The software test automation market offers tools, technologies, components and services that together constitute the critical elements of automated testing. It includes tools for performing static code analysis, functional testing, and load and performance testing in an automated way. These tools enable an organization to design, develop, maintain, manage, execute and analyze automated tests for applications running on different platforms (including desktop, web, mobile and server). They can run automated tests by driving the user interface (UI) of an application (known as UI test automation) or interact with the application through an application programming interface (API test automation) or communication protocol.

QA Consultants is at the forefront of test automation engineering techniques, technologies, and methodologies with our test automation services. We partner with clients across various industries to drive their automation innovation and QA optimization. Our expertise spans all test automation platforms and we have a vast knowledge base of best practices which we leverage for our clients.

Our test automation engineering solution components:

• The right process: A methodology that achieves quantifiable results to address challenges, such as maintaining the accuracy of repeatable tasks, expediting the software development life cycle, upgrading technology platforms, and enhancing security.
• The right technology: A complete set of industry-relevant tools and software licenses to supplement the tools you already have in-house.
• The right people: Projects led by a team of professionals who have worked with QA teams, business analysts, and developers.
• The right tools: QA Consultants’ QA professionals have managed automation projects using a wide range of automation technologies. We’ve used Micro Focus/HP UFT, Selenium, Ranorex, Sauce Labs, and Perfecto Mobile, etc.

As a result, we develop and implement the test automation solution that is most appropriate, given your goals, timelines, and budget.

Today, Test Automation is an integral part of software development and of the software testing process. Agile development has encouraged an increasing shift toward the following:

• Regular and rapid regression testing
• The earlier automation of manual testing artefacts (Shift-Left)
• The utilization of continuous testing (CI/CD)
• The automation of both unit testing and API testing
• Natural language test design (i.e. Gherkin via TDD, BDD) that facilitates ease and quicker automated test scripting
• The reduction in manual testing time and effort for regression testing
• The usage of open source automation solutions as viable alternatives to commercial tools

The different types of test automation comprise GUI test automation, API test automation, and by extension, performance testing. Automated testers and how they apply test automation can fall into either of two categories, that being technical and non-technical.

The technical stream indicates that the QA Testers have a development background. Meaning they can get into creating test frameworks and essentially the guts of the test automation. When doing so they may be working in languages such as Java, C++, etc.

The non-technical stream denotes that the QA Testers are more manual based testers. As such, they are capable of interfacing with test automation via certain front ends that have been provided to them. These front ends include keyword, gherkin, etc.

There are two types of popular test automation tools in the marketplace, those being open source and commercial. The open source tools revolve around selenium and different languages that can be used with selenium. Languages such as Java, JavaScript, C-sharp, C++, Python, groovy, and others. Katalon is a tool based on Selenium and is the natural evolution of open source tools. Commercial tools revolve around Micro Focus, Tricentis, Parasoft, IBM Rational, and Worksoft Certify.