Any product you design needs to go through rigorous testing. After all, you don’t want to hand over faulty products to your customers! However, the quality assurance process can be tedious and prone to errors. This is where automation can help you. Join us as we explore the various facets of modern QA automation.
Simply put, QA automation uses tools to test software “automatically”. It is a replacement for manual testing. Modern QA automation takes the form of continuous testing by running scripts repeatedly and simultaneously across multiple platforms. This speeds up your testing process and improves the reliability of your products by reducing human error.
However, it would be a mistake to use modern QA automation blindly. Not every testing situation requires automation! It would, however, help you in the following scenarios:
To incorporate QA automation into your business processes, first look at your existing testing framework. Pinpoint which processes are high-risk and prioritise those. The standard 80-20 rule can help you here. By focusing on the most critical twenty per cent of your processes, you can take care of eighty per cent of your issues.
A risk-based approach will also improve the efficacy of your test suite. With regression testing, you can ensure that all your complex systems will withstand changes and updates. This is necessary because even small changes can affect complex software like Salesforce in unexpected ways. Manual regression testing is time-consuming and repetitive, making modern QA automation a perfect solution.
The best approach to your testing strategy is to layer it as a pyramid with three levels. At the bottom of the pyramid, you have unit testing for individual components. The middle layer consists of making sure your components interact well together with integration testing. Finally, at the top level, you have end-to-end tests that simulate user behaviour.
This pyramid approach to testing is helpful both in manual and automated situations. However, the world of QA automation gives you access to many more options you can overlay onto your pyramid framework. These options can help you with API testing, testing your UI, and validating your database.
Since APIs are essential to your software solution, you need to begin with API testing. It will help you catch errors earlier when it is easier to fix them. Modern API testing tools like Tosca’s API scan offer simple, codeless solutions that eliminate the technical barrier and make testing more accessible.
The user interface is as critical (if not more so) as the programming one. While developing your testing strategy, ensure you have a component to test the UI of software like Salesforce. Tosca provides a UI testing tool that, like the one for API testing, is codeless. The tool, Vision AI, can even generate tests from design mockups.
In addition to the interfaces, you need to test the integrity of your data regularly. Tosca, supporting a wide range of database types, allows you to integrate database validation with your other process tests. Their tool is part of the CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous deployment) pipeline, which allows you to catch errors with every update.
The framework you choose is a tool that will affect your entire testing ecosystem. While making your decision, you need to consider several different factors. What is your budget? What programming language does your team prefer? Is there a steep learning curve? You can make your decision based on how you answer these questions.
One example of an excellent modern QA automation framework is Tricentis Tosca. One of the benefits of the tools they provide is that they are codeless. This makes it easy for technical and non-technical users to generate automated tests. They also give the features built-in risk testing capabilities, helping you build a suite with maximum coverage.
When it comes to software like Salesforce, you want it to work well with different systems. Tosca provides you with an environment in which you can do this. In addition to mobile apps and various browsers, it allows you to scan your UI dynamically. This makes it easy to manage custom components and layouts while reducing your overall maintenance.
You also want your testing process to be as efficient as possible. Parallel testing is another feature that the Tosca environment provides you with. Instead of running one test after another, you can set your system up to run multiple tests simultaneously. Tosca relies on cloud-based engines that give you access to more computing power.
This step is where the real automation magic happens. You can use Tosca to build reusable testing components for common Salesforce workflows. Like other features we have looked at, you do not need to know how to code to do this. Instead, there is a drag-and-drop feature that will help you create modular tests.
When it comes to executing your tests, you will want to run them regularly. Your vital business processes, for example, should be tested daily. Weekly regression tests will help you take care of changes. It is fairly easy to automate these kinds of tests that follow a strict schedule.
However, your testing conditions may not be that simple. For example, you might want to trigger a regression test whenever anyone makes a change. Tosca’s Continuous Integration Extension lets you do just that. The ability to set complex triggers can significantly improve your QA automation process. Tosca also offers Salesforce DX integration that blends perfectly with your Salesforce tools.
Reporting test data is as important as creating and executing tests. You want your reports to tell you how to improve the overall quality of your software. Tosca can help you do this by giving you details about which Salesforce features are working optimally, which workflows need more work, and whether there are gaps in your testing framework.
Tosca also offers some advanced risk analysis options. This tells you not only which areas you need to pay more attention to, but also how it will affect your overall operations. You can also track performance. For example, Tosca can tell you which of your Salesforce pages are loading slowly, and what you can do to fix them.
Minuscule Technologies is the only Salesforce partner you need. Our QA automation services are unparalleled and run by experienced engineers who are experts in modern automation tools. From planning to set-up to continuous maintenance, we will be with you every step of the way. Contact us today to make your testing more efficient!
Are you looking to harness the complete potential of Salesforce Solution? Have a free consulting session with our expert team. We are ready to lend our hand to examine your CRM, Consolidate the Current Data Management, and figure out the inefficiencies that lay as a hindrance in harnessing the Salesforce power.
Contact Us Today
