The Need of Automation in Agile Testing

The agile project management methodology emphasizes on continuous collaboration between various stakeholders throughout the software development process. Further, the methodology does not consider software development and testing as two distinct processes. So the testers have to collaborate with programmers, managers and customers to ensure that the software meets the specifications and requirements of the client. They also have to test essential components continuously throughout the development process. The enterprises can always automate the software testing efforts in an agile environment to make the testers more productive, get faster test results, and deliver quality software.

Why Test Automation is Essential in an Agile Environment?

Need to Perform a Variety of Tests

In an agile environment, all aspects of the software are tested. So the QA professionals have to perform a variety of tests to deliver a quality application. Often testers have to perform unit, functional, performance, regression, integration, acceptance, and load testing in agile environment. Also, they need to repeat certain tests during each sprint to assess quality accurately. The test automation tools   make it easier for tester to perform and repeat a variety of tests without putting any extra time and effort.

Continuous Regression Testing

As noted earlier, programmers and testers have to continuously collaborate with the customer and other stakeholders in an agile environment. So they receive feedback from the client throughout the development process. Also, the developers need to add new functionality to the software or make changes to the system according to the feedback received from the client. Each time changes are made to the system, the QA professionals need to perform regression testing to ensure that the performance and functionality of the application remain intact. The test automation tools make it easier for testers to perform regression testing regularly without putting any extra time and effort. 

Frequent Changes to the Code

Based on the feedback received from the client, the programmers frequently make changes to the code in an agile development environment. The changes made to the code can have a huge impact on the software’s functionality and performance. So each time the code changes, the QA professionals have to repeat a series of tests. They cannot repeat a number of tests quickly without using any tools. The tools enable them to repeat all tests quickly by executing the test scripts. They can further reuse the same test scripts to perform the tests on a regular basis.

Deliver Fast and Reliable Test Results

In an agile environment, software testing efforts aim to deliver faster and more accurate test result. The quick and quality test results help various stakeholders to take critical decisions. The test automation tools help users to avoid rework and shorter feedback cycles. Thus, it becomes easier for testers to provide reliable test results to managers and customers without requiring any additional time. The tools further help users to organize and structure the test results to make them simple and easy to understand.

Simplify Agile Environment Management

Often organizations find it challenging to create and maintain an agile development environment. But the new generation test automation tools have made it easier for businesses to manage agile environment. The tools enable testers to create test scripts that are reusable and maintainable. The businesses can maintain the test scripts without investing in any additional resources. Further,   they can use the environment to deliver high quality software applications in future. 

Get Higher ROI in Automation

Many organizations opt for manual testing to avoid inflated project overheads. But a business can get higher ROI by automating its testing efforts in an agile environment. In an agile environment, both coding and testing occur simultaneously. So the software’s time to market is reduced drastically. At the same time, the reduced feedback cycles make it easier for manager to take crucial decisions about promoting and launching the software. Also, the enhanced quality of the product contributes towards boosting its popularity and profitability. 

On the whole, a business can reap benefits in terms of time and quality through agile testing automation. But it cannot automate all its manual testing efforts. So it is always important for the business to identify the repetitive tests that must be automated. At the same time, the exploratory testing cases and one-time tests need to be executed manually.