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Rohit Bhandari
Rohit Bhandari

Posted on • Originally published at speromagazine.com

Striking the Balance: Prioritizing Manual vs. Automated Testing in Business

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In the domain of software testing, businesses must make a pivotal decision regarding the prioritization of manual testing vs automation testing. This deliberation holds immense significance as it can profoundly influence the efficacy and excellence of testing procedures. This article delves into how businesses can prioritize manual versus automated testing by taking into account a multitude of factors such as ease of gaining knowledge, extent of risk coverage, self-repairing capabilities, and more.

Ease of Learning

One of the initial challenges businesses face when considering automation is the ease of learning. Many test automation frameworks are designed with coders in mind, making them inaccessible to business analysts, functional consultants, and manual testers who may not have coding skills. The learning curve can be steep, which may hinder the adoption of automation.

To overcome this challenge, it’s advisable to opt for a codeless test automation platform. These platforms allow users to create test cases through recording actions or employing intuitive drag-and-drop testing interfaces. This approach levels the playing field, enabling anyone in your organization to create and automate tests, and significantly shortens the ramp-up time, often taking less than a week.

Risk Coverage

A significant distinction between manual testing and automated testing lies in risk coverage. Automated testing platforms can efficiently test all critical business functions without compromising quality or speed. With manual testing, businesses often face a trade-off: they can test quickly but risk low coverage, or they can test more comprehensively but face slower testing processes and adaptation.

Intelligent test automation platforms remove this trade-off. They empower organizations to swiftly test all critical functions without sacrificing quality, allowing for thorough risk coverage.

Self-healing Capabilities

Test automation scripts, especially those using traditional frameworks like Selenium, are susceptible to breaking when there are slight changes in the UI or functionality. This leads to significant time and effort spent on test script maintenance.

To mitigate this issue, businesses should consider automation tools with AI capabilities. These platforms can automatically detect and adapt to object changes, thus reducing the need for manual intervention in test script maintenance.

Test Discovery & Accelerators

Efficient testing requires knowing which processes to test and optimizing test coverage. Traditional automation often relies on human effort to create and code test scripts, which can be a time-consuming process.

Businesses can benefit from test automation platforms with test discovery functionality. These platforms can analyze historical test logs to surface previously run tests, read activity and configuration logs to identify relevant tests, and automatically create tests based on these insights. This streamlined approach saves considerable time in test creation and ensures optimal test coverage.

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Conclusion

As businesses navigate the intricate landscape of software testing, it increasingly becomes apparent that adopting a balanced approach, which combines manual and automated testing, is the path to progress. While each method presents its strengths, the selection of tools can significantly impact the outcome.

In this pursuit, Opkey emerges as a compelling solution, offering a harmonious blend of automation capabilities that perfectly complement the nuances of manual testing, including the specialized demands of ERP testing tools. Opkey’s intuitive interface and codeless test automation platform are game-changers, ensuring that anyone in your organization can create and automate tests without the need for coding expertise. Learning to use Opkey is a breeze, with a short ramp-up time, typically under a week. Opkey’s adaptability and user-friendly features make it a top choice for businesses seeking to streamline their ERP testing processes and optimize overall testing efficiency.

Opkey’s self-healing capabilities are invaluable, saving countless hours on test script maintenance. When slight changes occur in your application’s UI or functionality, Opkey’s AI-driven features automatically adapt and fix test scripts, eliminating the need for manual intervention.

Furthermore, Opkey’s test discovery functionality enhances test creation efficiency. By mining historical test logs and comparing them with current activities, Opkey automates the process of identifying relevant tests, ensuring optimal test coverage without the time-consuming manual effort.

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