A small conversation between Client and Manager
Client: Hi !!!! How are you ?
Manager: Hi !!! I am doing well. How about you?
Client: I am fine. Doing well. Economy is growing have some money to spend on.
Manager : Wow!!! (Thinks he take increase the billing rate by taking some more work). That sounds good. Any updates on the release of the product
Client: Yeah the release is expected on the planned date. I believe entire testing is completed and we are ready to rock the market !!!!!!
Manager: Yeah!!! How many release are you planning in an year? (Thinking of Automating the regression cycle)
Client: It depends on the enhancements and bug fixes.. Planned 3 releases in an year.
Manager: Oh!!! sounds good!!! If you are planning 3 releases I propose we automate the regression cycle so that the regression time decreases
Client: Great Idea!!!! Sounds good. Even I had that in my mind. So what kind of tool you want use for automation
Manager: (Very Happy since Client made a mention of Automation). That depends on various factors
Client: What factors are you taking into consideration. Could you elaborate it
Manger: Seeing that this is his chance to get the work for his team, he explains the factors to the client.
—————————————–End of Conversation——————————————-
What factors would have influenced the client to go for a particular Automation Tool ? Let’s discuss
1. Compatability of tool : Nowadays many Automation tools are storming in but one has to choose a tool that is compatible with the technology that the product uses. The tool should recognise atleast 70% of the objects of the application.
For ex: Take QuickTestProfessional. Say a Siebel Application needs to be automated and the team uses QTP. QTP as such doesnt support Siebel. So an Addin is used (Siebel Addin) to recognise the siebel objects. If such provision is not provided QTP is useless for Automating Siebel Application
2. Compatibility with Test Management Suite: The automation tool selected must be compatible to the test management suite used. This is to ensure that all the data is at one place and to ensure that tracebility is achieved.
For ex: A team is using RFT (Rational Functional test) to develop the scripts and HP’s QC for test management, In this case a cross compatibility issue occurs since RFT and QC are from different vendors. So it’s always advisable to maintain compatibility in terms of test management suite
3. Cost of the Tool: Cost of the tool is very important that should be taken into consideration. Many client aren’t comfortable about the cost of the tool. Though the tool satisfies all other factors it fails at the cost. The cost is so high that clients now a days are turning to OPEN SOURCE TOOLS like WATIR, SELENIUM
sriharsha
