Relieving Testing Bottlenecks

Fundamental flaws with this approach

1. Specialist workforce needed It requires a very specialist skill set to work with, write, and manage these scripts. The people with these skills are often difficult to find and expensive to hire. They also need regular training to keep up to date with new techniques.
2. Lengthy set-up times Creating your automated testing scripts using these tools is very cumbersome and complex. It can take a team of people months and even years to set up properly. Not particularly useful if the application is time critical.
3. Maintenance nightmare Every time the application under test changes, the scripts that were written to originally test the application have to be re-written for the changes. This is a time consuming task and can often take longer than manually testing the application in the first place. This high maintenance burden is one of the big reasons why so much automation software is just gathering dust on shelves. As soon as the application changes the tools are useless, unless significant time and resource is thrown at them.
4. Limited usefulness This lack of flexibility is the reason why such tools are not used on the high risk applications that are constantly being changed or updated. QA teams simply cannot cope with the continual manual intervention needed to re-write scripts.

Next generation software

• No scripting language A more diverse audience within your business can use them. Test automation is no longer confined to programmers and scripters. Graphical scripts are built based on the user's interaction with the system under test. In essence they are built using the point and click of a mouse.
• Speedy Implementation Gone are the many months of building and preparation before a single item has been tested. With next generation solutions, you can be testing in days, not months and years. This means you can utilise your investment earlier.
• Automation Available for Everyone Because there is no scripting language to learn, this means that automation is no longer the sole realm of the specialist scripter. Anyone who is involved in QA/testing can benefit from automation. This includes non technical QA staff, Business Analysts and the people taken from the business to perform UAT. More people enjoying automation means a much quicker testing cycle, also those people that have been taken from the business can get back to their real jobs faster. Everyone is a winner.
• Scripts that update themselves when applications change
  The intelligent technology behind these solutions mean that they automatically recognise when an application interface has changed and the scripts are updated to reflect the changes. This means that the solutions are completely re-usable, no matter how often the application changes. As a result, the automation zone is no longer confined to those areas of the application that are stable and risk free.
• A helping hand for manual testing Solutions specifically designed to streamline manual testing can give testers a helping hand on all those applications where automation is not yet appropriate and can cut manual testing time in half.
• Broader Testing Scope - Database testing Data underpins the entire testing process. Poor data will result in poor testing. With growing emphasis being placed on data protection, it is vital that the integrity of your test data is protected at all stages of your testing project. The next generation of solutions can ensure your data is in A1 condition all the way through the testing process.