Test Automation in an Agile Environment

Agile Testing tools vary from project management to automated testing. Automated Testing  is a critical  for maintaining agility and establishing continuous improvement. Continuous Integration, execution of unit tests, functional tests, integration tests and continuous deployment are common ways of deploying automation. 

Literally any testing that is performed consistently formore than 2 to 3 times in a short span of time needs to be automated. This automation should be carried out with well known tools, open source tools or homegrown scripts. 

For managing test automation in an Agile environment, with a systematic and productive test automation effort, the following principles can be considered.

-      Test Automation is more than test execution.

-      Test Automation may become instantly obsolete.

-      Test Automation depends on product testability.

-      Test Automation may not be equal to good testing.

The element of Agile development is centered around practitioner centered methodology, close contact with customers, numerous small milestones and a welcoming attitude to change. Agile Test automation is mainly the application of these development principles onto the test automation solution. 

The Agile Test Automation involves accomplishing the following tasks:

-      Respond rapidly to requests for assistance from testers.

-      Identify test productivity problems.

-      Investigate possible solutions with testers.

-      Implement technology to improve the test process.

-      Research for available tools and how to use them.

-      Gather tools that developers and testers produce.

-      Asses automation possibilities on upcoming products.

Test automation in an Agile Environment can be managed via the following five lists along with some background tasks. The lists are as follows:

-      Request List: New request list from customers

-      Assignments List: Currently assigned tasks.

-      Delivered List: List of solutions currently used by the test team. Each item on the list needs to include a brief description and statement on their positive effect on testing productivity.

-      Maintenance Request List: Solutions that need improvement. This list needs to be divided into two parts – critical maintenance and enhancements.

-      Obstacles List: This is a list of unsolved problems as they require new tools and substantial testability improvements.

Background tasks

-      Pair with testers in order to understand how testing is done.

-      Review the upcoming product specifications and technologies in order to understand the technical testing issues.

-      Work in collaboration with testers and managers to find reasonable ways to assess and report productivity.

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