The Crucial Role of QA Automation

Software development is a never-ending quest for customer satisfaction, but despite careful coding, bugs can still exist and evade manual testing — that's where Quality Assurance (QA) comes into play. At the beginning of a project, assuring the quality of a software product is challenging but trivially simple; however, as the project ages, this challenge becomes more difficult. QA Automation brings value to a software project by keeping up with the increasing effort to ensure its quality.

In this blog post, we look into the intricacies and advantages of QA Automation, the trends shaping its evolution in 2024 and why a team of QA automation specialists can make your life easier when it comes to software for growing customer use. Let us walk you through it.

Understanding QA Automation

Given the abundance of alternatives in the market, ensuring high-quality software is more critical than ever. However, as software grows in complexity, manual testing can’t keep up with the increasing effort needed, causing the urge for businesses to prioritize QA Automation as an integral component of their development strategies.?

QA Automation or automated testing represents a shift in testing methods. By using automation tools to conduct thorough, repetitive tests on software applications and mobile apps — otherwise performed by a human — QA Automation improves efficiency, particularly in Agile and DevOps practices. And its urgency in businesses can not be overlooked with the substantial size of the automation tools market, expected to reach $28.8 billion by the end of 2024 and projected to escalate to $52.7 billion by 2027 .

Why Is It Important For Your Business?

"Software quality is a both-side area: of course, it is related to the technical aspects of your products, but it is also related to the relationship your business builds with the end user. If a team or a company aims to keep a good and long-term relationship, quality must be prioritized at every level." — Melissa Mu?oz Garzón, Senior QA Automation Engineer

When automation works well, the benefits can be stark. One successful project saw a client have 1,500 tests, all run manually. This process took around two weeks and involved five QA manual resources. GAP implemented automation in all of these tests and parallel execution in the cloud, reducing the execution time to five hours. That’s a 94% improvement in process time! Resulting in benefits for the project — and the client — such as:

• Cost-Saving: Automated testing reduces testing time and minimizes the need for manual intervention.
• Increased Efficiency: Its implementation results in faster development cycles and quicker feedback, enhancing overall project efficiency.
• High-Quality Performance: Automated tests ensure faster, extensive coverage, resulting in high-quality and reliable software.
• Accuracy: Automated tests execute with precision, eliminating errors associated with manual testing.
• Early Bug Detection: Critical bugs are identified early in the development process, reducing costs and improving team efficiency.
• Fast Time to Market: Continuous testing facilitates quicker releases, ensuring products reach the market faster.
• Risk Mitigation: Reduces risks by identifying issues before software updates reach production.
• Early Insights and Feedback: Provides detailed insights into application performance and immediate feedback for developers to make the necessary adjustments on time.
• Less Stress on Teams: By reducing repetitive manual testing efforts, teams can focus on more complex tasks, improving collaboration and minimizing stress.

Balancing Automation and Manual Expertise

It's important to note that while QA Automation adds a lot of value to the table and although advancements in AI and ML drive toward codeless automation, Manual Testing cannot be entirely avoided. Skilled manual testers play a pivotal role in crafting effective test cases, providing insights that contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the software's performance and user experience. While QA Automation excels in repetitive and scripted testing, the human touch in exploratory testing adds a layer of adaptability and creativity, ensuring a thorough evaluation of the software's capabilities.

One client started working with GAP around four years ago, and they fell into the trap of identifying the need for manual testing once the automation testing service had begun. The plan was devised to start with manual and then postpone automation for a later stage when features were more stable. However, the product then grows significantly and has lots of features. Eventually, the correct balance was struck between manual and automated. Now, the client is releasing once a week; all features are properly tested, while the regression is run by the automation team.?

QA Automation Trends in 2024

As with everything in technology, QA Automation continues to evolve to achieve better results. Now that you are considering it as part of your strategies for H2 2024, you might want to evaluate some of the trends that have emerged this year:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning: The infusion of AI into testing processes introduces predictive analytics, enhances test efficiency and reshapes decision-making, bringing in a new era of intelligent testing.
2. Mobile and IoT Testing: The exponential rise of mobile applications and IoT aligns with the need for QA automation to ensure robust performance across diverse devices.
3. Continuous Integration Testing: This provides solid support for Agile and DevOps practices to ensure swift and reliable software delivery.
4. Security Testing: In the face of evolving cyber threats, security testing takes the forefront with QA automation standing as a fortress against security challenges.

Why Empower Your QA Strategy with GAP?

Partnering with GAP unlocks a QA automation journey tailored to your unique business needs. Certified in ISTQB and automation, our team of expert QA engineers ensures the highest level of expertise in regression testing, resource optimization and seamless integration into CI/CD pipelines. This proficiency guarantees a robust QA framework that aligns with industry best practices, fostering efficiency and reliability throughout your development lifecycle — our focus is always to maximize user satisfaction with your software.

Contact us today and let's enhance the quality and performance of your software.

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