Is Your Test Automation Team a Team of Superheroes?

What do you think makes Iron Man, ‘Iron Man’? Who do you think is responsible for Batman’s success? Would we really be stretching the truth if we said that it was a team of judicious and extremely competent testing experts who are the secret behind the success of these heroes? Consider this, would Iron Man be as successful

Is Your Test Automation Team a Team of Superheroes?

If, say, Jarvis suddenly had a bug attack while Iron Man was scaling the skies? Or if batman’s Batmobile broke down when the caped crusader is in hot pursuit of a villain because somehow, some software got corrupted during the last update? Clearly, the real superheroes are the testers who think of every possible scenario and situation and make sure that each piece of software is secure and is working as it should. Given that test automation has firmly cemented its place within the testing space, it only makes sense to see what a superhero test automation team looks like.

Manual Test Engineer

Yes, automation testing might have taken over the enterprise but that doesn’t mean that the manual test engineer is redundant. The manual test engineer plays an important role in an automation team by playing the role of the person who designs and develops test cases and test procedures based on the functional and non-functional requirements. He/she has to have a good understanding of GUI design and is responsible for conducting tests and reports on test progress and regression. It is the manual test engineer who, along with the other test automation resources, determines which test cases are suitable for automation and which need to be tested manually.

Test Automation Engineer

The test automation engineer, also called the ‘Automator’, is responsible for designing and developing the test cases and test procedures depending on the requirements. He/she also designs, develops and executes all reusable and maintainable automated scripts, creates test harnesses, conducts test walk-throughs, executes the tests and develops the automated test scripts. It is the responsibility of the Automation Engineer to ensure that all scripts in use are complete and executable. The test automation engineer is also responsible for helping the manual test engineer in locating and interpreting logs when needed.

Test Manager

The test manager is the primary representative of the testing team and acts as a liaison for all interdepartmental interactions. This role is of significant importance as testing is becoming increasingly integrated with the development process owing to development methodologies such as DevOps, Agile, BDD, TDD to name a few. The Test Manager has to have the technical skills of a developer along with having equally strong testing skills. Working alongside the test engineers, the test manager helps in developing a reusable test automation architecture to improve reusability, robustness, and maintainability of test scripts.

Test planning, development of testing goals, test tool selection, facilitating the integration of testing and development activities, hardware and software acquisition for the test environment, test product and test environment configuration management, etc. are just some of his/her tasks. Additionally, the test manager also has to look at test progress tracking, oversights, vendor interactions etc. to ensure that the testing team stays on track.

Test Automation Environment Expert

The Test Automation Environment Expert has to be familiar with all concerns regarding test programs such as test data management, problem reporting and resolution, test development and design and should have technical skills which include knowledge of programming languages, database technologies, and operating systems. Also known as the test lead, the Test Automation Environment Expert verifies requirement quality, test design, test script and test data development, test environment configuration, test script configuration management and test execution. The test lead has to stay on top of all current developments in the testing industry, the latest testing tools, and test approaches and ensure proper knowledge transfer of the same. He/she is also responsible for conducting test design and test procedure walkthroughs and inspections, implementing test process improvements, test the traceability matrix, and has to ensure that the test product documentation is complete.

Network Test Engineer

Given the rise of mobile, even the test automation team has to have a network test engineer in their kitty. The network test engineer is responsible for performing database, network, and middleware testing and is responsible for selecting the tools to conduct performance monitoring of the same. Developing load and stress tests designs and supporting walkthroughs of these test procedures and implementing performance monitoring tools on a regular basis fall within his/her jurisdiction.

Test Environment Specialist

The test environment specialist shoulders the responsibility for establishing a test tool environment, creating and controlling this environment by utilizing setup scripts and also has to create, add, restore, maintain and also delete the test database. He/she additionally has to maintain the requirement hierarchy within the test-tool environment.

The success of a test automation initiate depends not only on the testing tools but also in selecting the right resources to use these. Having a testing team that not only has superlative testing knowledge but also excels in programming and testing tool knowledge contributes immensely to the success of any test automation team. Clearly, to have a superhero testing team then having team members with a mix of testing skills, subject matter expertise, and high experience levels make the recipe for success. InfoBeans can be your superhero testing team. Interested? Connect with us!