As time fly by, new software testing services are rolling out into the world.
Yes, we are talking about automation testing!.
Test Automation has been shaping the future of the software testing industry like never before!. As per the report of Research and Markets, the automation testing market is expected to grow at 14.2% CAGR during 2021-2026.
It has come to existence by promising better quality software, faster regression testing, minimized costs, improved efficiency, reduced time to market, and improved ROI with less human intervention. That’s why it has risen in usage and popularity.
However, many test automation projects fail.
Why?
Many projects fail because the businesses were not aware of automation testing limitations and issues associated with it.
The reasons are many. However, let’s talk about the top FIVE reasons why most of the Test Automation projects fail.
#1 Expecting 100% Automation!
It is an unrealistic Expectation!. This is due to a lack of clarity on
- when to automate and when not to,
- what to automate and what not to,
- how much to automate, and
- ignoring the manual testing completely.
Remember!.
Manual testing can’t be replaced by automation just as robots can not take over humans.
Automation is acceptable if you’re testing a stable entity that requires the same operation to be performed repeatedly, but it’s not a good idea if you’re testing something that changes frequently.
Solution?
- Do not expect automation testing tools to do everything. Do proper requirement analysis before you automate things. Based on your requirements and web application, know where to automate and where to use manual testing.
- Automation is best for Repetitive tests, regression tests, and integration tests, and various webpage functionalities, etc. whereas manual testing is best at UI testing, evaluating images, padding, rendering issues, etc.
#2 Not picking the right tool!
Options are ample as there are a lot of test automation and cross-browser testing tools out there. But, due to the lack of expertise, many fail in choosing the right automation testing tool to fit their organization and testing needs.
Remember!
- Each tool is unique, offers various functionalities, and come with various cost options.
- The tool you choose must meet both your testing needs and organizational goals.
- There will be a variety of issues you’d like to solve using automation. A single tool may not address all these problems.
- Some tools are designed specifically forDeveloper-testers,Technical testers, or Business testers. Decide which tool you want. And know that these tools won’t use the same level of technical expertise. That means, if you buy a tool designed for Technical testers and ask business or developer testers to use it, they can’t use and implement it.
Solution?
- Make a list of all of your requirements and expectations from the tool, as well as the budget you have available.
- After the selection of some of the best tools, try/experiment with them before you buy.
- Then, select ‘the right tool for the right task’.
- Also, make sure you have enough skilled resources i.e. the right team who have sufficient technical know-how on the selected tool.
- Do not opt for open-source tools as they are open-source and affordable. Because these tools may have limited features and security issues.
- Pick the tool that can be used by both coding savvies and non-coders.
TAaaS (Test Automation as a Service) by Qatts will address this problem effectively. It understands, analyses, and provides the best test automation solution for your business and its testing needs such as mobile, web and API automation.
Qatts, being a notable software testing company, offers affordable cloud-based, customized, and low-code automation testing services. It has expertise in website testing, cloud testing, API testing, mobile testing, data-driven testing, continuous testing, etc. Its low-code test automation solutions don’t require advanced technical expertise. It is easy to use, understand, implement by anyone.
#3: Lack of proper maintenance:
Automation is complex and the maintenance of automated tests is expensive than manual tests.
Remember!
As automation means code, the tests must be modified or recreated continually.
Solution?
- Limit the number of tests or create tests that have less maintenance.
- There are some tools like Qatts that can self-heal the test cases when there are minor changes in the application.
#4 Improper Staff Selection & Poor organizational planning
Effective organizational planning is crucial for a test automation project’s success. Many fail due to
- Hiring a few test automation engineers
- Improper staff selection
- Improper resource planning
- Inadequate Infrastructure
- lack of domain expertise
- lack of collaboration between team members
Remember!
- Do not think any tester or developer can automate tests. It is more expensive for businesses and can lead to major blunders.
- Each tool
- require a specific skill set to design, configure, and implement test automation,
- will have a specific learning curve, and
- will have technical challenges.
Solution?
- Testers should have adequate communication and technical skills because they are the intermediaries between developers and managers.
- It’s a good idea to recruit testers with extensive technical knowledge. Employing a technically sound tester might be expensive, but the benefits you will receive are worth it.
- Spare some budget to upskill your team from time to time. This improves the efficiency and performance of automation testing. Hold regular team meetings and discussions on tools, processes, and practices to harness the power of test automation effectively.
- Failure to invest in the right infrastructure will impede testing throughput, resulting in automated testing failure. It is advisable to go for cloud-based software testing in which you can leverage the benefits of parallel testing that increase test efficiency.
#5: Not paying proper attention to Test Reports
Last but not least, automation test generates many test reports that need to be analyzed properly for successful test automation. It includes all the details – test results, outputs related to the test data.
Remember!
- Not all tests in test automation pass. Some tests may fail.
- It is mandatory to analyse test results to unveil hidden issues and address them on time.
Solution?
- Do test report analysis thoroughly and manually. If not done correctly, the analysis might leave flaws unaddressed, resulting in a waste of time, money, and effort.
- Make sure the testers have profound knowledge of report analysis and the ability to find the issues or reasons for test failure.
- It is recommended to opt for a tool that generates detailed, in-depth, and high-quality test reports.
Other reasons could be:
- Sequential execution of tests are time-consuming and make test automation fail for web applications.
Solution: Adopt Parallel Execution.
- Many developers forget to allot IDs for Web Elements. All web elements with undefined IDs make tests scripts fail. Thus, test automation fails.
Solution: Allot unique IDs for each web element while testing.
- Ignoring False Positives and False Negatives
- The Ripple Effect isn’t being considered
- And many more…
Conclusion:
Got it on how the aforementioned reasons result in test automation projects’ failure?. So, hire the best company that vouches for reliable software testing services and performs test automation with utmost dedication and all tests without any failures.
Foster an automation testing culture in your organization for successful test automation projects!.
Want to give Qatts a try for exceptional test automation solutions?
Reach us with your requirements here.
