What is Test Automation as a Service (TaaS)?
Test automation as a service (TaaS) will be a growing buzz, but what is TaaS? We’re so glad you asked! We see TaaS as removing one more struggle from the resource battle. Here, a service provider (instead of employees) performs testing activities. In a nutshell, TaaS is an outsourcing model for software testing that makes resources available on the cloud that would otherwise/traditionally be in-house. Contact us for more info.
Test Automation as a Service (TAaaS) is a solution where companies outsource some or all of their testing needs to an external provider. These vendors specialize in automated testing and have the capacity to manage multiple projects simultaneously. While TAaaS is often used for long-term partnerships, it can also be leveraged for short-term needs, such as audits, test environment setup, or team training. Here is the complete guide that can give all the information about what is TaaS.
How Does TaaS Work?
When opting for automated software testing as a service, the process typically unfolds in the following steps:
1. Identifying Needs: Companies opt for automation when their testing setup no longer meets quality or resource needs. Clear goals are essential for success.
2. Planning: The vendor works with the client to outline the project, demonstrating the approach and expected outcomes through test plans or proof of concept.
3. Execution: The external AQA team begins automation, providing regular updates while adapting to any changes in the project.
4. Automation & Documentation: Tests are automated, and results are documented and delivered to the client.
5. Flexibility: The project continues as per the contract, with options to adjust scope or team size.
It ensures a focused and efficient approach to automated testing.
As automation testing continues to evolve, the increased efficiency of testing has reduced the costs of time and resources associated with software testing. TaaS has added to those advances with additional TaaS benefits:
1. Flexibility
One of the primary advantages of working with testing as a service provider is the flexibility they offer. The first piece of flexibility is that you pay for TaaS only as you use it and only for as much as you need (above a baseline retainer to hold your slot within a portfolio). Outside of that, there is infrastructure (if required). This increases the testing quality available to smaller operations that could not afford the expense of robust in-house servers, testers, and software testing tools. Likewise, larger teams have staff flexibility in times of emergencies.
2. Cost Reduction
Having dedicated infrastructure, tools, people, and processes to ensure an application performs as intended can cost as much as 40% of your overall project or program budget. So tapping into a plug-and-play option like TaaS means you can have a faster time to market and a faster time to product/market fit while saving up to 60% by utilizing a shared group or tools, pros, and methods.
3. Accessibility and Integrity
With Cloud-based testing TaaS, the convenience of accessibility never compromises data integrity or security.
1. Unit Testing: Unit Testing focuses on assessing the smallest components of a system, typically individual pieces of code. Testing begins with vulnerable areas to identify and address potential issues early.
2. GUI Testing: Graphic User Interface (GUI) Testing evaluates the software’s user-facing elements from a user’s perspective. It ensures that the interface functions seamlessly across various platforms and devices. This testing helps detect defects that users might encounter and identifies ways to enhance the user experience.
3. Regression Testing: Regression Testing verifies that existing functionalities remain intact after updates or modifications. It ensures that newly added features do not negatively impact previously tested components.
4. API/Web Services Testing: API Testing examines whether the application meets functionality, security, and reliability standards. It involves sending requests to API endpoints and validating responses against expected outcomes.
5. Load and Performance Testing: This testing analyzes the system’s performance under heavy usage by simulating real-world scenarios. It identifies weak points, improves response times, and prepares the application to handle high traffic without crashes or delays.
These automated software testing as a service solutions ensure robust, efficient, and user-friendly software by systematically identifying and addressing issues at every level of the development process.
Types of Testing Offered in TaaS
1. Unit Testing: Unit Testing focuses on assessing the smallest components of a system, typically individual pieces of code. Testing begins with vulnerable areas to identify and address potential issues early.
2. GUI Testing: Graphic User Interface (GUI) Testing evaluates the software’s user-facing elements from a user’s perspective. It ensures that the interface functions seamlessly across various platforms and devices. This testing helps detect defects that users might encounter and identifies ways to enhance the user experience.
3. Regression Testing: Regression Testing verifies that existing functionalities remain intact after updates or modifications. It ensures that newly added features do not negatively impact previously tested components.
4. API/Web Services Testing: API Testing examines whether the application meets functionality, security, and reliability standards. It involves sending requests to API endpoints and validating responses against expected outcomes.
5. Load and Performance Testing: This testing analyzes the system’s performance under heavy usage by simulating real-world scenarios. It identifies weak points, improves response times, and prepares the application to handle high traffic without crashes or delays.
These automated software testing as a service solutions ensure robust, efficient, and user-friendly software by systematically identifying and addressing issues at every level of the development process.
When Should You Use TaaS?
TaaS is particularly beneficial in the following scenarios:
1. Complex or Ad-Hoc Testing Requirements: Your project involves intricate testing tasks requiring specialized tools and expertise.
2. Scaling Testing for Large Projects: Big projects demand extensive testing. TaaS ensures scalability without overstretching your team.
3. Short Test Execution Cycles: For Agile and DevOps teams, TaaS can accelerate testing to meet short sprints and quick deployment timelines.
Challenges of Traditional In-House Testing
Before TaaS, software testing often came with significant challenges:
1. High Costs: Setting up and maintaining infrastructure can strain budgets.
2. Resource Limitations: Finding and retaining skilled testers is a constant struggle.
3. Lack of Flexibility: Scaling in-house testing operations is time-consuming and costly.
4. Slow Feedback Cycles: Traditional methods can delay feedback, impacting development speed.
TaaS addresses these issues head-on, offering a modern, flexible alternative.
Why TaaS is the Future of Software Testing
The world of software development is evolving, and TaaS is leading the charge. Here’s why:
1. Alignment with Agile and DevOps: TaaS integrates effortlessly into Agile and DevOps workflows, enabling faster releases without compromising quality.
2. Advanced Automation Tools: With access to the latest tools and technologies, TaaS ensures your testing process remains cutting-edge.
3. Competitive Edge: Faster deployment cycles and higher-quality software help you stay ahead of the competition.
Choosing the Right TaaS Provider
Not all TaaS providers are created equal. Here’s what to look for when choosing TaaS testing as a service provider:
1. Expertise in Automation Testing: Does the provider have a proven track record with automation tools?
2. Scalability: Can they handle projects of varying sizes and complexities?
3. Transparency: Look for transparent reporting and communication processes.
4. Customization: Ensure the provider can tailor solutions to your unique needs.
Ask questions like:
- What automation tools do you use?
- How do you ensure data security during testing?
- Can you integrate with our existing CI/CD pipeline?
Lighthouse Technologies: Your Partner in TaaS
Lighthouse Technologies specializes in providing end-to-end Test Automation as a Service. Here’s what sets us apart:
1. Expertise and Experience: With years of experience in automation testing, we bring industry-leading solutions to your doorstep.
2. Scalable Solutions: Whether you’re a startup or an enterprise, our solutions grow with your business.
3. Advanced Dashboards: Get real-time insights into test progress and results for complete transparency.
4. Customized Services: Every business is unique, and so are our solutions. We customize our services to align with your goals.
Conclusion
The need for efficient, scalable, and reliable testing solutions grows as software development becomes more dynamic. Test Automation as a Service (TaaS) is not just a trend—it’s the future. By outsourcing testing to experts like Lighthouse Technologies, you can focus on what you do best: building great software.
Lighthouse Technologies can help you to deliver high-quality software faster and more efficiently. Contact us today to learn more about our TaaS solutions!
Test automation as a service (TaaS) is going to be a growing buzz phrase for 2020, but what exactly is it? We’re so glad you asked! We see TaaS as a means of removing one more struggle from the battle for resources. Here, a service provider (instead of employees) performs testing activities. In a nutshell, TaaS is an outsourcing model for software testing that makes resources available on the cloud that would otherwise/traditionally be in-house. Contact us for more info
Let’s paint a scenario:
With multiple projects running in parallel, it’s usually the case that testing server availability is a delicate balance between software development project teams deploying patches and staging builds versus the testers performing regression testing. If one project encounters a delay (like that ever happens), either team may need the test environment for longer than initially thought. This situation is then likely to cascade through all the other ongoing efforts and cause multiple missed deployment dates if something isn’t done.
In this case, we typically see the directors of the product, testing, development, and the PMO groups all scrambling to slap together a new and bigger deployment, with more stories and complexity to try and compensate for the delay. However, adding complexity and scope to a shortened timeline is a good root cause of bug injections (defeats being missed and making their way to the next step in the deployment pipeline). From here, things get more ugly and expensive to fix, and it’s a bad day to be the Vice President of the Technology Division.
So to help in situations like this, TaaS is a tool that aims to help remove dependencies from the process so these projects and releases can be “crashed” (project management term) without adding additional risk to both the application and your client commitments.
In fact: if your organization does deployment risk assessments (and we can help you if you don’t), a TaaS program is a great mitigating factor to help keep you on track.
What’s does TaaS include?
Most TaaS providers include automation testing in the following areas, but be sure to ask each TaaS provider to make sure they can do what you need:
Unit testing
This code-level testing detects bugs in the methods, functions, and routines written by the developers.
GUI testing
This process tests the front-end of the application (user interface) and how the end-user will interact with the program.
Regression testing
Frequent code changes risk affecting dependent coding. A complicated project may have many dependencies on certain strings of coding. When remaining code strings are left undetected right away, these are often the cause of delays down the line. Automation testing is attributed to decreasing these occurrences.
API/Web Service
Tests for security issues, compliance, and functionality. This testing should also include testing to make sure the site is secure and encrypted.
Load testing
Measurements are taken of the system at increasing levels of demand to ensure continued stability.
Performance testing
Automating the testing of responsiveness and stability has dramatically increased the level of efficiency.
Benefits of TaaS
As automation testing continues to evolve, the increased efficiency of testing has reduced the costs of time and resources associated with software testing. TaaS has added to those advances with additional benefits:
Flexibility
The first piece of flexibility is that you pay for TaaS only as you use it, and only for as much as you need (above a baseline retainer to hold your slot within a portfolio). Outside of that and infrastructure (if required). This increases the quality of testing available to smaller operations that were otherwise unable to afford the expense of robust in-house servers, testers, and software testing tools. Likewise, larger teams have staff flexibility in times of emergencies.
Cost reduction
Having dedicated; infrastructure, tools, people, and processes to ensure an application performs as intended can cost as much as 40% of your overall project or program budget. So being able to tap into a plug and play option like TaaS means you can have a faster time to market and faster time to product/market fit while also saving up to 60% by utilizing a shared group or tools, pros, and methods.
Accessibility and integrity
With cloud-based TaaS, the convenience of accessibility never compromises data integrity or security.
Does your organization need testing automation as a service?
Of course, you do! Okay, so most of you, at the very least, need the testing automation portion (if your organization develops software -and you probably wouldn’t still be reading otherwise). With more technology and accessibility going to the cloud, growth in TaaS is a natural progression to this cultural shift in software testing, among other IT functionality.
Pro Tip: TaaS is especially useful when (but not limited to, the following scenarios)…
- You have ad-hoc or need some unusual testing performed that you anticipate will require extensive resources. (pay only for what you need)
- Your application testing requires comprehensive automation with a short test execution cycle. (automation provides the speed you need with availability as soon as you need it)
- You need an automated test script that doesn’t require in-depth knowledge of the design of the system in order to write. (automated testing does what it’s told)
TaaS is scalable (large or small) to fit the needs of any size organization, project, or team. Additionally, because of the scalability, it offers opportunities to expand your testing capability that may have yet to be tried. -It also sure beats the silent prayer method of doing the best with what you’ve got!
Think of it this way. Customers judge your company and your products every day, and if the public uses your software product, that adds extra scrutiny to your company. One bug can affect thousands of users or (gasp) potential customers and risk user abandonment or, worse yet, a lost sale. The trailing effect of software defects may lead to unpleasant feedback and public reviews, creating damage to your company’s reputation.
Combine the very best tools with the best testers
Software quality is critical to your company, and the more testing you can accomplish – the better. Automation testing increases speed and accuracy to each sprint and reduces the risk of downstream defects (because it catches several bugs at inception).
Lighthouse Technology’s software testing professionals have the knowledge and experience to anticipate and react to changing needs as quickly as you do while maintaining the highest level of quality. As a wholly outsourced team, we work autonomously with complete transparency through our dashboards and reporting, so you always have current status at the moment you need it. As augmented team members, we leave behind a breadcrumb trail of improved efficiency.
2020 is full of innovation as we look ahead. Lighthouse Technologies helps bring dreams to realities with near perfection. How can we help your organization zoom forward in 2020? Contact us, and let’s talk about how we can alleviate that quality concern from the project puzzle.
