Blog

Real-life example of building solid test automation strategy

Check out the a1qa story on building a test automation strategy that produced great results.
28 June 2018
Test automation
The article by a1qa
a1qa

In the previous blog post, we spoke about all the aspects that should be taken into account to build a proper test automation strategy. Now it’s time to bring in the real-world example.

The client – anti-virus solutions provider – was on a hunt for a test automation vendor.

All of the described above was taken into account by the a1qa test automation team that was hired to deliver the automation projects and achieve the following goals: reduce deployment and smoke testing duration, eliminate X number of manual testing man-hours a week, and ensure the customer’s portal localization to 31 language.

Automation was a part of a huge and costly business project: the development of a new web portal that was meant to provide users with the opportunities to install security apps on their devices, remotely manage licenses and protection features, and purchase new products.

The developed portal should have become the company’s flagship product so it was decided to invest in test automation.

Scope of work

The primary objective was to automate time and efforts consuming regression testing. When this task was fulfilled, it was decided to get down to automating other tests that covered scenarios of high business value.

At that point, the a1qa test automation team was assigned to develop automated tests to check the functionality that was delivering maximum business value.

Automation of localization testing

After the thorough discussion, it was decided to start with the automation of localization testing, which was conducted regularly and covered 31 locales.

The objective for the localization team was to adapt the portal to new cultural regions, which meant working on developing new functionality and making the existing functionality available to new countries in new languages.

The approach implemented by the test automation team made it possible to automatically compare the same pages of different product versions for regression and compare the same pages in multiple localizations.

Due to the application of automated tests, the deployment sped up fivefold.

Automation to monitor availability of third-party services

Another business value functionality was the notification on third-party services failure. The portal functionality greatly depended on the performance of the third-party services. The a1qa engineers developed automated tests to monitor the availability of the services.

In case of any troubles discovered, the system reported the defects and notified the stakeholders (developers, managers, testers) about the issues occurred so that they could be eliminated promptly.

Making right choice brings results

The implemented strategy focused on product strategy, functionality value, and the project goals. It helped achieve the following results:

  • Deployment process and smoke testing time in production were reduced fivefold.
  • Test automation coverage was equal to 900 hours of manual testing efforts on a daily basis and about 200 additional hours every week.
  • Monthly environment downtime was reduced by 26 times.
  • Test automation paid off and started to bring a positive financial effect six months after it was implemented.

Summing up

Test automation is a great solution for those who want to deliver business value faster than competitors do.

However, as you see, test automation shouldn’t be a one-side decision, rather than technical and management teams should discuss the benefits, costs and possible risks.

To choose a proper set of test cases to automate, consider the strategy of your product, calculate the cost of opportunity, and prioritize the product functionality by its value.

The well-built strategy will bring you significant benefits and put you one step ahead of your competitors.

Contact us to get more information on test automation service.

More Posts

debated technologies
30 May 2023,
by a1qa
3 min read
a1qa tech voice: Managing director at a1qa, North America, discusses pros and cons of much-debated technologies
Nadya Knysh, Managing director at a1qa, North America, puts a spotlight on 6 current technologies, discussing their positives and negatives.
General
Interviews
Test automation
why-do-bugs-get-missed
17 April 2023,
by a1qa
4 min read
Why do bugs get missed? Learn the problems and tips to avoid them
Still, finding overlooked bugs after the app goes live? Let’s find out why this happens and how to fix it.
Quality assurance
Test automation
Mobile app testing
15 February 2023,
by a1qa
4 min read
Mobile app testing guide: win the race with five-star software
Which aspects of mobile apps to test first to produce a really high-quality product? Find the answer to this and other questions related to mobile app testing in the article.
Cybersecurity testing
Functional testing
Mobile app testing
Performance testing
Test automation
Usability testing
a1qa-articles
31 January 2023,
by a1qa
5 min read
Best of 2022 by executives: 8 most visited a1qa blog posts
Let’s look back and revisit the most visited a1qa articles of 2022!
Quality assurance
Test automation
qa-trends
12 January 2023,
by a1qa
4 min read
The future of software testing: top 4 impactful trends that will dominate in 2023
Consider the major industry trends for the upcoming year to know how to improve current QA strategies and stay ahead of the curve.
QA trends
Quality assurance
Test automation
test-automation
7 December 2022,
by Dileep Marway
3 min read
Release at pace with test automation: What, why, and how to measure success?
An automation-first approach is key to enhancing testing capabilities and increasing overall operational efficiency. However, I would suggest justifying its implementation, so that it can deliver the promised value.
Quality assurance
Test automation
interview-with-dileep
28 November 2022,
by a1qa
9 min read
Interview with Dileep Marway on a series of articles “Agility and speed: Supercharging your business strategies with QA”
We cooperated with the VP of Engineering and Quality at SHL to present you with a series of his blog posts on: culture of happiness, test automation, and Agile-driven QA. Happy reading!
Agile
Quality assurance
Software lifecycle QA
Test automation
qa-trends-in-telecom
30 September 2022,
by a1qa
5 min read
4 telecom trends for 2023 and how to painlessly implement them with QA
It’s time to explore the telecom trends for the upcoming year. Let’s look at them together and also see the value that QA brings for their smooth deployment.
Cybersecurity testing
Migration testing
QA trends
Quality assurance
Test automation
ai-ml-test-automation-mini
15 September 2022,
by a1qa
4 min read
4 key QA activities to solve test automation challenges via AI and ML
How to address the difficulties caused by implementing test automation? Learn how to do it via applying AI and ML.
Test automation

Get in touch

Please fill in the required field.
Email address seems invalid.
Please fill in the required field.
We use cookies on our website to improve its functionality and to enhance your user experience. We also use cookies for analytics. If you continue to browse this website, we will assume you agree that we can place cookies on your device. For more details, please read our Privacy and Cookies Policy.