Automated Testing ROI

1 Introduction

Software testing can be expensive and time-consuming, consuming up to 50 percent of an organization's IT budget. Test automation has emerged as a solution to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of software testing. Test automation enables teams to perform tests more quickly, accurately, and consistently than manual testing while reducing the risk of human error.?

However, as with any technology investment, it is crucial to understand how test automation can increase the return on investment (ROI) in software testing. Calculating the ROI of test automation can help organizations understand the cost-effectiveness of automation, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about future investments in test automation.?

In this article, we will explore the concept of test automation ROI, the factors that influence it, and ways to improve it. We will also discuss the challenges of test automation adoption, the factors that affect them, and recommendations for overcoming them. By the end of this article, you will better understand how to improve the ROI of test automation for your organization.

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2 Cost reduction due to less manual testing

The cost of manual testing is high and only getting higher. Manual testing is time-consuming and prone to human error because many factors can affect the outcome of a test run by a human being. Test automation reduces the cost of manual testing by automating repetitive tasks and eliminating human error, which means fewer people need to be on staff for quality assurance purposes.

3 Finding bugs earlier, which reduces rework

Finding and fixing bugs early in the development process is essential for several reasons. First, if you find and fix bugs before they go into production, you can reduce costs by eliminating rework associated with fixing them later. Second, if you find an issue after it has already gone live in production but before it has been fully deployed across other environments or applications (as often happens with large projects), then there will be an additional cost associated with having to roll back changes across all affected environments/applications as well as potentially having to pay penalties for failing SLAs (service level agreements). If a feature is developed incorrectly or needs to meet its performance requirements, it may need to be rewritten or redesigned by someone else on the team, which costs time and money.

4 Cost reduction due to faster time to market

Time to market is when a product is conceived and released. You can reduce it by automating testing. Automating testing reduces the time it takes to test a product. Cost reduction can be improved by eliminating creating test artifacts and maintaining automated tests.

5 Cost reduction due to fewer releases

The primary benefit of automated testing is cost reduction. Fewer releases mean a decrease in the time, effort, and risk involved in making a release.

? Releases are expensive: They require extensive testing cycles before deployment and can be risky because they are likely to impact customers negatively if not done correctly. The risks of releasing an application that hasn't been tested thoroughly include multiple bugs being introduced simultaneously or, even worse – introducing new bugs while fixing other existing ones. In addition to these potential issues, there is also the potential of customer dissatisfaction due to quality glitches or missing functionality, which may result in loss of revenue for your business as well as brand reputation damage (i.e., your application becomes known as unreliable).

? A single manual test cycle alone could take days at least (for example, exploratory testing or usability studies). In contrast, ongoing regression tests may need hours per day depending on what you're testing (this can vary from seconds per test case up to minutes per test case). This adds up quickly if you have hundreds or thousands of manual tests!

6 Cost reduction due to less carelessness (errors) by developers and testers.

Test automation reduces the risk of human error, human fatigue, and carelessness. These three factors are responsible for the majority of mistakes that people commit during testing.

? Human error: It is impossible to eliminate all chances of human error, but test automation can significantly reduce their likelihood. This is done by removing manual tasks performed by people who would otherwise be prone to making mistakes when performing them (e.g., entering wrong values into forms or mistyping URLs).

? Human fatigue: Test scripts must run through thousands of scenarios while constantly increasing complexity as new features are added and bugs are fixed. In addition to being mentally exhausting, this task becomes boring quickly, leading to careless mistakes and even worse long-term effects such as burnout or depression due to job stress!

? Carelessness: Manual testers need constant attention because they have limited visibility into what happens behind each screen interaction (or function call) during their tests - especially when working on projects with large code bases where many developers are involved across multiple teams at once!

7 Test automation can increase the ROI in software testing.

? Test automation is a vital component of software testing.

? Automated testing can increase the ROI of software testing.

? Automated testing can reduce the cost of software testing by up to 50%.

? Automated testing can reduce the time to market by up to 50%.

? Automated testing can reduce the number of releases by up to 50%.

8 Weaknesses of Test Automation

While test automation can provide many benefits to software development teams, there are also weaknesses that you should consider:

? initial investment: test automation requires significant upfront investment in tools, infrastructure, and skilled personnel. This can be a barrier for smaller organizations or teams with limited budgets.

? Maintenance overhead: automated tests require maintenance to keep them up-to-date with changes in the application. This can be time-consuming and costly, especially if the application undergoes frequent changes.

? Limited coverage: not all aspects of an application can be effectively tested through automation. For example, visual and usability testing may require human interaction and judgment.

? False sense of security: automated tests can give a false sense of security that all aspects of an application have been thoroughly tested. However, automation can only test what it has been programmed to test, and it may not catch all issues.

? Lack of human intuition: automated tests lack the intuition and creativity of human testers. Automated tests can only test for what has been programmed, whereas human testers can identify and explore unexpected scenarios.

? Technical limitations: some applications may have technical limitations that make it difficult or impossible to automate specific tests. For example, testing mobile applications on different devices and platforms can be challenging due to differences in hardware and software configurations.

Overall, it's important to consider these weaknesses when deciding whether to invest in test automation and ensure that it is used with manual testing and human expertise.

In the next part of the article, I will explore the first 3 points of the previous list as the most critical aspect of automated testing.

8.1 Initial investment

Reducing the initial investment for test automation can be challenging, but here are some strategies that can help:

? start small: begin with automating small, simple, and repetitive tasks, such as login and basic navigation. This approach will allow you to gain experience with automation and demonstrate its value to stakeholders.

? Prioritize testing: prioritize testing tasks based on their importance and the level of risk they pose. Focus your automation efforts on high-risk and high-value tests to maximize the return on investment.

? Choose the right tools: select a tool that suits your needs and budget. Various open-source (e.g., Selenium, Robot Framework, etc.) and commercial automation tools (e.g., Maveryx Framework) are available. Choose one that fits your organization's needs and can provide a significant return on investment.

? Reuse test scripts: reuse scripts and test data as much as possible. This will help reduce the time and effort required to automate new test cases. This point is strictly connected to the overhead maintenance challenge in test automation.

? Training: invest in training your team members to increase their automation skills. This can be accomplished through various online courses, training programs, or workshops. Also, choosing the right tool that can reduce the cost of the training (e.g., codeless tools) will maximize the effort.

? Collaborate: work with developers and other stakeholders to ensure that automation is integrated into the software development process. This collaboration will help reduce the time and effort required to create and maintain automated tests. Also, in this case, having a tool to make collaboration more accessible can grant more benefits.

? Measure the ROI: regularly measure the return on investment for automation to determine if it is worth the effort and cost. This analysis will help you identify areas for improvement and adjust your approach to maximize the benefits of automation.

By following these strategies, you can reduce the initial investment required for test automation while achieving significant benefits for your organization.

8.2 Maintenance overhead

Maintaining test automation can be a time-consuming task that can take up a lot of resources. Here are some ways to reduce test automation maintenance:

? use the right tools: choose the right tools for test automation. Some automation tools require more maintenance than others. Consider using a tool that is easy to use and requires minimal maintenance. For example, a tool that can inspect and recognize UI objects directly at runtime as a person does (e.g., Maveryx Framework).

? Prioritize tests: prioritize your tests and focus on automating the most important ones. Automating every test case is not always necessary and can increase maintenance overheads. You can reduce the required maintenance by automating only the most critical test cases.

? Create a modular framework: create a modular framework that allows easy maintenance. Creating a modular framework will enable you to easily update, modify or remove a module without affecting others.

? Use descriptive and maintainable code: use descriptive and maintainable code. Use comments, naming conventions, clear coding standards, or a codeless tool (e.g., Maveryx Framework). Writing tests that are easy to read and maintain will make it easier to update in the future.

In particular, runtime UI object recognition is an essential aspect of test automation as it allows automated tests to interact with the user interface of an application. With proper recognition of UI objects at runtime, the test automation framework can accurately identify and interact with UI elements such as buttons, text fields, dropdowns, and other user interface elements.

Proper runtime UI object recognition is critical for test automation because it ensures that the automated tests are executed accurately and consistently, providing reliable results even if the AUT (Application Under Test) changes. If the UI objects are not recognized correctly, it can result in test failures, false positives, or, even worse, false negatives. This can lead to a loss of confidence in the automated test suite and make identifying and fixing bugs difficult.

Therefore, it is essential to use a robust and reliable UI object recognition mechanism in test automation. You can achieve this by using tools such as object identification libraries, XPath, or CSS selectors (e.g., Selenium) or "intelligent" algorithms that can recognize UI objects at runtime accurately (e.g., Maveryx Framework).

In the case of a test automation technology depending on XPath, CSS selectors, UI maps, Objects repositories, and images, it is crucial to maintain the object recognition mechanism up-to-date and ensure that it is validated regularly to ensure the continued reliability of the automated test suite. This means moving maintenance from the test scripts to the test artifacts or the AUT code.

Otherwise, having a technology able to inspect and recognize UI objects by intelligent algorithms, emulating a person's behavior in front of the AUT (e.g., Maveryx Framework), does not need any maintenance.

8.3 Limited coverage

Several factors, including inadequate test scenarios, lack of proper planning, and inadequate test automation tools, can cause limited coverage in test automation. Here are some strategies to fix limited coverage in test automation:

? use the right test automation tools: use the right tools to handle the application's complexity, and help testers write more tests quickly, improving functional coverage (e.g., codeless testing automation tools). Choose tools that support multiple platforms, have good reporting capabilities, and integrate with other testing tools.

? Analyze the existing test cases: analyze the existing test cases to identify gaps in coverage. Look for areas of the application that have not been tested or have limited coverage. Once you have identified these gaps, create new test cases to cover those areas.

? Create a test plan: create a comprehensive test plan that includes all the scenarios that need to be tested. This plan should include test cases that cover all functional and non-functional requirements of the application.

? Prioritize testing: prioritize testing based on the criticality of the features. Start with the most critical features and work on the less critical ones.

? Data-driven testing: use a data-driven testing automation tool (e.g., Maveryx Framework) to increase test coverage. This approach involves using different test data sets to test the same functionality, which helps to uncover more defects.

? Continuously review and update the test plan: continuously review and update the test plan as the application evolves. This will ensure that the test coverage remains relevant and up-to-date.

9 Conclusions

Test automation can increase the return on investment in software testing. It is well known that organizations spend up to 50% of their IT budgets on software testing. In general, organizations with test automation have a higher quality and better maintainable codebase than those who don't use it. In addition, they can reduce their release cycle time by up to 70% and save money due to fewer releases.

In particular, planning the right strategy and choosing the right automated testing tool (for example, a codeless test automation tool based on UI object recognition at runtime by "intelligent" algorithms) can help to boost these benefits.