If you have been using manual testing till now, incorporating test automation into your software testing strategy can be a game-changer for your software development business. Automation testing is undoubtedly the most effective way to enhance any application’s coverage, efficiency and effectiveness.
Most companies today rely on test automation to power their software testing projects realizing its many advantages over traditional manual testing methods. The popularity of test automation can be gauged from the fact that the global industrial automation market, which reached 175 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, is poised to reach around 65 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.
In a nutshell, here are the key advantages of automation testing:
- Improved testing accuracy
- Enhanced testing coverage
- Test reusability
- Testing is quicker
- Cost-effectiveness
- Earlier detection of tests
- Reduced time to market
However, the success of any automation testing project hinges on the tool you select. For most companies, analyzing and choosing one tool that best fits their unique needs is a big challenge. Not every tool available in the market can be a suitable match for your project prerequisites. Hence, understanding the criteria for selecting the best automation testing tool is crucial. To help you zero down on the best tool, we have compiled some points to make your selection process easier.
Factors to consider while Selecting The Best Automation Testing Tool
These crucial pointers will help you select an automation tool that is suitable for your company’s specific requirements.
1. Project requirements
The first step is to identify your project requirements, document them and get them reviewed by your project teams and management.
The list of requirements can be something like this:
- The type of application you need to test, whether web, mobile, desktop or API application
- The platforms that need to be tested. For example, if you need to test a mobile app, write down the supported mobile operating systems, or if you are testing a web application, note down the supported browsers.
- Whether you will need cross-browser testing or not, If you are testing a web or a mobile application, then cross-browser testing will be required.
2. Your budget
It is another vital criterion to consider when selecting an automation testing tool. While deciding on your budget, you will need to consider the following points:
- Cost of human resources: If you pick a tool that does not require acquiring new resources, you can save significantly in costs.
- Time invested in automation: You can save costs if you select a tool that makes creating and maintaining test cases easy
- Time spent on learning about the tool: You can save in costs if you select a tool with a low learning curve. It will enable you to benefit from indirect cost savings in terms of the resources you would spend to understand the tool.
3. Reusability of tests
In these times of intense competition, writing the same code multiple times for each test case can be time-consuming and energy-draining. It would be practical to go for a tool that lets you reuse your test steps for different scenarios. In addition to preventing duplication of efforts, it will help your testing team be more productive and efficient.
4. Codeless tool or a tool with coding
It is another crucial point you should consider when selecting the right automation tool. Going for a codeless automation tool that does not require a skilled programmer to operate it can be advantageous. If you already have trained programmers in your team, you could pick an automation tool that matches your personnel’s programming skills. With a codeless tool, you get the benefit of asking anyone from your team to run the tests, regardless of their coding skills.
5. Easy maintenance and test case creation
Every tool is not meant to handle different kinds of scenarios. Ensure that the tool you pick meets all your requirements. The best way to find out this is to try automating a few test cases of your application. Also, select a tool that does not increase your maintenance costs. It would be best to acquire a tool with the feature to self-heal the test cases whenever there are minor changes in the application.
6. Verify the reporting features
This is another vital factor to consider in the tools you have shortlisted. Without proper reports, neither test case creation nor test case execution would be useful.
Here is what you should look for:
- A feature for recording and logging report results automatically
- Screenshots of failed steps
- A feature that shows the time taken to run the test steps and test cases
- Video for test execution
7. Support for data-driven testing
Some applications may need to be tested for data from various sources. So, ensure the tool you pick is capable of taking in data from different sources like XML files, excel worksheets, or databases like Oracle.
8. Training and support
Often testing teams get stuck on certain test cases and are at a loss to know how to resolve them. To avoid such scenarios, it is better to opt for a tool that provides 24×7 support through its technical team.
9. Compatibility
It is better to look for a tool that is compatible with all the tools and platforms your organization uses. You will also need to consider further platform changes as your business expands in the coming years.
Summing Up
Considering the above factors will ensure you pick a tool that improves your testing efficiency and enables you to deliver a high-quality application to your customers. Tale time assessing different tools before making a final decision.
Among the various tools available, TestGrid is the platform most companies choose due to its high efficiency and cost-effectiveness while testing applications. With TestGrid, you enjoy advantages other tools do not offer, like getting access to hundreds of real devices and browsers whenever you need them.
TestGrid, with its codeless automation testing, lets anyone without programming experience automate test cases using simple keywords, and its auto-heal feature simplifies test management to a great extent. Moreover, TestGrid provides the flexibility to scale your testing capacity up or down as per your evolving needs. It allows you to perform hundreds of tests in parallel, saving time and money and speeding up your overall testing process.
