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How to implement a test automation program breaks down into people, process and technology. From a people perspective, the testing group will need both training and internal expertise (consultant or new hire) in the art of test automation. Your people will need:
Once a sufficient number of resources are available, the focus can turn to high-risk areas of the application space that do not meet the overall quality objectives. Your process will need to:
How and what test automation technology to apply is dependent on other key program factors, specifically the development paradigm being deployed and the target deployment velocity. If the development paradigm includes effective code instrumentation (self-testing code) or effective test-driven development (TDD), then a lighter technology that addresses the testing gaps from an outside-in perspective would probably be an appropriate fit.
If the development approach does not include sufficient quality checks, then a heavier (tier 1 commercial) toolset would be a more appropriate fit -- you will need both the organizational and outside-in automation (GUI based). In either case, if the desired deployment velocity is “fast enough,” a tier 1 commercial toolset will be required -- simply to avoid the framework investment required to enable freeware, open source, or tier 2 toolsets to reach the desired testing velocity. Your technology will need to:
Any test automation program should start with an honest assessment of the people, process and available technologies. Based on this assessment, and if justified, based on the responses to an RFP (request for proposal), one or more POC (proof-of-concept) initiatives should be launched to determine which process and technology best fits your short-term and long-term needs. Your team will need to:
How to implement a test automation program breaks down into people, process and technology. From a people perspective, the testing group will need both training and internal expertise (consultant or new hire) in the art of test automation. Your people will need:
- Training on the test automation paradigm and tool being used.
- Internal expertise (consultant or new hire) to ensure the appropriate application of automation.
- Determine how test automation will fit into the system development process -- the initial focus should be on high-yield automation activities that free-up manual testers (full-time equivalents).
Once a sufficient number of resources are available, the focus can turn to high-risk areas of the application space that do not meet the overall quality objectives. Your process will need to:
- Integrate test automation into the overall development process
- Focus on high-yield automation activities
- Test data creation
- Smoke test
- Regression test
How and what test automation technology to apply is dependent on other key program factors, specifically the development paradigm being deployed and the target deployment velocity. If the development paradigm includes effective code instrumentation (self-testing code) or effective test-driven development (TDD), then a lighter technology that addresses the testing gaps from an outside-in perspective would probably be an appropriate fit.
If the development approach does not include sufficient quality checks, then a heavier (tier 1 commercial) toolset would be a more appropriate fit -- you will need both the organizational and outside-in automation (GUI based). In either case, if the desired deployment velocity is “fast enough,” a tier 1 commercial toolset will be required -- simply to avoid the framework investment required to enable freeware, open source, or tier 2 toolsets to reach the desired testing velocity. Your technology will need to:
- Address the quality gaps inherent in the development paradigm
- Light-weight test automation for self-testing development paradigms
- Heavy-weight test automation for non-self-testing development paradigms
- Address the deployment velocity challenge for high deployment velocities heavy-weight test automation toolsets, for lower deployment velocities light-weight test automation toolset may fit.
Any test automation program should start with an honest assessment of the people, process and available technologies. Based on this assessment, and if justified, based on the responses to an RFP (request for proposal), one or more POC (proof-of-concept) initiatives should be launched to determine which process and technology best fits your short-term and long-term needs. Your team will need to:
- Assess the people, process, technology and success of the current testing process
- Identify systemic root-cause issues preventing testing success
- Asses available processes and technologies (RFP)
- Launch one or more POC initiatives to verify appropriate “fit”.
Stay tuned for next inline article e.g:
How much to automate?
-Vikas
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