Lately, test automation has become a buzz word. I'm seeing a lot of business stakeholders suggesting and letting us go forward with investing more into test automation but rarely do they truly understand the purpose for automation.
There are many preconceptions that go with test automation but I will not get into them. Rather, I'd like to share what you do get out of test automation if done properly.
The first reason why you would want to invest in test automation is because it should hasten the turn around time for the testing phase of a project. If you have built a mature test automation engine that follows a mature framework, you will have the ability to run the test automated regression suite at any point in the testing phase(s) to flush out bugs in old functionality in the new code. Not only that but you can hasten the turn around time after the initial build. Keep in mind though, the ROI is achieved over time. The initial development time for a test automation engine is very significant. I won't get into that in this blog but just keep that in mind.
The second reason why you would want to invest in test automation is because if the automation is developed with a mature testing framework,;with test scenarios chosen that are suitable; you will get return on investment over time. The savings only become somewhat significant over time.
Over the years, I have seen ROI lost because people do not truly understand what should be automated. Suitable scenarios need to be tests that are highly repeatable, do not change often or save a mountain of time compared to manual execution of the scenario. If you compare manual preparation and execution with automated development, maintenance and execution and completing the scenario manually costs more, then it is a true indication that the scenario should be automated. Everything should not be automated!
The third reason for investing is due to the fact that automation can be run at any time and should be faster than manual execution. If this is not the case, the framework maturity is not at a level that is adequate. This will lead to loss in the return of investment you should be getting with the investment in automation. Going back to the point, if you can spend time out of hours without human intervention while the automated suite is executing, you can invest time in other activities. Thus allowing more efficient and effective use of the test resources in your team.
There are many other reasons why you would want to invest in test automation but the above reasons are, in essence, the primary reasons you should invest in it.
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