The Human Value in Driving Automated DevOps Testing

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The increasing demand for IT companies to deliver high-quality software at a rapid speed has made it compulsory to shift towards using Agile and DevOps methodologies. This rapid shift is, in fact, the primary reason why the need for test automation has emerged.

Now, whether you follow Agile methodologies or not, opting for test automation in your software application development needs exhaustive understanding and detailed planning.

Setting the right expectations from test automation can lead to creating an ideal strategy for your software development, while the wrong expectation can do the opposite. Moreover, without automation, DevOps would be just a distant dream and the enterprises will continue to struggle in keeping pace with changing market demands.

What Exactly is DevOps?

DevOps is known to be the latest advancement in the Agile methodologies. It is collaborations of products, processes, and people to facilitate seamless delivery of software applications.

DevOps involves several stakeholders in the process of software application development, web and mobile app development to automate the delivery pipeline.

Automated DevOps Testing

Role of Automation in DevOps

Since digital transformation has disrupted nearly every industry on the planet, more and more businesses are adopting the DevOps practice for driving automation in continuous delivery and deployment of their software products.

I think it’s safe to say that we have already shifted towards a software development culture where development, as well as testing, can be done simultaneously. As a result, it has drastically uplifted the quality of software products with higher turnaround time.

In laymen’s terms, automation in DevOps can help businesses save on maintenance costs, ensure rapid delivery of software product upgrades, and enhance the reliability and quality of components. With DevOps, developers are automating almost all development activities, from source code commit to operational productivity.

That being said, it is important to point out that DevOps is not a fully-automated process, it does require human intervention. And oftentimes, human administration is necessary to ensure that all exceptions are being handled on time.

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Let us dive deeper and understand the human value in automated DevOps testing.

The Real Human Value in Automated DevOps Testing

The main concept of DevOps is to enhance collaboration between the development and operations team. But, before DevOps emerged, the lack of interest of the development team in the maintenance & operations of a software application affected business goals. After DevOps, however, this scenario is being changed.

In this article, we will discuss the step-by-step process to get the most value out of automated DevOps testing.

Define Clear Goals

It is imperative to define a clear set of goals when planning to automate testing.

Test automation is one golden bullet which will drastically reduce the cost of testing. But to make that happen, it is essential to define clear goals and execution plan to experience the incremental improvement in the testing costs.

Get Rid of “One-Size-Fit-All” Mindset

Test automation cannot be the same in the software development process. Each project requires different skill sets and knowledge to automate testing and removing blocks between development and operations team.

That being said, it is necessary for every organization to have an experienced team of DevOps engineers in order to develop efficient and functional teams, which will ultimately ensure the regular delivery of a software application.

Define a Concrete Test Data Management Strategy

To get most out of test data generated by test automation, it is compulsory to plan and execute a concrete test data management strategy by DevOps engineers.

Failing to do so or unavailability of required test data can affect a software project’s testing activity and might even result in inadequate software test coverage. Test data is something that gets refreshed regularly and if these test data are not being monitored and managed efficiently, it can cause delays in the application development process.

Therefore, it is compulsory to define a clear test data management strategy to accelerate the software’s time-to-market speed and also to avoid losses.

Choose DevOps Tools That Match Your Team’s Skills

Since the emergence of DevOps, a wide range of tools and solutions have been developed and launched in the market. While having several options available is a good thing, but most of these solutions and tools vary in terms of their practical scope.

In simple words, no single solution or tool will match all your DevOps needs and therefore it has become necessary to hire DevOps engineer for selecting the right tools that fit your development team’s skills.

Continuous Monitoring, Testing, & Improvement

Of all these steps, the main step to remember when considering to adopt automated DevOps testing is that you need to carry out a rigorous monitoring of your software application development.

From components and infrastructure to transactions and integration, each layer of your software application must undergo through an extensive level of monitoring. Continuous monitoring will help you positively respond to user experience feedbacks while putting an end to all pre as well as post-development issues.

Conclusion

Due to the rapid adoption of DevOps practices and Agile methodologies, software testing has taken an entirely new form and structure. It has reached a level where it has become a necessary part of the software development cycle. And it’s for this reason; both the development and operations team must cooperate on a shared vision to enhance the quality of a software product.

Overall, automated DevOps testing with clear and accurate strategy will help you in shipping a software product in its highest quality possible.

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Atman Rathod is the Co-founder at CMARIX TechnoLabs Pvt. Ltd., a leading web and mobile app development company with 13+ years of experience. He loves to write about technology, startups, entrepreneurship and business. His creative abilities, academic track record and leadership skills made him one of the key industry influencers as well.

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