How do you evaluate test automation ROI and value in continuous delivery?

1 Test automation benefits

Test automation can bring many benefits to continuous delivery, such as faster feedback, reduced manual work, improved coverage, enhanced reliability, and increased confidence. These benefits can have tangible and intangible value for the business and the customers, such as shorter time to market, lower defect rates, higher customer satisfaction, and more innovation. To measure these benefits, you can use metrics and indicators that track the performance, quality, and value of your software delivery process. Cycle time records the time from code commit to production deployment; deployment frequency tracks the number of deployments per unit of time; mean time to recovery measures the time it takes to restore service after a failure; change failure rate is the percentage of deployments that cause a failure; defect density counts the number of defects per unit of code or functionality; and customer satisfaction gauges the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the software.

2 Test automation costs

Test automation involves costs and efforts that must be taken into account when evaluating ROI and value. These costs include the initial and ongoing investments in creating, maintaining, and running automated tests, as well as the opportunity costs of not investing in other activities or resources. When considering test automation, it is important to factor in the software and hardware needed to run tests, such as test frameworks, libraries, platforms, servers, and licenses. Additionally, there is a need for time and skills to design, implement, update, and debug automated tests, as well as to manage test data and environments. Furthermore, there is a need for resources to run automated tests, monitor their results, and report their outcomes. Finally, one should consider the potential drawbacks or risks of test automation such as over-reliance, false positives, brittleness, or complexity.

4 Test automation value proposition

To complement the ROI formula, you can also use a value proposition approach to evaluate test automation in continuous delivery. A value proposition is a statement that summarizes how your product or service solves a problem or meets a need for your customers, and what makes it unique or superior to other alternatives. In the context of test automation, a value proposition can help you articulate how test automation supports your business goals and customer expectations, and what differentiates your test automation strategy from others.

To create a test automation value proposition, you can use a template like this:

For [target customer], our test automation [product or service] provides [benefit or solution] by [feature or capability], unlike [alternative or competitor], which [weakness or limitation].

For example:

For online retailers, our test automation service provides faster and more reliable delivery of new features and updates by using cloud-based testing platforms and AI-powered test generation, unlike manual testing, which is slow, error-prone, and expensive.

A test automation value proposition can help you communicate the value of test automation to your stakeholders, customers, and team members, and justify your test automation decisions and investments.