Automation Testing and Manual Testing – Mix Them Right

How much automation is automation enough

Software test automation can provide great benefits to an enterprise. The benefits include reuse, better labor utilization and cost savings. Today, most of the software test effort is currently taking place at the functional testing execution level, focusing first on productivity and further efficiencies through automation tools and mainly through reusable artifacts. 

The question that faces most enterprises today is how much automation is automation enough? 

From a solutions perspective it is imperative organizations strategically plan their automation to increase value, save costs and abate risk. The rule of thumb that most organizations have been successfully following: 

1)     Higher the risk and higher the complexity of applications more of Manual testing is the key

2)     If most entities to be tested are know while complexity and risk factors are considered moderate then 50% automated and 50% manual testing would form the ideal mix

3)     Finally, if the entities being tested are all known and the enterprise gauges the risk and complexity factor of the applications low then the best bet is automation testing 

From an engagement perspective enterprises invest in testing automation for transformation projects. Such transformation testing activity usually suits better the framework of a long-term contract with multiple releases. 

The truth is, most organizations that have not progressed to effective use of automation and understand how much to automate and how much to test manually, don't perform good testing. That is, testing that gives enterprises what they expect their applications to give them  – cost savings, punctuality and quality.