QASymphony Survey: Enterprises to Make Significant Investments in Test Automation in the Year Ahead

Organizations report faster testing, earlier detection of bugs and improved test coverage after implementing test automation


ATLANTA, June 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QASymphony, a leader in enterprise software testing, announces the results of a survey conducted in partnership with TechWell, The Evolution of Test Automation, that indicates significant growth in test automation in the year ahead.

The survey, which was sent to testers and QA leaders at midsize and large enterprises, found that test automation is still an emerging practice, with most organizations (76%) reporting that they automate less than half of all testing activities. However, the results suggest significant growth over the next 12 months. Almost half (44%) of respondents expect to automate 50% or more of all testing within the next year.

The reason for growing interest in test automation is that organizations which automate 50% or more of their tests report that they are delivering higher-quality work, faster. These organizations report benefits including faster testing cycles (88%), improved test coverage (71%) and the ability to catch bugs earlier (68%).

“The transition to agile and DevOps practices has prompted a major shift in testing strategies that streamlines QA and development, shifts testing left and supplements manual testing with automation,” says Elise Carmichael, VP of Product Strategy, QASymphony. “Our survey shows that almost a third of organizations are using behavior-driven development in conjunction with test automation. We believe that because BDD better aligns testers with business goals, we will see an uptick in this approach as enterprises continue to invest in quality as a strategic driver of business success.”

Other key findings include:

  • Most organizations (83%) use open-source tools and frameworks with 37% exclusively using open-source test automation tools. Selenium and Cucumber are the top two open-source frameworks in use, respectively.
  • More than a third of organizations (34%) report using behavior driven development (BDD) methods; these organizations also have a higher automation rate, at 41% to 50%, compared with a mean of 31% to 40% in the overall sample.
  • Nearly a third (27%) of organizations report that QA and developers share testing responsibilities, compared with 63% where QA is responsible for all testing. Among organizations where QA and developers share testing responsibilities, average automation levels are higher, at 31% to 40%, demonstrating a positive correlation between test automation maturity and cross-team collaboration.
  • Only 17% of large enterprises have adopted test automation, though these organizations also report the most significant plans for growth, with 57% reporting that they plan to have 50% or more of all testing automated within the next year.
  • The most significant challenges survey respondents reported include finding staff with the appropriate skill set (55%), shifting organizational mindset to embrace test automation (43%), and creating data sets for automated tests (43%).

About QASymphony
QASymphony accelerates digital transformation with software testing solutions that help enterprises prioritize quality, develop reliable software and increase speed to market. The qTest Platform streamlines software testing in agile and DevOps environments and centralizes testing efforts across the enterprise. By taking a strategic approach to quality, QASymphony enables enterprises to develop higher-quality software, faster, to better support new business models and customer experiences.

The qTest platform streamlines development workflows by seamlessly integrating testing with leading automation, development and delivery tools including Atlassian’s Jira, VersionOne, CA Agile Central, Selenium, Jenkins and many more. QASymphony is trusted by leading enterprises including Cisco, Samsung, Verizon and Office Depot. In 2017, QASymphony grew revenue 113%, was named the 8th fastest-growing private software company in America on the Inc. 5000 list, and was listed as the No. 44 fastest-growing technology company on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list.

Additional Resources

About TechWell
TechWell delivers training, conferences, consulting, online resources, and publications to software development professionals worldwide. Since 1986, the TechWell family of products has grown to include some of the most trusted resources in the software community: SQE Training, the STAR conferences, the Better Software, Agile Dev, and DevOps conferences, and the StickyMinds, AgileConnection, CMCrossroads, and TechWell Insights sites. For more information, please go to techwell.com.

Media Contact
Kira Mondrus, CMO
QASymphony
(844) 798-4386
kiramondrus@qasymphony.com