Debunking the myths around Test Automation and how to supercharge your Digital Transformation Programme

Recently, Resillion ran a webinar exploring the myths (or misconceptions) around Test Automation, with a strong focus on how Automation can accelerate Digital Transformation programmes. In case you missed it, watch the full session on demand, or read on for the highlights! 

We have a huge amount of experience in working with our clients to build and deploy successful automation frameworks and fully understand the challenges.  

We have found that a lot of organisations are interested in automation but find it challenging for different reasons. Perhaps they think it will be too expensive or time consuming, perhaps they find that the assets they create are low value and rapidly stop delivering any benefits. We’ve also had clients in the past who have invested in the wrong tools and found things more difficult than they expected or have ended up spending many months of effort with no tangible return on that investment. In some cases, they may have had brief success but sadly haven’t achieved any longer-term benefits. 

As a result, it is safe to say that the majority of organisations have (at most) automated only 50% of their possible test script pool with the probability that most have not even hit 25%. Resillion recently spoke with a client who is rapidly heading towards achieving an 80% automation of their test scripts.   

Mike Wilby, Head of Business Systems and Development for Midland Heart (a large UK housing association), and Dan Martland (Technical Testing Director, Resillion) discussed how they had managed to achieve such an impressive level of test automation. Mike cited that building an internal automation expertise capability aligned to using a third-party automation thought leader (Resillion) as and when it was required gave him, and Midland Heart, the best balance to build, manage, and deploy test automation suites. He also explained that it was crucial to implement a high level of test maturity to create stability – including having strength in depth and relevant test data, stable and dedicated environments, and ‘picking your targets carefully’ to achieve success. He also considered understanding the ROI that test automation can bring and focusing on areas where repeat automated testing provided greater economy of return and test efficiency.      

Resillion has provided support to Midland Heart and many other clients through their automation journeys, ensuring that the following mantra was (is!) always applied:   

• Understand where you will get the most benefit from automation 
• Understand your current status of testing – good scripts, good data 
• Understand your technical environment – ecosystem of technologies.   

From the viewpoint of deploying a combination of internal and external expertise, Resillion believes that the following should be considered: 

• Dealing with the ‘unknown unknowns’ – building from first principles is tricky, so it’s better to get some support on that implementation journey. It is essential that you apply engineering-based thinking when implementing automation, and it is powerful to apply lean principles. We think about DevOps which is arguably an evolution of agile, and agile is an evolution of lean production. Resillion recommends identifying what delivers value, the creation of flow through smooth and consistent methods, and minimising waste and work-in-progress. 
• Clients should strive to have an internal test automation capability. This is key – it provides understanding of the real value and practical factors around automation and tool-based testing. These vital resources can support and champion this within the company. 
• Getting external help to achieve a working solution can deliver a quick start on the ROI and encourage persistence so that change is long lasting. 

In our recent webinar, we put it to the audience to highlight their main challenges within test automation, with consistency (i.e., the ability to get the automation to stick) being a prevailing theme. We believe it’s about thinking separately about the focus of testing at any point in time, and the approach to delivering that testing. 

At a test process level, we want to make things smooth and consistent, as that will make it easier to balance work across the team and quickly build on our framework and library of tests. We apply good software engineering principles to our test assets, like version control and release management, so we can respond to the project need in terms of the focus of testing, and the intensity of that testing. But we keep building and maintaining our test assets in a structured and consistent way.

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