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Falsifying Common Automated Testing Myths

Automated Testing Myths
  • April 22, 2020
  • HibaSulaiman

There is no doubt that automated testing has emerged as one of the best industry practices. However, there is a wide variety of options that organizations can adopt in the market. Since automation testing is critical to the success of DevOps, most of modern enterprises are using automation to achieve efficiency and quality. Thus, an automation testing company should ignore common myths in an organization to improve testing and achieve their objectives.

Myth # 1: Less Time For Automation

It is a common misunderstanding for business owners that they do not have time to add automation. Their competitors are most likely to have automated their testing process already and maybe gaining benefits from them. For instance, companies like Amazon and Netflix introduced end-to-end automation which enables them to push their builds to production in record time. Organizations like these have become issues as they have been able to address customer expectations with new software and services speedily into the market. 

Amazon and Netflix are live examples of automation, so moving down the path to automated tests begins the process of adding benefits to the organization. These benefits include reducing time to market, growing quality, and customer satisfaction. For instance, automated testing brings high accuracy rates, more code coverage, enhanced detection of bugs, etc. 

Myth 2: Automated Testing is Difficult and Not Worthy 

Many enterprise owners are under the impression that automated testing is a waste of time. In fact, the time and expense to initiate automated testing into business processes reduce risks, automated testing helps reduce failures and saves time. It should not only be limited to QA efforts, but the entire organization should take initiatives to ensure successful automation. 

In true terms, automated testing is quite easier for an engineer to understand when it comes to quality assurance. If your business lacks test automation, consider beginning with an assessment. Let an automation testing company identify areas where your business needs automated testing and address the gaps according to priority. Take small and steady steps towards your ultimate goal to automate every gap in your testing processes. With a parallel approach, enterprises get started by building automation into their projects successfully. 

Myth 3: You Need New Specialized Teams 

Well, this is another false claim that companies mistake when they plan to reap the benefits of automation. Anyone on your QA team can acquire the skills to start automated testing. And it is also important for QA testers to learn and grow in their field as it is an important skill and grows as new trends, technologies, and tools emerge on a daily basis. 

The habit of learning how automation can improve testing processes can help in creating a cycle where your efforts will pay-off both in the long and short-term. The faster feedback allows effective and efficient software testing. A few experts argue that specialists may be required for specific tests such as PCI testing. However, this is just a myth, as there are a plethora of automated tools in the market that help in testing. These tools can be easily adapted and integrated with the rest of the system. 

Myth #4: Everything Needs to be Automated

Since it is not possible to automate everything, this is an arguable myth so far. Although there are some tests that should have a test for every line of code, that could be challenging to automate. Mature organizations tend to decide when and what to automate. Whereas, for other organizations, this can cause troubles as they decide to automate everything.  

There are organizations that completely automate their unit testing, and have a tailored approach for front-end and performance testing. On the contrary, there are organizations with little to no automation, and software is just moved to production without developing unit tests. In such cases, software sent to the users is not fully tested. Due to bad code, it becomes risky for a company to maintain customer satisfaction, business reputation, and customer loyalty. Once a software application is launched, going back to test its code can be a waste of time, money, and resources. Thus, automation organizations can make improvements to their existing features. Once they have automated tests in place, it reduces the amount of time it takes to complete the process. 

Myth #5: Continuous Testing and Automated Testing are the same things

Although continuous testing and automated testing are relatable, yet they are not similar in nature. It is not possible to attain continuous testing without the help of automation. Whereas, automated testing is possible without continuous testing. Typically, continuous testing is required at the end of DevOps processes, pipelines, and automation. If an organization hasn’t reached its maturity level, then it is normal. Start with small tests and move your way forward with continuous testing. For instance, consider running unit tests with a new build, implementing a faster feedback loop to the development process several times a day. 

Whether you own a medium-sized business or a large enterprise, you can get assistance from testers and QA leaders by hiring a reliable automation testing company. The adoption of test automation has still a far way to go, and respondents believe that more than 50% of their testing is making use of the automated tests. However, it is important for organizations to speed their processes to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving global market. Organizations should ignore these myths and introduce automation in their organizations to be more competitive as they progress their testing maturity.