In response to the continued loss of bombers during World War II, one country’s air force decided to add additional armor to its planes. Since the extra weight would cause a loss in performance, they had to be strategic. The obvious answer was to analyze the bullet holes in returned aircraft and place extra plating at the concentration of fire.
Wrong.
The sporting world has long struggled with deciding the significance of the “V” in its MVP awards. The use of the word “valuable” clouds the thinking on whether voters are searching for the player most valuable to the team and its success, or the flat-out best player that year.
We face a similar problem when comparing manual and automation testing in the QA process. Each approach has its pros and cons, but ultimately it is hard to declare one as universally superior. The most effective way to decide between them is to consider how often each has the advantage over the other. Automation gives you greater coverage, API integration, and speed. Manual testing, on the other hand, gives you greater human input, and an accompanying eye for detail and solutions.
Speed comes at a cost.
The idea of racing through the QA process and achieving time savings near the stressful end of the software development cycle is very attractive. The hard work of your core DevOps phase is behind you, and your thoughts turn to getting the product to users. So automation testing may be your first instinct for QA. Automation testing is indeed the fastest form of QA currently available, and will cut your testing time by 95%.
Your test automation approach and metrics should make you feel good about yourself. They are supposed to let you know what is working well within your software development process and what needs improvement. The right approach and metrics will also reassure you that you’ve made the right choice in implementing test automation in the first place.
We all have our limitations. Every business model we use has them, as does every system we engage to guide us through software development and quality assurance. The key is to understand these limitations and to overcome them.
Financial services applications bear a heavier burden than those of just about any other industry. They must meet regulatory and commercial standards of accuracy and security comparable to the healthcare sector, while needing to meet the speed and usability demands of the online retail industry.
If you have been through the quality assurance process for financial services before, you understand the rigors. If you have not considered outsourcing that process, now is the time.
“I want it all, and I want it now.”
Isn’t that the sentiment you most want to express when you assess your release cycle? After all, you’re just craving quality and speed. One of the biggest benefits of automated API test integration is that you get a quality product quickly. It also lets you stay focused on meeting your own standards for quality, functionality, reliability, performance, and security.
Just how quickly you’ll see those benefits depends on choosing the right partner. But the speed advantage means faster bug fixes and faster time to market for your product. Let’s look at some of the other ways it can help keep your product on schedule and within budget.
Put the pressures of the test cycle out of mind. In order to know why API testing is so important - especially during healthcare application development - you must take a calm step back to consider exactly what that specific testing does for your organization.
Top-quality API testing improves the coverage of your test cycle, saves resources, and creates a faster, more efficient process.
Now that we all use the internet regularly to communicate in real-time video, often from the other side of the planet, it’s difficult to imagine a service that can’t be outsourced offshore. Even “offshoring” is starting to sound archaic. Technologies like video conferencing and workplace collaboration platforms - along with internationally-understood cross-border business standards - have taken much of the pain out of offshore resourcing.
First, the answer. The best approach to test automation development has four steps:
Choose the right QA partner for test automation development
Identify project requirements and outline strategy
Build a framework and create scripts
Provide a demonstration and full reporting