As more businesses started adopting the digital-first strategy, software developers are striving to beat the competition by implementing innovative methods to get quality software solutions faster to the market. It has forced them to adopt streamlined workflows such as Agile, DevOps, and automate as much as processes as they can. As part of this new digital approach, more software developers are now focusing on analysis and testing with less manual work and adopting automation to analyze the characteristics of software applications and fix problems, if any, at the early stages itself. Such enterprises are now capable of completing the entire process with lesser test cycles and reduced cost.
So before diving deeper into why businesses need to adopt automation testing over manual testing, let’s understand both the testing in detail.
What is Manual Testing?
Manual testing as the name indicates is mainly done manually by QA test engineers with limited usage of tools for automating test execution. For this, the QA teams will have to create various types of case tests manually to detect potential errors in the software code, as well as product design. Especially in large complex applications with advanced technology, manual testing can be quite a challenge as every module of the application must be analyzed “by hand” before implementing any kind of automation. Even though manual testing is more expensive and time-consuming, manual testing still remains the most popular form of testing adopted by enterprises.
Also Read: What Is AI-Informed Testing and How Can Businesses Benefit From AI During Software Testing?
Since manual testers design test cases or scenarios with 100 percent test coverage, and execute them one by one before verifying the results, they are found to be more effective. Also, 100 percent test automation is not possible as manual testers will also have to be included at some point or the other to test certain use cases, therefore, manual testing is considered to be an essential part of the quality assurance process for the software. But since nowadays, more companies are releasing new software solutions at an exceedingly fast rate, manual testing can not be the best choice. As manual testing requires more time and resources to complete and in order to keep up with the changing market conditions, customer requirements, and trends, it is imperative that software solutions must be deployed more promptly.
What is Automated Testing?
Automated software testing is mainly executed by introducing modern testing tools and in some cases, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are also integrated to analyze pre-scripted test case suites. Since the process is automated, it can be completed quicker than manual testing and the test results are sent for further programmatic analysis. Once the final automated results of the tests are received, the QA specialist can then compare the expected results and actual test results to provide a detailed review report.
Moreover, QA engineers are not specifically involved in the tests execution process as they only develop and set up test cases at the preparation stage. Once that is completed then their involvement is only required to assess the comprehensive testing outcome. When compared to manual testing, automated testing significantly improves the return on investment (ROI) of the complete testing procedure as it reduces the number of test cases required, manual intervention, and does not have to be run repeatedly over and over again, especially during a large project.
Why Do More Businesses Adopt Automation Testing Over Manual Testing
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Schedule in manual testing
As initially mentioned, manual testing can be quite a time-consuming and arduous process. For businesses looking to deploy software solutions more quickly, this can be a challenge but for businesses that have enough and more time then manual testing could be a better alternative. Especially because it is hard for a software tester to predict the amount of time that he/she will need to complete the whole test, the software development company will not be able to set an exact date for the release. The timeline for manual testing is based on the test results and therefore in some cases, it can be expanded dramatically based on the test outcomes.
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Schedule in automation testing
On the other hand, automated testing software uses test scripts that simulate specific actions, and then the final results are compared with the expected functions. Even though, the tests need to be set up, they can then be executed much more easily and concurrently with each other. Hence the need for human intervention is much lesser when compared to manual testing. Because of this, the test automation services provider can predict a schedule on which the entire test will be completed. Also, since the testing is automated, it will require lesser time and resources, hence the time to market needs can be met.
Also Read: Why Should Software Development Companies Prefer Agile Testing And Not Traditional Software Testing?
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Quality in manual testing
In manual testing, there are chances that different developers and testers are assigned to test the modules. In such cases, the tests are highly susceptible to testers’ bias; which means that what one engineer thinks is essential or acceptable might be entirely different from another test engineer’s priority. Also, the fact that humans make mistakes at some point or the other comes highly relevant to manual testing; there are chances that testers can forget steps, fail to structure tests right, or become frustrated with the repetitive process and cut it short altogether.
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Quality in automation testing
In the case of automated test scripts (particularly for regression testing), they can be reused several times for a similar purpose. That means if a test script is created for the software code, it can be again reused for the same project or even for another project, therefore the code does not have to be written from scratch. Human intervention will only be necessary if something unpredicted happens during the process and the issue has to be identified. Another reason for increased quality is that automation testing presents the opportunity for wider feature coverage as the developers can analyze different components simultaneously, hence identifying more issues when compared to manual testing.
It is quite obvious that having more human employees work on something will be more expensive than automating the whole process with lesser human intervention. Manual testing takes a similar approach, it has a high labor requirement as developers will not be able to execute more than one test at a time, and moreover, they have to be present during the complete test. Employees will have to focus more on the time-consuming repetitive processes and would not be able to focus on other core responsibilities.
Another significant factor for increased costs in manual testing is that, if an error or bug is identified during the final phase of development, then it will be more expensive to fix than the one found at the beginning.
Also Read: What Is Regression Testing and How To Build An Effective Regression Testing Suite?
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Cost in automation testing
Developers can run automated testing throughout the entire development process because they do not have to entirely depend on manual testers. This can be imperative to identify bugs in the initial development phase itself thus significantly reducing the costs of fixing the bugs. Also, since the entire process is automated with very little human intervention, there is a lesser chance of significant errors, therefore reducing the fixing costs again.
ThinkPalm Test Automation Services
At ThinkPalm, we employ top automation tools and testers who implement innovative automation frameworks using the most advanced testing infrastructure. ThinkPalm provides a comprehensive range of test automation services that helps in reducing testing time with significant cost savings, thus enhancing application quality. Through our sophisticated techniques and the help of continuous verification, validation, and quality assurance service, we bring in great advantage to all our clients. By implementing such a software testing technique, we help in increasing the workflow and also satisfying the requirements of the client by providing them with the best services.
If you are looking to automate the entire testing process to reduce costs, risks and expedite time to market then contact our experts today for a FREE consultation.
Author Bio
Ricky Philip is a content strategist, who has an unparalleled dedication to building productive and engaging website content that attracts traffic and increase search engine rankings. If not typing furiously on his keyboard, Ricky is constantly learning ways to enhance search traffic acquisitions.
