How to select the right Automation Testing Tool
In the article Why Use Automation Testing Tools in Accelerated Development cycles, we saw the importance of automating tests to meet the accelerated development cycles of today. Once you decide to automate your tests, you now need to decide what automation testing tool/tools to apply.
Automation Testing using Record and Playback tools
An obvious choice while choosing an automated testing tool vs a tool that demands programming knowledge would be Record & Playback tools. Record and Playback tools capture the tester’s manual actions and replay them repeatedly. Though it may seem appealing, it is a lot difficult to maintain and manage the tests created and to make changes at a later stage.
Check out ‘ Why is Record and Playback not suitable for enterprise-class Test Automation’ to see why Record and Playback are not the best approaches to Automation Testing.
With the same simplicity of Record and Playback tools but with enterprise-class flexibility and stability, there need to be better alternatives to record and playback tools to address the drawbacks of re-editing and maintaining tests authored using Record and Playback tools.
Some important points to consider while choosing an Automation Testing tool:
Deciding to automate your complex application is a major step. Now, you need to select an automation testing tool that best fits all your testing needs. Let us look at a checklist of all the essential elements to look for in a good automation testing tool.
- Determine how quickly you can get started with automation testing with the automation testing tool you select. Is any set up required?
- Can automated test steps be created easily?
- Analyze your project specific requirements. Can you use this tool for more projects that you want to automate or just this specific one?
- Check if the user interface is simple and easy to use
- Does the automated testing tool require a steep learning curve? Would it require a team training to get familiarized with the tool?
- What programming knowledge and technical expertise is required? Will it be easier for functional testers to make a move towards automation testing easily?
- Does this tool offer integration with CI/CD tools, bug reporting tools, test management and collaboration tools or more?
- Is it a Unified Automation testing tool for web, mobile applications? Does the tool offer API services testing or can it just be used for specific test environments?
- Can Cross Browser/Cross Device testing be done in parallel? What browsers and versions are supported? Does the automation testing tool support pre-released versions as well?
- Data Driven Testing is required to test across multiple datasets and values and execute a single test script with different input values stored in Excel, CSV or XML to try positive and negative testing. Is this possible within the automation testing tool?
- How does the automation testing tool adapt to changing elements of an application UI?Does the tool offer test management and maintenance?
- How quickly can changes/edits be made to the test steps at a later stage?
- Is there a mechanism to group commonly used test steps(like login steps) together and use the same across the test case?
- Can you make custom changes?
- How comprehensive and rich are the reports? Can reports be shared amongst the team?Does the automated testing tool offer videos, screenshots and logs for clear understanding for all user levels?
- Does the automated testing tool allow for easy collaboration? Can the status of progress be tracked and communicated?
- Does the team also allow for a dedicated automation testing service for your project when needed from the vendor’s part?
- Is the automation testing tool budget friendly?
- Does the automated testing tool you select also allow SMEs, QA Analysts and stakeholders who are new to automation testing participate?
Test Automation is, without doubt, an effective way to enhance coverage, efficiency and effectiveness of an application. The success of the automation process hugely depends on the automation testing tool you choose.
Create a list of tools that you think would be a good fit for your automation requirements, schedule a demo, talk to the tool vendors and see if the automation testing tool matches your automation testing requirements.
Make full utilization of the trial days and evaluate every feature but it would be wise to not evaluate many tools at a time. Allocate sufficient time for the evaluation process of each tool. You could get your team members who ultimately use the automation testing tool to evaluate them too.
You might also want to try Testsigma, an AI-driven Cloud-Based Automation Testing tool on the cloud with a massive device cloud of 1500+ web, mobile real devices. Testsigma supports Web, Mobile applications and Web services and lets you get started without any installation hassle.
Testsigma is ideal for teams who are new to automation testing. The tests are written in plain English and does not require complex programming with all the flexibility that enterprise businesses need.
Testsigma offers a test automation ecosystem of all the essential components and lets you get started instantly, run multiple executions on the cloud as well as physical devices with detailed reports of the test run.
Check out a sample Web application automated using Testsigmasample Mobile application automated using Testsigma
Originally published at https://testsigma.com on March 18, 2019.
