Advancement is much more than moving forward with time. It’s about enhancing the efficiency of tasks that earlier involved monotony, repetitions, and were time-consuming. Innovation is a key driver to positive changes and this also applies to the business scenario. However, this kind of landscape demands systems that effectively manage more tasks in less time.
As we already know, businesses are unable to thrive after a certain point if they continue to latch on to manual processes. It’s no secret that ever since the onset of automation, many businesses have witnessed a major transformation. This applies to fortune 500 companies and SMEs or SMBs alike.
Building on that, test automation has already proven itself as one of the greatest assets foremost enterprises. However, there was a time when it was the most sought-after solution only for large enterprises. But now the scenario has changed. Most SMEs and SMBs have made it clear that digitalization advanced workflow technologies, and remote IT support has offered striking benefits to their firm.
In this post, we are going to take a look at test automation for SMEs and SMBs in detail. We are also going to answer the question of why they are gearing up to join the automation race and how they can choose the best automated solution for important processes like cross browser testing. Let’s dive into the details.
Why SMEs and SMBs Are Rushing To Join The Test Automation Race
Big businesses are already at a level to hire more staff for figuring things out anytime they want. But this is not the same with SMEs and SMBs. Maintaining an incredible online presence can seem challenging. For instance, manual testing gets overwhelming. So, to appropriately balance product quality and growth, most SMEs and SMBs are rushing to join the test automation race. Let’s take a look at some more benefits they can avail once they adopt test automation.
1. Quicker Feedback Cycle
Test automation helps in the early detection of bags and other related problems. Since the QA team is able to find them in the development, phase it reduces the feedback cycle and enhances the efficiency of the testing team.
2. Reduction in Business Expenses
Automation helps in reducing the number of resources you spend to test your product. the whole idea of test automation is to reduce manual testing as much as possible. It might involve some initial investment to install and set up a testing environment that mostly comprises automation. However, you will end up with a long-term solution that will keep business expenses to a minimum in the future.
3. Better Test Coverage
If your business solely relies on manual testing, it restricts the number of tests you can easily verify. On the other hand, when you automate tests, you can add new tests all at once that will allow you to test more features at the same time. As a result, you get a higher test coverage.
4. Better Accuracy and High Application Quality
Test automation decreases the likelihood of human errors. Let’s face it no matter how skilled a human tester is, there is always a chance of making a blunder. Moreover, since the test coverage is extensive, it leads to the development of high-quality applications with improved performance.
5. Swift Feedback
Test automation frameworks such as Cypress and Selenium fasten the pace of test execution. This can come in handy especially for repetitive tests such as regression testing and integration testing. As tests become quicker and generate faster results, QA teams can get frequent feedbacks. This facilitates an efficient testing cycle and creates a system with a highly efficient iterative process.
6. Test Suite Reusability
Even though it’s a challenging task to build an automated test suite, but once you are done with that, reusing tests is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is hook another project up to your fully automated test suite.
7. Simplify The Lives of Your QA and Development Team
Developers can quickly catch issues before answering the QA team, thanks to automated tests. When a test runs automatically, it also detects changes in source code and immediately notifies the respective team in case of a failure. When QA and development team doesn’t have to perform mundane repetitive tasks, they can focus on more challenging work. This way, a sense of accomplishment is more rewarding for teams.
8. More Features
Besides eliminating most manual tasks, automated testing also offers some additional features. For instance, it simulates plenty of virtual users and enable them to interact with your web app. This way, they can observe the behavior of your application at the same time. Is it possible to simulate this behavior through manual testing? Of course not!
How SMEs and SMBs Can Move from Manual Testing to Test Automation
The most important prerequisite for test automation is to know what to automate and what not to automate. In this section, we are going to take a look at how SMEs and SMBs can move from manual testing to test automation with ease.
1. Start off Slow
If you are new to test automation, start off of by moving only some of your tests from manual to an automated scenario. Once you are done writing small test cases, maintaining, and reusing them, you can think about taking it to the next level. Also, label your test cases to facilitate easy identification.
2. Don’t Aim for 100% Automation
Even though automation is a worthwhile investment, don’t aim for 100% automation. In the beginning, use manual means to explore new areas that can be automated. Make a priority list for your business and what you need to automate now and what you can automate later. Also, create a device and browser list using web analytics after getting an insight into user preferences. This helps in ensuring that you don’t overlook cross browser compatibility.
3. Identify The Types of Testing to Automate
There are seven main types of testing in which switching to test automation can prove to be the most beneficial. These include regression testing, testing for complex functionalities such as calculator areas, smoke testing, cross browser testing, data-driven testing performance testing, and repetitive tests.
4. Choose Write Test Automation Tool
If it’s your first time implementing test automation choose a tool that’s easy to use and has generated great results for other businesses in the past. Cloud-based test grid infrastructure wins over an on-premises one any day. Since it doesn’t need a lot of maintenance and offers better scalability, it’s good to opt for a cloud-based automation testing tool.
How To Choose The Best Automated Solution for Cross Browser Testing for SMEs and SMBs
For every SME and SMB with an internet presence, cross browser testing is mandatory. But due to the never-ending variety of cross browser testing tools out there, making a choice can become overwhelming. So, here are some tips on how to choose the best automated solution for cross browser testing for SMEs and SMBs. Let’s take a look.
1. Blazing Fast Execution of Tests
You should ideally look for a cross browser testing solution that offers a blazing-fast execution speed that is better than your local test execution speed. A cloud-based testing platform that accelerates your go-to-market is the way to go.
2. Support for Live Testing and Mobile App Testing
Every other day, new devices are being introduced in the market. In that case, you need a platform that provides simulators, emulators, or online real device cloud for testing and debugging mobile applications. It should also enable performing live interactive testing on a wide variety of iOS and Android devices. Along with that, you should be able to test locally hosted or public websites and web applications on real desktop and mobile browsers that run on different operating systems.
3. Seamless Collaboration With Teammates and Integration With Other Tools
Your test automation solution should enable users to seamlessly collaborate for completing cross browser testing tasks and managing bugs. Regardless of their location, the tool should enable them to work on issues and find quick solutions through flawless collaboration. It should also integrate with other project management tools to further save time.
4. Happy Customer Base
The test automation solution or cross browser testing platform you are about to consider should have a high trust factor and an already wide user base of happy clients. A high trust factor means better authenticity. This, in turn, increases your chances of success.
Speaking of which, LambdaTest holds the trust of more than 600,000 users and it keeps growing with every passing day. You can perform live interactive as well as automated cross browser testing on more than 3,000 real operating systems and browsers online. LambdaTest has successfully delivered value to big brands like Microsoft, Xerox, Postman, Capgemini, Deloitte, and so on.
Its top features include automated testing, mobile app testing, online Selenium test automation, integrated debugging, geolocation testing, locally hosted web testing, Cypress testing, support for a wide range of browsers & browser versions, operating systems, and devices, seamless collaboration, and integration with your favorite tools.
Do you know what the best part is? You can sign up for free and start testing right away, no credit card required! This way, before finalizing LambdaTest for your test automation and cross browser testing needs, you can actually see whether it fulfills your requirements.
Summing It Up
The SME and SMB sector is vast. But it’s high time small business owners started looking at automation as the need of the hour to improve their productivity. When they automate crucial business processes, they can divert more focus on customer acquisition, customer retention, increasing return on investment, and their overall business growth.
Test automation provides you a competitive edge and helps in streamlining different related processes. The long-awaited fourth industrial revolution is here. Take a step further to embrace innovation and higher revenues by implementing test automation.
All the be mindful, the tool you use for the same can make or break your business. So, be very careful with that selection and always opt for a trial run before finalizing a cloud based cross browser testing platform for your business requirements. If you have any concerns regarding tool selection and making the most out of your test automation efforts, sound off in the comments section below.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.