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7 Challenges in Test Automation You Should Know

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Today, test automation has become a new trend in the tech industry when it comes to efficiency and quickness. Undoubtedly it helps in achieving milestones more quickly and on the other hand, also boosts productivity. In fact, most IT firms are now shifting towards automation and it’s good to take adopt new trends. But, as we all know, anything can have pros and cons and in the field of software development, Testing is defined by its success ratio, not by just the ratio of testing. In the end, what matters the most? The ‘Results’ right?

7-Challenges-in-Test-Automation-You-Should-Know

Today, from small to large, every firm is adopting automation testing and it directly allows them to let their resources work on other parts. So, it becomes very crucial to understand the pain points of having automation testing in your organization.

So, in this article, we’re going to highlight 7 challenges in test automation that you should know.

1. Team Collab Issues

It is necessary to keep your team in a loop and to ensure that they all are in the same alignment. With the growing age of technology, firms are now moving towards automation and that has become a challenge for QAs. The reason being they do lack a skill set and are not much well aware of the backend codes. Thus, this becomes very challenging for them to work with the script.

Therefore, this issue can be solved by keeping your whole team in a loop and making sure that they all are on the same path where they can exchange information and communicate as per their needs. Besides, some other practices can be also be taken into considerations:

  • By providing proper training so that they can be well aware of the outlook.
  • By creating a common communication channel.
  • Take feedbacks about the tasks that they don’t feel good about.  

2. Network Issues

During the automation testing, it is being observed that network stability & disconnection has been one of the most challenging issues for QAs. The dedicated team needs to have a good and stable connection, and if the connection is poor, it becomes hard to access databases, third-party services, etc.  

Some other issue that occurs with the network is:

  • Disruption in the network also blocks QA to access virtual environments that are used for testing.  
  • Any delay in testing, specifically due to network issues can cause delays in the whole development cycle.
  • In the development cycle, the whole system fails if testing goes wrong. This happens due to its architecture, and there are many testing environments that run on a single point.

3. Cost Factor

You might not be surprised that test automation has become a very crucial part of software testing. Besides automation comes at a costly price especially during its initial phase. So, if you’re running on a tight budget, you might need to reconsider it again because the implementation is going to cost you on a higher side which also includes license cost for the software. Likewise, going for an open-source solution will lead you to train and maintenance costs, which makes it even from all aspects so make sure you’re pitching correctly to the management to plan for it.

4. Right Expectations

It is a must to understand that expectations should always be right either it’s for selecting testing tools or the methods you’re going to implement or maybe the outcome you’re expecting. No matter how much automation we’re going to make but human interaction and involvement are necessary and will play a very crucial role in fixing bugs and running tests.

Therefore, for non-automation testing, humans will be required, and not to forget the most important thing is ‘A testing phase gets success not because of the number of executions, but its success defines by the number of successful compilations done with a meaningful outcome.’

So, make sure that you’re getting the right expectation with stakeholders and management so that they can plan accordingly.

5. Testing Accuracy

If you try to run processes on outdated data, then it will show you the false outputs which are the most common mistakes in automation. That’s why it is very crucial for a team to be aligned in a singular channel which can help them in having clear communication to avoid any such chaos. In Automation, DevOps needs a quick response from testers in order to get more accuracy over the data. Thus, data relevancy and accuracy are the only factors to achieve in testing accuracy.

On the other hand, it’s also required for QAs to work on a robust analytical solution to enhance productivity.

6. Selection of Tool

The selection of the right tool is the most crucial part of the testing phase. Lack of expertise can hamper the whole development cycle. Generally, typical testing consists of regression, functional, unit, integration, etc. Besides the fact, the challenging part is to decide whether your project needs Automation or Manual Testing. Make sure to dig into these considerations before selecting any tool for your project:

  • Gather information about your project and its requirement.
  • Technical support & assistance.
  • Check for cross-browsing testing compatibility.
  • Ease in maintenance
  • Cost

7. Fixing Code smell

It is very important to address and fix up a bad code smell from any frame. Why is it so crucial to fix code smell? A Code smell is a part of a code that is not “technically wrong” but its implementation is chaotic and becomes a pain during the execution. So, it’s a responsibility for both programmers and testers to take care of the quality of code so that it doesn’t affect the development cycle.  

However, it will also lead to maintaining a pace in project development and makes automation more robust.

Conclusion:

You might be well aware of the fact that there are ‘n’ numbers of automation tools available in the market. It’s necessary to pick up the right solution to avoid any interruptions. However, these were some of the most sought issues that we often witness in automation. So, we provided our handpicked 7 challenges in test automation that you should know. Have you faced any of them, ever? 


Last Updated : 26 Jan, 2022
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