»The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and CEO
Test automation is no longer a nice-to-have capability for enterprises. Rather it’s a fundamental technology that helps accelerate the delivery of high-quality software products that can transform their business (as well play a critical role in protecting their brand integrity). Such is the practice’s importance, the market is expected to grow from USD 8.52 Billion in 2018 to USD 19.27 Billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.7% during the forecast period (2018–2023).
However, test automation doesn’t come without its own unique set of challenges. The technology that underpins it, however, poses an additional set of unique challenges. Typically, introducing test automation entails adding another tool (such as Tricentis Tosca) to a tool stack where ALM/QC tooling (such as Micro Focus ALM) is already a fixture, making very hard for QA leadership to see a single complete picture of product quality.
Software delivery at scale is becoming serious business. Enterprises are looking to wrestle control of their spiraling product portfolios as the market demands more innovative and reliable digital experiences. While Agile and DevOps are focused on generating greater value for end user by delivering products/features as fast as possible, this need for speed cannot compromise quality.
Nor can testing become a bottleneck and undermine the sweeping improvements that the two major methodologies have made to accelerate the time to value of products. Fortunately, enterprises no longer need to sacrifice one for the other, or – crucially – their choice of tools in order to gain comprehensive visibility into product health, as explained in the below video:
The challenge of modern test management
Make no bones about it, the vertigo-inducing demands of modern test management are not for the faint-hearted. While automation is helping to ensure that the testing/quality assurance stages do not become the bottleneck in the software delivery value stream, automation is not a cure for ills. Software applications are becoming increasingly complex as applications and infrastructure architectures become more distributed and multi-layered, with hundreds of APIs and microservices.
As the infographic and e-book explain (below), addressing this complexity requires:
- A new breed of testing capabilities via tooling and manual/automated testing
- Consolidating high volumes and variation of test-related information across test, QA, ALM (such as Tricentis Tosca and Micro Focus ALM), development and other stages of the value stream
- Unifying reporting across a multi-tool stack for end-to-end visibility and traceability
By integrating the network of testing tools with all other tools in the process, software leaders can gain powerful visibility into the coverage, quality, and cost of their testing operations. They can gain control of the software delivery process and quality of the end products that are transforming their business in the Age of Digital Disruption.
Infographie
E-book – Take A Deeper Dive
