5 Ways to Start Moving from Manual to Automated Testing

This is the second blog in a three-part mini-series to support our latest white paper, “Transitioning from Manual to Automated Salesforce Testing: Your Complete Guide.” Check out the first blog, 5 Signs It’s Time to Transition to Automated Testing, and stay tuned for part 3!

Are you and your DevOps or QA team thinking about transitioning from manual to automated Salesforce testing but don’t know where to start? Feeling overwhelmed by what feels like a Herculean task ahead? Wondering if there’s someone or something that can guide you and your team through the transition? 

You’ve come to the right place. 

At Provar, we build solutions to make Salesforce testing and quality management easier, faster, and more effective. And we know firsthand the overwhelm that can be experienced when tackling the move from manual to automated testing.

This blog post covers five ways to move from manual to automated testing to help you transition. We want you to feel confident and capable in your journey to automated Salesforce testing!

Download the full Transitioning from Manual to Automated Salesforce Testing: Your Complete Guide white paper for even more guidance!

Step 1: Evaluate Your Testing Needs

As in life, start where you are. Have your team begin by evaluating your existing testing processes and identifying areas that will benefit from automation. Now, pick out repetitive test cases, time-consuming tests to execute manually, and tests prone to breaks and human error. These are your first best candidates for automation. By focusing first on these high-value cases, you can maximize the impact of your automation. 

Testers Tip: 
Write down questions and proof-of-value exercises you need to follow up on before moving to the next step. 

Step 2: Select a Test Automation Solution

Next, do the research. Choosing an automated testing solution shouldn’t be taken lightly — be sure to budget ample R&D time to demo several solutions to see which best suits your organization’s Salesforce environment needs. You’ll want to consider the product and the vendor when looking at solutions. The best-automated testing solutions will score high in both areas. 

When considering solutions, first evaluate the high-level factors, including: 

• Ease of use
• Training and support
• Scalability
• Future-proofed
• Security 
• And, of course, price. 

Next, evaluate each test automation solution product based on these parameters: 

• Test resilience or fragility
• Test reusability
• Ease of use and onboarding
• Testing adjacent systems

Then, evaluate the vendor based on these criteria: 

• Support
• Training
• Customer Success

Step 3: Implement Your New Solution

After you’ve selected the best-automated testing solution for your needs, it is time for implementation. For better or worse, this is more than a “set it and forget it” situation. To smoothly and successfully implement your new solution, you’ll need to work closely with your vendor to set a strong foundation, clear lines of communication, and expectations and goals for your team. 

First, reflect on the goals and objectives you outlined in your selection process. Then, develop a comprehensive test strategy around your automation efforts’ scope, objectives, and approach. Identify the tests to be automated, prioritize them, and determine the test coverage requirements. Next, clearly define communication channels among everyone involved in the QA process and ensure you have stakeholders’ buy-in. Finally, work with your vendor to create an onboarding and training plan that works for your team. 

Step 4: Implement Best Practices When Transferring Your Manual Tests to Automated Processes

Now, the rubber meets the road. As you transfer your manual tests to an automated solution, you’ll likely encounter some roadblocks and unexpected bumps in the process — that’s okay. By front-loading your work to build best practices, you are setting yourself up for success in the future. 

To save your team some trouble, we’ve outlined a few of our best practices for turning manual tests into automated ones. 

• Identify automation candidates from manual test cases: Take a complete view of all your tests and prioritize which tests you will automate first. Go from there. 
• Pinpoint the environments you’ll use: Define clear parameters for your environments and the support they need. Then, talk to your team. 
• Design your tests with reusability in mind: Building your tests for reusability across orgs, languages, and user profiles will save your team time, money, and resources from day one. Remember to utilize your solution’s reusability features – that’s what they’re for.  
• Initiate mapping for manual vs. automated tests: Once automation has begun, map your manual tests to your automated tests, and voila – results. From here, you can adjust for success.
• Create a valuable report for your test execution results: Determine how to generate the most straightforward and transparent report possible for your team. Skip the jargon, and communicate your test execution results clearly and easily to your team. 

Step 5: Evaluate Your Results and Adjust for Success

Revisit the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of this process. Note whether you’re meeting your automated testing objectives; dig into the why. Evaluate the extent to which your automated tests cover your Salesforce org, identify gaps in coverage, and build more tests for better coverage. 

Other areas to evaluate are defect detection and maintenance. You may need to adjust if your automated tests perform poorly or require rework. Above all, encourage your team to embrace continuous improvement and regularly evaluate your systems and processes to optimize for greater effectiveness and efficiency.  

Conclusion

Organizations can successfully transition from manual to automated Salesforce testing by following these simple steps. Organizations can maintain quality with a structured approach and strategic migration while switching to automated testing. 

Provar recently released Transitioning from Manual to Automated Salesforce Testing: Your Complete Guide to support those organizations considering transitioning to automated testing. This white paper is a step-by-step guide to help evolving organizations move from manual to automated testing and gives you everything you need to know to transform your testing.

To learn more about how Provar can help your organization switch to an automated testing solution, download our latest white paper, Transitioning from Manual to Automated Salesforce Testing: Your Complete Guide, today!