Erica Silva, Negosentro | There is, indeed, little doubt about the weather being ‘cloudy’ in the modern digital world. The flexibility and high-key scalability of cloud-based systems has moved computing into brand new realms of what is possible. While we are close to unlimited storage now than we were five years ago with static hardware computing devices, more focus than ever is being placed on software programmes that are robust, making quality control with software testing even more important.
You know how it is possible to discover ways to automate the tests once a company or brand’s specifications and platform are established, regardless of what testing methodology you use. Software has advanced, the various tools have generously grown and expanded, yet it has become easier to conduct automation testing across all phases of the build-out of software platform.
With most of the software programmes now shifting to the cloud system, it makes sense that your automation tools move too. But perhaps you are happy with your current automation tools, and maybe you can make software for the cloud and test it with zero glitches. Why alter your choice?
When it comes to testing automation tools and software testing, it never hurts to have your main testing platform and your software platform at the same plane. Bugs could probably show up when you least expect them if software is based on the cloud and testing tools are not. It’s almost like testing street tires off the road. You can’t receive a fair evaluation of the tires if they are being utilized for what they were not built or designed.
Perks of cloud-based testing
The use of orthodox performance testing software and quality assurance tools requires a significant investment of time, money and other resources – serving as a barrier to adoption and leading some organizations to restrict the performance testing they undertake. On-premise, traditional testing can no longer deliver the necessary level of performance assuredness essential to compete in today’s global marketplace.
Cloud-based software tools/testing offer a concrete pathway to conduct tests across platforms without delaying the time to market, or overspending finances. Cloud-based performance testing ensures capacity even in the most extreme scenarios. By allowing test-teams to instantly analyze and exploit the current levels of performance test scripts to cloud-based load generators – the load is consequently created on pre-configured systems provisioned in the cloud. This eradicates the effort and cost related to expanding the on premise test infrastructure which only the highest-load scenarios usually need.
According to world stats 2016, the cloud computing market is expected to grow at a 36% compound annual growth rate, thereby reaching a market size of a whopping $19.5 billion! Provided with this massive, quick growth in cloud computing, can cloud based software test automation tools be left far behind?
Here is an overview of cloud-based tools’ main benefits to help all the software testing folks out there.
- Cost effectivity
In some cases, it is much cheaper. After a thorough examination of the Capterra analysis of cloud-based mobile forms vs. paper forms, the savings for a five-person field team using customized forms was estimated to be around twelve grand.
Surely, paper, physical storage, and hard drive may not be all that expensive; but when you take into consideration the spatial requirements to store on-site data, the administrative costs connected with actually creating physical storage and the upfront costs of buying materials, cloud computing starts to sound more appealing.
- Quick testing
Generally, automation tools offer high productivity advantages and shorter test cycles. Cloud based automation tools bring the extra perks of quick set up and tool deployment. They do not involve a lengthy installation and setup process, unlike other tools. Testing can begin almost immediately from anywhere in the world. Software upgrades are seamless with little to no downtime. Faster testing methods reduce the time to market, giving companies a big competitive advantage.
- Integrated
It may or may not be the pipedream of all, but finding that one piece of software that does every single thing your business needs at one place is not possible, yet. However, what you can actually do is switch to the cloud, and integrate all the SaaS tools you are currently using.
There are many solutions that offer open APIs that can be connected with software that performs other functions like automation testing. Over the past few years, software integration has become essential for any company’s bottom line, but new, unconventional solutions like Zapier have allowed users to automate functions between software programmes.
For example, if your tech-team gathers stock information from retail stores everyday using Repsly, it is entirely possible to send stock numbers through customized integration to your personal reporting software in real time.
Integrating locally installed software often needs a custom solution, costing a hefty sum but with cloud based tools available, the costs are minimised, while the benefits are immense and immediate.
- Ease of collaboration
Since cloud-based software tools provide the option to work at any geographical location and using any portable device, it makes it easy for teams in different areas to go through test reports, ask queries or make modifications without any hassle. This greatly reduces the steps in completing testing, saving yet another highly valuable resource for both big and small companies – time.
This gives numerous brands, especially start-ups, a competitive edge. For example, if they have a globally dispersed team located at the opposite ends of the world, they can still join hands on the most complex projects using cloud-based tools to test their applications.
Think of it this way: There is going to be less paperwork when you don’t have to constantly send or receive and go through endless test reports regarding your project. In a nutshell, this speeds up decision-making, and hence helps in speedy delivery of the project.
Conclusion
Even though the combination of cloud with tried-and-tested methods work in the favour of developers and large enterprises, it does come with a red flag. While it can easily cut down on resources, costs, time expenditures, improper use of such testing environments can do just the opposite. The main solution is to analyse requirements, and complete a detailed round of research about the tools on the market before making a concrete decision.
ABOUT Erica Silva
Erica Silva is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences and express herself through her blogs.
Find her on Twitter:@ericadsilva1
