Test automation tools list

Any test automation tools list will undoubtedly include dozens or hundreds of products that offer a variety of features and benefits. As more organizations move to Agile and DevOps processes to increase the speed of software delivery, test automation enables testers and quality assurance (QA) teams to implement continuous testing to ensure that tests keep pace with the speed of development.

Continuous testing requires software to be regularly tested throughout the development lifecycle. This approach helps to find defects earlier and fix them more quickly and cost-effectively. But continuous testing, when manual, also adds enormous complexity to the task of managing software test.

Test automation solutions simplify the process by automating many of the tasks of initiating, tracking, and managing a wide range of software tests. Test automation solutions automatically track which pieces of software have deployed new code, when each module should be tested, what kind of coverage each test provides, and what additional tests are necessary to ensure optimal coverage. As a result, developers and testers are freed to focus on writing more effective test cases, rather than worrying about a myriad of details related to organizing and managing tests.

Essential features of test automation tools

As you compare the products on your test automation tools list, the right solution will likely include a number of essential features and capabilities. Test automation solutions should enable you to:

• Flag a list of work items for which test cases should be created
• Automate the process of creating test cases for specific work items
• Schedule test runs to execute test cases
• Track the progress of each test to completion
• Communicate the results of tests to stakeholders and facilitate communication about where new code is being deployed
• Determine which environments have deployed new code, when code should be tested, and how requirements are connected to the process of continually delivering software
• Calculate the coverage provided by existing tests, and determine which additional tests are needed to expand coverage
• Manage the tasks involved in executing both manual and automated tests

Top criteria for evaluating a test automation tools list

As you research solutions to narrow your test automation tools list, you may find it helpful to consult Gartner’s Critical Capabilities for Software Test Automation. This annual assessment offers a set of criteria for comparing software testing tools, and it can serve as a vendor-neutral guide for evaluating your test automation tools list.

According to Gartner, the right test automation solution should provide:

• Features that support the technical skills of developers and test automation experts
• Features that support the needs of non-technical stakeholders such as business analysts, subject matter experts, and other non-programmers, enabling a much wider group of roles to participate in testing
• Change impact analysis tools that help prioritize tests based on code changes and the risk they represent
• Template libraries, wizards, and accelerators that simplify testing for specific applications
• Intelligent automation that infuses testing with AI, machine learning, bots, automated test generation, and self-healing technologies
• Cross-platform and cross-browser support that allows testers to test across devices, browser types, and operating systems
• Dashboard analytics that simplify the tasks of tracking, analyzing, and reporting on test progress, sprint-level test activities, and individual tests
• Broad technology support, including support for a range of UI and API formats across web, mobile, desktop, AR/VR, IoT, and full-stack cloud application testing
• Integration with DevOps tools, Agile planning, and ALM tools
• Support for an extension of open-source testing tools and frameworks

Why test automation is essential

Several trends are driving the need for superior test automation tools.

• Complex architecture. Application architectures are increasingly more distributed and complex. The cloud, APIs, microservices, and other technologies create a virtually endless combination of different protocols and technologies within a single business transaction, making testing infinitely more difficult.
• Speed of development. As organizations move to Agile, DevOps, and continuous delivery, software products are often released anywhere from every two weeks to thousands of times each day.
  Criticality of software. Because software is integral to so many business processes, an application failure today can mean business failure. Even small flaws in an application can have a significant negative impact on the user experience and business revenue.
  Test automation helps organizations meet these challenges by providing tools that enable testing to be easily integrated into every stage of the development lifecycle, without creating extraordinary management burden for developers and testers.

Advantages of test automation tools

Ideally, the solution at the top of your test automation tools list should enable you to:

• Deliver software faster. Test automation solutions enable the testing process to keep pace with Agile and DevOps methodologies, preventing testing from becoming a bottleneck and from slowing aggressive development timelines.
• Reduce the cost of testing. Automating the tracking and management of tests can significantly reduce the time and effort required of developers and testers, making testing more cost efficient.
• Improve the quality of each software release. By making continuous testing possible, test automation allow development teams to release software that consistently meets and exceeds customer expectations and contains fewer bugs and defects.

Tricentis tops any test automation tools list

With Tricentis Tosca, development organizations can:

• Reduce regression testing time to minutes
• Gain clear insight into business risk
• Present developers with fast feedback
• Maximize reuse and maintainability of tests
• Integrate and extend existing test assets
• Automate test cases once and run them anywhere against any technology, regardless of user interface
• Shift testing left by building tests with mockups and automating test execution before code is written
• Test in secure and regulated environments

Additionally, the Tricentis platform offers solutions for Agile test management, data integrity testing, performance testing, Jira test management, Salesforce testing, ServiceNow testing, and SAP testing.