Convergence Of Test Automation: Thomas Stocker & Matthew Holitza [Testμ 2022]

Bad automation is the problem – Good automation is the solution

According to Matthew, there’s a lot of improvement in the software testing space, and automation will be an essential aspect across the enterprise. As mentioned in the introduction, testing is perceived as a bottleneck and a cost center, and there are tons of factors responsible for it. However, bad automation is the root cause.

Matthew further describes how he was striving to get 80 test automation rates for regression testing. Even twenty years later, people are still seeking that. For example, the IT sector employs automation, yet IT leaders are experiencing issues with connecting systems, etc.

So what we found is that business has become somewhat dependent on robotic process automation (RPA). Many folks consider RPA a fad; however, it is not since robotic-automation users are getting accurate results after implementing it. With all these divergent trends, we see a kind of common thread across this where bad automation is the problem and good automation is the solution, and it’s not even just good automation because it means a lot of things; like you have to do automation in the right and coordinated way.

What’s wrong with the apples and oranges approach?

Until now, we focussed on the macro problems of automation. Matthew and Thomas then went ahead and talked about what’s wrong with the apples and oranges approach. Below are the following pointers that were discussed.

• Silos of tools and shadow automation.
• The high total cost of ownership.
• No ability to reuse components or skill sets.
• Lack of automation governance.

Automation convergence and its benefits

Matthew and Thomas explored the importance of automation convergence and its benefits like synergy, speed, and opportunity.

• Synergy: If you are on the development side, you’re creating test automation, and you will reuse those automation assets to automate stuff on the IT side, to test patches that you want to deliver that go from the IT side to the business side and then when automating your business process and RPA side. So it’s not only saving the costs, but it’s that synergy and that reliability you get because it went through so many stages, it is proven to work, and you’re good to go on the business side.
• Speed: For time purposes, speed is the crucial factor. We live in times of digital transformation, and it’s important to speed up processes to leverage synergies, and that’s the perfect opportunity. If you build something once and reuse it more often, you save a lot of money. Just think about testing and test automation itself. The significant rule is if you test something once, you probably might not create an automation for it. It doesn’t make any sense. You’re quicker doing the manual test on it, but if you’re creating a reusable automation asset that is not only used for testing but for any automation purpose throughout the company and life cycle, then it makes sense, and you will speed up the process essentially and help save cost.
• Opportunity: Once you have scaled your automation across the enterprise, it allows your organization to sense and respond to new opportunities. So if a competitor comes out with something and you need to swarm a team together of automation developers now, you can do that. Today you’re in silos, and you would have to learn the new technology on that project and apply it. It would take three or four times as long to react to some situation like that.

The outcome of automation convergence

Thomas explains what automation convergence would look like. There is a lot of automation going on in testing, development, and business. There are a lot of test automation pipelines on the testing and development side to automate a process to get your software delivered, and the same holds for the IT side.

You have automation to prepare test environments to test patches that might be delivered and, at some point, move those patches onto the business side, and on the business side, you have RPA. So there is a lot of redundancy right now.

How does convergence help you test more for less?

Thomas shed light on how UiPath can help users test more for less by integrating into their existing platforms. He discussed the following features offered by UiPath –

• Streamline and connected governance: Connect your ALM and consolidate your test management assets.
• 70% component reuse: Migrate your automation assets to a reusable library.
• 90% test coverage: Achieve greater test coverage with resilient automation.
• Automation agility: Expand your testing footprints with new value-added services like RPA, customer experience, employee experience testing, etc.

So, in a nutshell, – optimization and testing can help us achieve more significant ROI and avoid costly setbacks.

The session ended with a question asked by one of the attendees to Thomas and Matthew:

• How to convert testing from a cost to a value contributor?

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