Test Automation

Let’s talk business

Igor Gershovich
Connected Testing, Inc.
www.connectedtesting.com
igershovich@connectedtesting.com
Overview
 Test Automation Myths
 Return on Investment (ROI)
 Frameworks
Test Automation Myths
Myth #1 - Test Automation is
simple, that every tester can do it
 This myth is promoted by the tool sales people.
They are trying to promote the following test
automation process:
 Record the script
 Enhance the script by adding functions and data
driving
 Run the scripts
 Report results
 Under the influence of this myth the QA manager
can proudly report: All our testers are developing
test automation.
Reality - Test automation is a
software development task
 Automation should be designed, developed and
tested
 You need to have some kind of a
programming background to implement test
automation. Test Automation is not as complex
as C++/C#/Java development.
 Test automation standards should be developed
 Automated test components are assets that
should be treated like application source code
Myth #2 – Commercial test tools
are expensive
 Under the influence of this myth some
companies, especially the small ones:
 Tryto develop their own test automation tools
 Use scripting languages like Perl and Ruby
 Use shareware test tools
 Do not consider test automation at all
Reality – Commercial tools are
cheap
 Per seat license for the most expensive automation tool
is $8K
 This tool will be used for 5 years.
 Maintenance/Support fees are 20% of tool cost or
$1,800 per year
 The cost of this tool is $8K/5+$1,800 = $3,100 per year
 The automation developer cost with overhead is $100K
per year
 The cost of this tool is just 3% of the person who uses it,
but productivity gain can be very significant
Commercial Tool Benefits:
 Customer support. Many of the open source tools come and go with
little to no support
 Most commercial tools are constantly being updated as
technologies change
 Most commercial tools usually have more functionality (QTP can
test various GUI applications: Web, .Net, Java, VB, C/C++,
PowerBuilder, etc. vs. WATIR – Web only)
 Commercial tools usually have a large community of users, which
translates into better availability of qualified resources
 Commercial tools require less advanced programming
 More test automation frameworks are available for commercial tools
 Commercial tools are integrated with Test Management tools which
makes reporting and execution much simpler.
Over 300 Test Tools are available
(http://www.softwareqatest.com)
 Load/Performance tools – 54
 Web Functional/Regression – 60
 Java Test tools - 48
 Other Web tools – 76

Which tool is right for you?

Absolutely Unscientific research:

Employer demand by tool expertise

(May, 2008)
 Dice search results across US (30 days)
Tool Search string Matches
QTP Qtp OR quicktest OR "quick test“ 613
Functional "rational robot" OR "functional 118
Tester tester”
SilkTest silktest OR "silk test” 86
TestComplete testcomplete OR "test complete” 26
TestPartner testpartner OR "test partner“ 19
VSTE VSTE AND test 45
WATIR watir 26
Selenium Selenium 108
 Demand per tool
Open Source
Microsoft WATIR Open Source
VSTE 2% Selenium
4% 10%
QTP
Compuware
Functional Tester
TestPartner
HP QTP SilkTest
2%
60% TestComplete
AutomatedQA
TestPartner
TestComplete
2% VSTE
Borland WATIR
IBM
SilkTest Selenium
Functional
8% Tester
12%
Excerpt from IDC Report:

“Worldwide Automated
Software Quality 2007-2011
Forecast and 2006 Vendor
Shares…”
Think of yourself like a business
 Facts:
 Average IT job tenure is about 2 years
 Competitive intensity is rising
 What you should do:
 Investyour time/money in learning mainstream
automation
 Create a niche for yourself - add Configuration
Management, Performance Testing or Project
Management to your skillset
 Market yourself
Return On Investment (ROI)
Classic ROI Calculation

ROI = BENEFIT/COST

Automation Cost = Price Of HW + Price of SW + Development Cost +

Maintenance Cost + Execution Cost

Manual Testing Cost = Development Cost + Maintenance Cost +

Execution Cost

ROI = (Manual Testing Cost - Automation Cost)/Automation Cost

Looks right, Doesn’t it?

Problems with Classic ROI Calculation

 You can’t compare Automated Testing

and Manual Testing. They are not the
same and they provide different
information about the AUT.
 You can’t compare cost of multiple
execution of automated tests vs. manual
tests. You would never dream of
executing that many test cases manually.
Automation Real ROI
 ROI value IS NOT the value of Automation
vs. Cost of executing these tests manually
 Automation ROI value IS the benefit of
this type of testing, and it can be:
 Reducing Time to Market
 Increased Test Efficiency (Productivity)
 Increased Test Effectiveness
Reduced Time to Market
 Can get a greater market share
 Makes people available to work on
other projects
 Higher margins, if no competitive
products are currently available
Productivity and Effectiveness
 More testing gets done faster, increasing the odds of
finding defects
 Defects found early have better chances of being fixed
 Manual Testers can concentrate on clever ways to
finding defects, instead of typing test inputs and verify
output.
 About 7% of bug fixes create new bugs, sometimes in
already tested parts of the system. With automation you
can rerun tests for those modules. This almost never
happens when testing is done manually.
ROI summary
 Each project requires different types of
automation - there is often no easy
formula available to calculate ROI
 Performing ROI calculation can help to
determine upfront what type of
automation, what level of skills, what tools
will be required.
Automation Frameworks
Test Automation Framework
 A Test Automation Framework is a set of
assumptions, concepts and tools that
provide support for Automated Software
Testing.
 A correctly implemented Test Automation
Framework can further improve ROI by
reducing the development and
maintenance costs.
Types of Test Automation
Frameworks
 Modular
 Data-Driven
 Keyword–Driven
 Model-Based
Modular framework
 The Modular framework is the natural
progression derived from Record-and-Playback
 The modular framework seeks to minimize
repetition of code by grouping similar actions
into “modules” (e.g.: login)
 Test Data is in a script or in an internal table

This is what tool sales people are promoting.

Data-Driven/Keyword Driven
 These frameworks are similar in that the
data is separated from the test script
 The script is just a "driver" or delivery
mechanism for the data.
 The difference:
 In keyword-driven testing, the navigation data
and test data are contained in the data source
 In data-driven testing, only test data is
contained in the data source.
Model-Based testing

 Model-based testing is software testing

in which test cases are derived in whole or
in part from a model that describes some
(usually functional) aspects of the system.
 Model-based testing for complex software
systems is still an evolving field.
We’ll be concentrating on
Keyword-Driven testing since it
is the most beneficial framework
for large-scale test automation.
Advantages of Keyword-Driven
Test automation
 This Framework addresses the most common problem
with test automation:
Automation Engineers do not have domain knowledge
and the End Users (Subject Matter Experts/Test
Engineers) usually do not have automation expertise.
 When properly implemented and maintained, it presents
a superior ROI because each business event is
designed, automated and maintained as a discrete entity.
 Keywords can then be used to design test cases, but the
design and automation overhead for the keyword has
already been paid.
Advantages of Keyword-Driven
Test automation
 Reduced the cost and time spent maintaining
and updating tests
 The modular structure of keyword-driven testing
means that new tests can easily be created from
pre-existing modules
 The test team is capable of entirely automating
tests, even without programming knowledge
 Can be easily modified to use with different test
tool
 Reusability across different projects
Classic Keyword-Driven
Example
Object Action Data

Textfield (username) Enter Text <username>

Recent Success with Keyword-Driven
approach
 Estimate using Modular Framework: 1 year
 Estimate with Keyword-Driven Framework: 6 months

Project was completed in 4 months by 1 person, 2 month

ahead of schedule.
This was the first project for the automation developer
utilizing the Keyword-Driven Framework.

170 components were developed (1 component per Web

page).
109 Regression Test cases were automated.
Example of Test Data for Keyword-Driven test
automation developed by Connected Testing Inc.
for TestComplete and QTP
Resources
 “Everything you want to know about Test Automation…” by Brian Le
Suer
 “Manager’s Guide to GUI Test Automation” by Yury Makedonov
 “The ROI of Test Automation” by Michael Kelly
 “What is my ROI?” by mVerify Corporation
 SQA Forums
 “An Overview of Test Automation Frameworks” by Nathaniel
Ritmeyer
 “The benefits of keyword-based software test automation” by David
W. Johnson
 Wikipedia
Igor Gershovich
Company: Connected Testing, Inc.
E-Mail: igershovich@connectedtesting.com
Phone: 720-933-9395
Website: www.connectedtesting.com