Agile Automation Testing and the Hidden Challenges

1
Agile Automation Testing and the Hidden
Challenges
2

• Agile projects knack all new challenges to the
  Automation team Multiple iterations, unclear
  project scope, minimal documentation, early and
  frequent automation needs and an active
  stakeholder involvement, all demand a lot of
  challenges from the Automation Team. Some of
  these challenges include

3
Challenge 1 The Requirement Phase

• Test automation developer captures the
  requirement in the form of user stories, which
  are brief descriptions of the customer-relevant
  functionalities. Each requirement should be
  prioritized as follows
• Low These are requirements that are nice-to-have
  but are not critical for the operation of the
  software.
• Medium These requirements are important but can
  be worked around until implemented.
• High These are mission critical requirements
  that absolutely need to be done in the first
  release.

4

• Once the priorities are established, the release
  iterations are planned. Generally, each Agile
  release iteration takes 1 to 3 months to deliver.
  
• At times, these changes are so fickle that the
  iterations are snugged.
• Customers and software developers often take the
  liberty to make too many changes to the
  requirements, making these changes challenges in
  implementing the Agile Automation testing
  process.

5
Challenge 2 Selecting the Right Tools

• Customary, test tools with record-and-playback
  features force the testing teams to wait until
  the software is done.
• Furthermore, traditional test automation tools
  dont work for Agile contexts because they solve
  traditional problems, and are different from the
  challenges faced by the Agile Automation testing
  teams.
• Automation in the early phases of an agile
  project is usually tough, but as the system
  evolves, some aspects settle and it becomes
  appropriate to use automation.
• Hence, the choice of testing tools becomes grave
  for reaping the competence and quality benefits
  of agile.

6
Challenge 3 Script Development Phase

• Automation testers, developers, business analysts
  and project stakeholders, all contribute to the
  kick-off meetings where the user-stories are
  selected to the next sprint. Once the
  user-stories are selected for the sprint, they
  are used as the base for a set of tests.
• As the functionality grows, regression tests
  needs to be performed to ensure that the existing
  functionality is not been hampered by the
  introduction of the new functionality in each
  iteration cycle. The scale of the regression
  testing grows with each sprint and ensures that
  it remains a manageable task and the test team
  uses the test automation for the regression set.

7
Challenge 4 Resource Management

• The agile approach requires a mix of testing
  skills i.e. test resources will be required to
  define vague test cases and scenarios, conduct
  manual testing together with developers, write
  automated regression tests and perform the
  automated regression packages.
• As the project advances, professional skills will
  also be required to further cover the test areas
  that might include performance and integration
  testing. There should be an apt mix of the domain
  specialist who plan and collect requirements.
• The stimulating part in the Resource management
  is to discover the test resources with multiple
  skills and assign them.

8
Challenge 5 Communication

• Good Communication must endure among the
  Automation testing team, developers, business
  analysts and the stake holders. There must be
  highly collaborative interaction between the
  client and the delivery teams.
• More client involvement indicates more
  suggestions (and changes) from the clients end.
  It indicates more bandwidth for communication.
• The key challenge is that the process should be
  able to seize and effectively instrument all the
  changes. In traditional testing, the testers and
  developers are like water and oil, but in an
  agile environment, the challenging task is that
  they both must work together to accomplish the
  targets.

9
Challenge 6 Daily Scrum Meeting

• One of the key activities in an Agile Process is
  Daily Scrum Meeting. For this, the teams meet for
  15 minutes stand up sessions. The question that
  arises is what is the effectiveness of these
  meetings? How far these meetings help developers
  practice Automation?

10
Challenge 7 Release Phase

• The purpose of Agile project is to offer a basic
  working product as soon as possible and then to
  undergo a constant improvement process. This
  means that there is no solitary release phase for
  a product. The challenge lies in acceptance and
  integration testing of the product.

11

• If you can meet these challenges in a well
  optimized manner, then automated regression
  testing in an Agile environment is an excellent
  opportunity for the QA team to take leadership of
  the agile processes.
• It is placed better to bridge the gap between the
  developers and the users, apprehend both what the
  requirements, how it can be achieved and how it
  can be assured prior to deployment.
• The automation practice should have a conferred
  interest in both the hows and the result, along
  with continuing to reassure that the whole
  surfacing system meets the objectives of the
  business and is fit for purpose.

12

• Looking for an outsourcing partner to contract
  out your Agile testing requirements? BugRaptors
  is a CMMi5 accredited quality assurance service
  provider with an extensive experience in agile
  testing and various other testing techniques.
  Visit the website here for more insights.
• For any query, You can call us at
  1.240.241.6894.

13
(No Transcript)