.

Automation gives considerable benefits, if it is applied appropriately, and it can make the project unprofitable or even fail, if it is applied to the wrong tests, without proper evaluations and preparation.