In the interest of the modern software development ecosystem, automation testing has been driving the trail of faster detection of defects, time-to-market, high quality, and cost effectiveness. While business verticals are intrigued by the concept and automation benefits, the sheer number of misconceptions around it are pulling many away from adopting it. In fact, a McKinsey survey highlighted that around 38% of businesses have not yet piloted towards automating their business processes. These biases are not only negatively impacting the possibilities but also limiting businesses from leveraging the full benefits of test automation. Let us try to find the reality to address prevalent automation testing myths.
Myth 1: The Cost and Amount of Resources Needed are High
Fact: There is no sugarcoating this point – Test Automation is costly! However, the long-term cost savings supersedes the upfront investment. It also ensures that you are protected from expensive service disruptions, enhancing the overall quality of the software. Moreover, investment in automated testing saves more time as opposed to manual, improves productivity, ultimately proving to be an ally for your business growth. According to Gartner, the average cost of network downtime is typically $5600 per minute which can be extrapolated to $300,000 per hour. It not only reflects on how just one downtime incident can put financial strain on your business but also the adverse implications of ineffective testing.
IT Convergence in collaboration with Tricentis has developed a model-based approach to testing which enables businesses to scale at a fast pace, with the existing resources, thus proving economically-viable. This approach breaks down test automation into reusable building blocks, which can then be accessed across automation engineers across projects.
Myth 2: Only Large-Scale Projects are Suited for Automation Testing
Fact: Automation testing can be deployed to projects irrespective of their size or capacity and is not restricted to a certain digital or software landscape. In fact, the advantages of automation testing are immense.
Myth 3: It is a Replacement for Manual Testing
Fact: While automation testing is much faster and more reliable than manual testing, it still requires human interaction to act as a supportive element. It works well when it has manual testing to complement it, hence debunking the myth of replacing jobs altogether. Automation in testing tends to catch more bugs at a faster pace, which saves time and money and boost productivity. Human judgment cannot be overlooked, which forms an important element in certain cases.
Myth 4: Selenium or Similar Open-Source Tool is Preferable
Fact: Selenium automation testing was indeed the first framework that picked up pace ever since its creation in 2004. It is also no denying that Selenium holds major market share in the already crowded automation market. Moreover, it has been attracting businesses due to its free availability. However, for more agile teams that prefer a customized approach to test scripting while automating tasks and generating data, IT Convergence works through the breadth of test automation solutions to deliver high-quality results.
Myth 5: To Use Automation, You Must Be an Expert in Technological Matters
Fact: Well, that is the underlying beauty of automation testing- you don’t need to be an expert or hire an IT expert to perform it across the cycle of software development. With the emergence of no-code automation, you don’t even need to be technical users or have any coding knowledge to harness automation testing benefits for your business. This enables end users to be involved in the process and have their idea of software development come to life.
Myth 6: It is Only Beneficial for Regression Testing
Fact: For testing frameworks such as performance, functional, ad-hoc, security, integration and update, automation must be considered. This will ensure maximum coverage, code reusability, and improved efficiency all while saving on the budget.
Myth 7: The Process is Rigid and Unable to Evolve
Fact: Automation testing is highly flexible and can be customized to both the business as well as evolving software developments. As opposed to manual testing, automation can adapt faster to the system changing landscape and meet business needs more efficiently. All a business needs to select in such an environment is the right testing process and tools, and automation testing with its myriad of benefits can be brought to speed.
Test automation is a decision that promotes simplicity rather than complications. It is a technological breakthrough and progress that saves you time, lets you complete higher-value tasks, and secures your ERP in an uncertain market. For example, once you automate your testing needs, you will observe a substantial reduction in Oracle Cloud patch update periods. These advantages of automation eventually turn into tangible benefits bundled with improvements.
With that in mind, we advise organizations to make the change as soon as you find feasible, before the product lifecycle accelerates further and manual testing becomes increasingly ineffective.
