Don’t leave your Automation for the next Sprint!
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In the fast-paced world of software development, test automation has emerged as a key driver in agile practices. Organisations are increasingly favouring automation testing over manual testing to accelerate their software delivery process, ensuring consistent quality, reducing project costs, and freeing up testers from mundane tasks. However, the benefits of test automation heavily depend on the approach taken by teams during implementation. The traditional approach of automating testing after the sprint is completed has its limitations, such as a lack of collaboration, an automation backlog, and sub-optimal return on investment. To overcome these challenges, many teams are adopting an in-sprint automation approach, which allows them to maximise the benefits of automation testing.
What are the Problems with the Traditional Automation Approach?
The majority of teams still follow the traditional approach of automating testing once the sprint is completed. This involves manually testing the functionality and then transforming the manual test cases into an automated regression suite. However, this approach has several drawbacks. It reduces the possible return on investment from test automation. Moreover, it creates a lack of collaboration within the team and leads to an unwanted automation backlog. In contrast, in-sprint automation offers an opportunity to maximize the return potential of automation by automating the functionality developed within the same sprint.
What Is In-sprint Automation?
In-sprint automation is a method of automating the tests in the same sprint which they are implemented. This eliminates the need for an automation backlog and ensures that the functionality delivered in the sprint is thoroughly tested through automation. With every sprint, the regression suite is updated with new automation scripts, ensuring continuous and efficient testing. This practice also allows for bugs to be identified and resolved earlier in the development process, reducing the risk of introducing bugs to the code base. In-sprint automation relies on collaboration between all roles within the team, including Business Analysts, Scrum Masters, Developers, and QA professionals. It emphasizes software quality as a…
