Five Examples of How Automation Can Bolster Your Business

At Roq, we encourage an automation first approach to most engagements. In doing this, clients can achieve quicker results at greater pace. However, this does not mean everything should be automated.

Automation first, but manual still has its place

It is important to remember that you cannot and should not automate everything. Yes, test automation can provide significant efficiency savings, but manual testing still has its place. Human intuition, creativity and explorative testing are key elements in successful software delivery – A blended approach can work very well, leveraging the strengths of both manual and test automation. By automating what can and should be automated, you allow your manual test team the capacity to apply their strengths where they’re needed most.

When used in the correct ways, at the appropriate time, test automation can provide an abundance of benefits for your business. Here are our top 5 examples…

Put an end to ‘showstoppers’

By engaging with automated testing early on in the Software Delivery Lifecycle (SDLC), you could highlight significant ‘showstopper’ defects which could otherwise, quite literally put an end to your release. In Roq’s recent example, the team took responsibility for managing the analysis, execution and reporting across a complex delivery cycle which featured daily releases across multiple devices and browsers, spanning three different countries. Roq highlighted a number of very significant defects that would have gone unrecognised solely from manual tests. This prevented major usability or functional defects reaching production. You can read more about this project example.

Increased customer spend

There are many examples of how automation can decrease the impact on your organisational and departmental budgets, but not enough emphasis is given to how it can increase customer spend. You can read more about this in our recent blog. Or, take a look at this specific project example in which test automation enabled Roq’s client to deliver features more frequently and with fewer defects, ultimately improving the user experience and in turn generating higher customer spend.

Simply save time

In that same project example, you can see that Roq saved its client significant manual hours by automating a regression pack which previously took the client team 4 days to test, and providing a saving of 84%. On top of this the client was able to run the automated pack overnight, providing quicker and more frequent validation on release. This is a key benefit of test automation, and one we have plenty examples of in our Roq Talk section.

Save money too

You’ve been waiting for us to get to this part. “How much is it going to cost me?” you ask, when the question should really be “how much money will I save?”. From the clear time savings alone, test automation can decrease your net spend dramatically, but also decrease potential budget overspend by eliminating reworks and possible disasters through catching defects faster and earlier on in the project. In this specific example, Roq provided the client with an estimated yearly saving of £45,540 by automating iOS testing.

Focus your effort elsewhere

By automating the monotonous manual tasks which are prone to human error, you can provide quicker, more accurate feedback on your business critical applications.  In turn, this will allow your test team to focus their skills on other, more rewarding tasks that require human creativity. This won’t only deliver an extra resource for your business, it will provide a morale boost for your team as they concentrate on more stimulating activities, where their efforts are more deserved.

Value add

At Roq, we’re all about value add. So here’s just a few more potential benefits you could reap from engaging in test automation:

• Decreased risk of brand reputational damage by finding defects quicker and eliminating possible human error

• Reusable automated test packs which can be used way beyond the life of the initial project

• With quicker test execution and feedback, automation can accelerate the development and release process, enabling faster time to market

• Additional projects and process improvements from allowing employees to focus on more rewarding, less monotonous tasks

• Increased confidence in test packs

If you’d like to learn more about how automation can bolster your business, or discover how Roq can help you, take a look at our services or reach out to a member of the team – ask@roq.co.uk