CommunityDevOps ExchangePartners
Articles
3/25/2022
10 minutes

How to Implement a Software Test Automation Strategy for Optimal Release Speed and Quality

Written by
Team Copado
Table of contents

Introducing automation to your software testing cycle benefits your company in many ways. For example, you can streamline business processes and expand your testing coverage. Despite the inherent benefits, companies are bound to face a few hurdles if they try to introduce test automation without a solid strategy. The article below will walk you through a few steps you can take to devise a software test automation strategy for maximum release velocity.

Why do companies need a software test automation strategy?

The software industry is fast-paced. For companies to remain competitive and innovative, they must adapt to upgrades and advancements. The growing pains that come along with digital transformation are inevitable. But they can be mitigated by strategic implementation and organizational readiness. A software test automation strategy should serve the purpose of a roadmap to swift, successful deployment.

Meeting End-User Expectations

As technology grows and evolves, so do users’ expectations. Generally, they prioritize three elements:

  1. Speed. Users want fast access to new features and a product that runs quickly in production. Now that the technology exists to provide users with lightning-fast load times and unproblematic updates, there’s no excuse not to use it. Your company’s competitive edge depends on it. 
  2. Quality. Overall quality includes the quality of your data, the design of your product, and how well your software supports that design. Sometimes, these criteria are referred to as “fitness for purpose.” 
  3. Experience. You should prioritize end users (and their experience with the product) throughout the testing process. Bad UX can be detrimental not only to the product but also to brand image. End-to-end testing can help companies take a step back and observe the life cycle of a system from start to finish for a more comprehensive perspective.

3 Tips for Devising an Effective Test Automation Strategy

Developing a software test automation strategy can be tricky. Every company’s objectives and technical capabilities differ, so what works for one may not work for another. However, there are some best practices that any company can use as a starting point. Fine-tuning these methods to fit your particular needs will help you devise an optimal software test automation strategy. 

Bridge the Gap with DevOps Methodologies

One of the best things you can do to prepare for a digital transformation of any kind is to embrace DevOps practices. DevOps has transformed the software development lifecycle by:

  • Strengthening communications. The core principle behind DevOps is the effective translation of business objectives into technical requirements. DevOps workflows support effective collaboration by uniting the teams in charge of each aspect. When the development and operational departments understand each other’s intentions, they can work together. 
  • Introducing transparency to business processes. In addition to enhancing communications, a software test automation strategy built around DevOps increases business process transparency. For example, a DevOps dashboard helps project members track progress and view data in a digestible format, regardless of technical skill levels.

Evaluate Data Quality

Often, automation implementation projects fail due to data discrepancies. The technology you use is only as good as the data you feed it. Test automation solutions like Copado Robotic Testing use data to predict release quality, evaluate the quality of test metrics, and repurpose previously created test cases. It’s essential to ensure that your data’s source, storage, and maintenance are up to standards. Otherwise, your team will be funneling resources into avoidable rewrites.  

Build a Testing Toolkit

The tools you choose to use for your test automation strategy play a crucial role in its success. Your company may already use specific tools for DevOps infrastructure or enterprise resource planning (ERP). Any new software will need to work alongside your existing tech stack.

Although every company’s infrastructure is unique, certain elements benefit businesses of all kinds. The checklist below outlines a few of the features that will be most supportive to your software test automation strategy. 

  • Low-code or no-code functionalities. Low-code automation tools allow people without extensive knowledge to participate in testing. For example, automation tools for quality assurance (QA) teams allow them to write and run their own test scripts without years of coding experience. No-code tools require zero coding knowledge — allowing non-coders to create, run, and maintain tests. 
  • Intelligent automation. Your testing solution should go beyond just automating routine tasks. It should be able to report potential defects, take automatic screenshots of errors, and predict the quality of upcoming releases. 
  • High-level integration capabilities. Most modern businesses use a combination of business process management tools like Salesforce nCino. Make sure the automation solution you choose is built to support each of the applications your business relies on.

 

Copado Robotic Testing is the leader in low-code and no-code testing tools for industry leaders like Salesforce and SAP.

 

Book a demo

About The Author

#1 DevOps Platform for Salesforce

We build unstoppable teams by equipping DevOps professionals with the platform, tools and training they need to make release days obsolete. Work smarter, not longer.

Copado Launches Copado Explorer to Simplify and Streamline Testing on Salesforce
Exploring Top Cloud Automation Testing Tools
Master Salesforce DevOps with Copado Robotic Testing
Exploratory Testing vs. Automated Testing: Finding the Right Balance
A Guide to Salesforce Source Control
A Guide to DevOps Branching Strategies
Family Time vs. Mobile App Release Days: Can Test Automation Help Us Have Both?
How to Resolve Salesforce Merge Conflicts: A Guide
Copado Expands Beta Access to CopadoGPT for All Customers, Revolutionizing SaaS DevOps with AI
Is Mobile Test Automation Unnecessarily Hard? A Guide to Simplify Mobile Test Automation
From Silos to Streamlined Development: Tarun’s Tale of DevOps Success
Simplified Scaling: 10 Ways to Grow Your Salesforce Development Practice
What is Salesforce Incident Management?
What Is Automated Salesforce Testing? Choosing the Right Automation Tool for Salesforce
Copado Appoints Seasoned Sales Executive Bob Grewal to Chief Revenue Officer
Business Benefits of DevOps: A Guide
Copado Brings Generative AI to Its DevOps Platform to Improve Software Development for Enterprise SaaS
Celebrating 10 Years of Copado: A Decade of DevOps Evolution and Growth
Copado Celebrates 10 Years of DevOps for Enterprise SaaS Solutions
5 Reasons Why Copado = Less Divorces for Developers
What is DevOps? Build a Successful DevOps Ecosystem with Copado’s Best Practices
Scaling App Development While Meeting Security Standards
5 Data Deploy Features You Don’t Want to Miss
Top 5 Reasons I Choose Copado for Salesforce Development
How to Elevate Customer Experiences with Automated Testing
Getting Started With Value Stream Maps
Copado and nCino Partner to Provide Proven DevOps Tools for Financial Institutions
Unlocking Success with Copado: Mission-Critical Tools for Developers
How Automated Testing Enables DevOps Efficiency
How to Keep Salesforce Sandboxes in Sync
How to Switch from Manual to Automated Testing with Robotic Testing
Best Practices to Prevent Merge Conflicts with Copado 1 Platform
Software Bugs: The Three Causes of Programming Errors
How Does Copado Solve Release Readiness Roadblocks?
Why I Choose Copado Robotic Testing for my Test Automation
How to schedule a Function and Job Template in DevOps: A Step-by-Step Guide
Delivering Quality nCino Experiences with Automated Deployments and Testing
Best Practices Matter for Accelerated Salesforce Release Management
Maximize Your Code Quality, Security and performance with Copado Salesforce Code Analyzer
Upgrade Your Test Automation Game: The Benefits of Switching from Selenium to a More Advanced Platform
Three Takeaways From Copa Community Day
Cloud Native Applications: 5 Characteristics to Look for in the Right Tools
Using Salesforce nCino Architecture for Best Testing Results
How To Develop A Salesforce Testing Strategy For Your Enterprise
What Is Multi Cloud: Key Use Cases and Benefits for Enterprise Settings
5 Steps to Building a Salesforce Center of Excellence for Government Agencies
Salesforce UI testing: Benefits to Staying on Top of Updates
Benefits of UI Test Automation and Why You Should Care
Types of Salesforce Testing and When To Use Them
Copado + DataColada: Enabling CI/CD for Developers Across APAC
What is Salesforce API Testing and It Why Should Be Automated
Machine Learning Models: Adapting Data Patterns With Copado For AI Test Automation
Automated Testing Benefits: The Case For As Little Manual Testing As Possible
Beyond Selenium: Low Code Testing To Maximize Speed and Quality
UI Testing Best Practices: From Implementation to Automation
How Agile Test Automation Helps You Develop Better and Faster
Salesforce Test Cases: Knowing When to Test
DevOps Quality Assurance: Major Pitfalls and Challenges
11 Characteristics of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) That Set Them Apart
7 Key Compliance Regulations Relating to Data Storage
7 Ways Digital Transformation Consulting Revolutionizes Your Business
6 Top Cloud Security Trends
API Management Best Practices
Applying a Zero Trust Infrastructure in Kubernetes
Building a Data Pipeline Architecture Based on Best Practices Brings the Biggest Rewards
CI/CD Methodology vs. CI/CD Mentality: How to Meet Your Workflow Goals
DevOps to DevSecOps: How to Build Security into the Development Lifecycle
DevSecOps vs Agile: It’s Not Either/Or
How to Create a Digital Transformation Roadmap to Success
Infrastructure As Code: Overcome the Barriers to Effective Network Automation
Leveraging Compliance Automation Tools to Mitigate Risk
Moving Forward with These CI/CD Best Practices
Top 3 Data Compliance Challenges of Tomorrow and the Solutions You Need Today
Top 6 Cloud Security Management Policies and Procedures to Protect Your Business
What are the Benefits of Principle of Least Privilege (POLP) for My Organization?
You Can’t Measure What You Can’t See: Getting to know the 4 Metrics of Software Delivery Performance
How the Public Sector Can Continue to Accelerate Modernization
Building an Automated Test Framework to Streamline Deployments
How To Implement a Compliance Testing Methodology To Exceed Your Objectives
Cloud Security: Advantages and Disadvantages to Accessibility
Copado Collaborates with IBM to Accelerate Digital Transformation Projects on the Salesforce Platform
Continuous Quality: The missing link to DevOps maturity
Why Empowering Your Salesforce CoE is Essential for Maximizing ROI
Value Stream Management: The Future of DevOps at Scale is Here
Is Salesforce Development ‘One Size Fits All?’
The 3 Pillars of DevOps Value Stream Management
Gartner Recommends Companies Adopt Value Stream Delivery Platforms To Scale DevOps
The Admin's Quick Glossary for Understanding Salesforce DevOps
Top 10 Copado Features for #AwesomeAdmins
10 Secrets Management Tools to Facilitate Stronger Security Practices
5 Cloud Security Compliance Basics to Prevent Data Breaches
5 Data Security Management Fundamentals
Cloud Agnostic vs Cloud Native: Developing a Hybrid Approach
Making DIE Model Security vs. the CIA Security Triad Complementary, Not Competitive
The CI/CD Pipeline: Why Testing Is Required at Every Stage
DevSecOps Roadmap: From Architecture to Automation
Pets vs. Cattle: More Than an Analogy for Modern Infrastructures
Data Compliance Solutions Provide Greater Control Over Enterprise Data
Copado Cares: Free Training, Collaboration and Product Access for Global Response to COVID-19
12 Types of Social Engineering Attacks to Look Out For
Go back to resources
There is no previous posts
Go back to resources
There is no next posts
Ready to Transform Your Software Delivery Process?

Explore more about

No items found.