What Are The Pros And Cons Of Automated Testing?

For those in doubt about the magnitude of the task, those who would not dare to start, and those who have already experienced one or more failures in setting up automated tests, here is a reminder of the advantages of automating the tests of your applications. As we are transparent, we also present you with a few disadvantages 😉

The Direct And Indirect Benefits Of Automated Testing Of Your Applications.

Productivity.

Unsurprisingly, the gain in productivity is the direct benefit of automating your non-regression tests. This allows you to test faster and, therefore, more, and frees your teams from time-consuming and demotivating tasks. 

All the time spent by your teams performing tasks for manual or even “semi-automated” testing is time regained to continue improving the quality of your deliverables, for example, by increasing the inventory of tests. 

Quality Improvement.

You should never lose sight of the objective of non-regression testing: to improve the quality of your deliverables. And automation is a giant step in this direction. First lever on quality: it eliminates “human” errors. Second lever: by testing faster, you test more, and you get a wider test coverage of your application. More “human” errors and wider coverage: direct quality improvement.

Awareness, Service, And Customer Satisfaction.

This is the consequence of points 1. and 2. Increased productivity allows almost continuous improvement of features to meet user demands and help improve the quality of deliverables. 

More features with an almost zero malfunction rate are the Holy Grail to achieve to obtain satisfied, even very satisfied, customers. And when you know that retaining a customer costs ten times less than acquiring a new one, the equation is easy to understand. A loyal customer buys more than the others, becomes an ambassador for your company, and participates in improving your offer… how can you do without it? How not to do everything possible to satisfy him? The essential step which, when we are customers, ask by default: is quality software and service. Nothing is worse than having a new version available, often imposed, which works worse than the previous version. 

Serenity For The Marketing And Development Teams.

The quality of deliverables is often a sticking point between marketing teams and developers. For some, the deadlines are always too long; for others, it is always too short, and when there is a “bug,” it is nobody’s fault. Beyond this caricatural presentation, the relationships between the teams involved in a software testing project are often the key to success. This will be all the more so for the implementation of automated tests. 

Increase In Turnover.

The four previous points necessarily have a positive impact on your company’s turnover: reduction of the costs related to the tests, improvement of the quality of the deliverables, increase of the notoriety of your brand, and reduction of the development costs. On this last point, the cost is rarely estimated following the regressions that arrive in production. This time spent by your teams is the most expensive and always urgent. 

The picture is idyllic; looking at it, there is no reason not to automate your non-regression tests. But make no mistake, test automation is still perceived as a “pain” and a difficult hurdle to overcome. Rare are the companies that industrialize the automation of their non-regression tests. To succeed, you need a team, a testing strategy, and, above all, expertise. And this is one of the major disadvantages of automated testing.

Also Read: How To Kick Your Productivity

The Direct And Indirect Disadvantages Of Automated Testing Of Your Applications.

Complex Implementation (time/delay).

To succeed in automating your non-regression tests, you have to be ready! The challenge is daunting, but the reward is great. If you want to do everything, it will take time, a lot of time, and human resources. 

The project cannot be carried out alone and must result from a common desire to improve the quality of your company’s deliverables. Otherwise, all the obstacles you will have to overcome will slow you down, discourage you and abandon your automation project to return to the imperatives (emergencies) of the moment.

Only Test Some Things.

We must not believe in this illusion of “testing everything.” Manually or automatically, you can only test some things, or the ROI of such an ambition will be catastrophic. On the one hand, certain functions cannot be automated (e.g., facial recognition); on the other hand, automating the interoperability of different software (ERP, Supply Chain, etc.) is tedious.

You will keep a percentage of manual testing to respond to two logics: the possibility of automating and the time required for automation Vs. Manual testing.

Maintenance in Operational Conditions.

More than a drawback, it is the main difficulty once the automation is in place: maintaining the infrastructure and the test assets in-house in operational conditions. These are all hidden costs that must be anticipated to choose the organization that will best suit you, considering the skills within your teams.

With the best industrialization of automated non-regression tests, our experience proves we can reach 80% of our test assets. In your case, it is more or less. Achieving such a score requires a great mastery of the processes and especially reliable partners to rely on the skills of each.

When a company achieves such high automation and success rates, it becomes a leader in its market with faster and more frequent deliverables, with far less regression while having shortened the release or release cycle. And let’s always remember these improvements translate into tangible business results.