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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:
Challenge 1: The Requirement PhaseTest 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.
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.
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 don’t 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.
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.
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.
Challenge 5: CommunicationGood 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 client’s 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.
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?
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.
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 how’s and the result, along with continuing to reassure that the whole surfacing system meets the objectives of the business and is fit for purpose.
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