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How Integrating the CI Pipeline with Automated Testing Tools Yields High ROI

June 18, 2020

The development practice was forever revolutionized with Continuous Integration (CI). Developers now frequently keep updating the code in a shared repository during the day. However, this integration must be verified, and to keep up with the frequent code integration and accuracy, automated tests are performed.

Continuous Integration may be performed without automated testing; however, best practices demand that automated testing be performed on such frequent integrations to preserve the quality of the build. 

Continuous Integration when combined with Automated Testing yields a high return of investment, ROI.

What is ROI?
Return on Investment (ROI) measures the efficiency of an investment or compares the efficiency of a variety of different investments in direct relation to the cost of the investment/s.

ROI is calculated by dividing the benefit of the investment by the cost of the investment and the result is usually expressed in percentage.

How to ensure you yield significant ROI?
The practice of Continuous Integration has evolved over the years. It now comprises of a set of best industry standard practices that ensure clients extract significant return of investment in the process of building the application.

• Use a Single Shared Repository
• Build must be automated and fast
• Integrate your CI/CD pipeline with Automated Testing Tool
• Automated Testing must be performed on the build
• All Testing must be done in the staging environment
• Deployment must be automated

Ensuring the development and testing teams stick to these set of practices enable risk mitigation and a superior build for a high-quality application.

When manual testing was a pre-requisite for any software project, after creating test plans and unique test scenarios, the QA team had to painstakingly manually test every minute detail to validate the behavior of the feature in question. The same process would be repeated each time an update had to be rolled out, a new build was released or an enhancement was added to the product.

This became expensive and slow leading to slower time to market for the application and higher total cost of operations for the client. As a result, the ROI went considerably down upon the release of the software application.

Now that CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery) has become the norm for software development, the entire CI/CD pipeline has to work in synchronicity with a scope of frequent integrations and frequent deployments. This is where automated testing plays a crucial role.

Continuous integration lets the development team keep frequently integrating the code in a shared repository. This way any error, bug or defect can be identified earlier in the local version of the build. On the other hand, Continuous Delivery or Continuous Deployment is about constantly deploying the integrated code to the live environment.

When frequent code integrations and frequent deployment happen parallel and continuously, it is imperative to ensure the quality of the build. Therefore, manual testing would not be ideal in this case to keep pace with the flow of integrations and deployments.

Integrating your continuous integration efforts with Automated Testing tools such as TestingWhiz promises a significant ROI.

TestingWhiz helps automate manual processes of detecting bugs and validating the product. As industry best practices go, most software development teams integrate automated testing right from the pilot stages of the project.

Also Read: 9 Tips to Improve Test Automation Effectiveness & ROI

How does Automated Testing fit into the CI/CD pipeline?
Automated Testing after the production of the code is complete and ready for deployment. This is when a series of tests are performed on the code including:

• Unit Tests
• Data Driven or Keyword Tests
• Functional and GUI Tests
• Integration Tests
• Regression Tests and much more

Performing a set of these tests improves the overall quality of the application. It makes sense in a DevOps environment where you are using the ‘Shift Left Approach’ to conduct these tests parallel to continuous integration right before deployment. Based on the test results, a part of the code can be improved and fixed prior to deployment.

Unless you carry out a well thought test automation strategy, the team will struggle in deploying successful quality projects. In addition, it prevents delays, increases the speed of testing while seamlessly continuing deployment throughout the development cycle.

Thanks to automated testing, the development and operations team can work alongside while asserting their own responsibilities in the process. With an agile team, a superior quality build can be expected in faster time.

With automated testing in the mix, you can easily reap considerable benefits from the exercise. 

Benefits of Integrating Automated Testing Tool with Continuous Integration

• Quick Error Location
• Fast Error Resolution and Bug Fixing
• Wider Test Coverage
• Revision Control and Risk Mitigation
• Anytime Deployable Application
• Frequent Updates and Releases
• Improved Accuracy
• Increased Productivity
• High Quality Build
• Faster time to market for the application
• Optimized Operational Expenditure

How to further improve your Automated Testing ROI?

• Identify and strategize priority areas that need intervention
• Automate areas that are prone to errors
• Automate only what’s stable 
• Integrate new test cases with already existing scenarios
• Rely on the ‘Shift Left Approach’ – early and often is the way to go
• Use test automation tools like TestingWhiz to speed up Automated Testing
• Maintain clear communication and daily reporting protocols
• Ensure you consistently monitor, maintain, and upgrade automated tests

There are many ways you can calculate the ROI when developing your application. However, it is important to understand that yielding a high ROI depends on a holistic outlook which includes strategic thinking, focused vision, agility and stringently adhering to the industry’s best practices. Using codeless test automation tool under expert guidance and training has demonstrated effective results when developing a high-quality application.

If you are looking to implement automation testing within your enterprise, get in touch our experts at info@testing-whiz.com or call us on +1-855-699-6600.