Making Agile More Successful: 3 Tips For Selecting The Best Automated Test Tools

Businesses in the software development industry are constantly go through a lot of different changes. Software needs among individuals and companies are changing, and so is how they are created. One of the most recent and most popular developments in the space is the importance of being agile. Agile is all about the company working to embrace continuous change and having the ability to operate in the volatile and uncertain modern market.

If a company isn’t agile and able to pivot or roll with the punches when need be, they will often fall behind their competition. If it takes your company months to shift along with the market, you could find yourself left in the dust.

There are many important things that go into making a business agile. For example, being able to tail your logs is incredibly important, so you can monitor files and know exactly when they start up. Methods derived from Papertrail best practices (click for details) can help companies of all kinds and sizes. Without tailing logs, a lot of time and effort can be wasted.

Another incredibly important part of helping your agile business be more successful is having great automated test tools. Automation is growing incredibly popular and useful for businesses, especially when it comes to testing. Testing can be cumbersome, but is very important for nearly every kind of company. As a result, many software development companies will utilize automated test tools.

Using automation speeds up the process, while also reducing the amount of time your employees need to dedicate to testing. But with so many out there, how do you choose which automated test tools to use? Well, if that is a concern of yours, you’re in the right place. This blog post is going to go over a few tips for choosing the best automated test tools for your business.

Know Your Project In and Out

The first tip to select the best automated testing tool is to know your project as best as possible. Different projects will require different solutions and different things to be tested. Some may require more frequent and robust testing solutions than others, and that needs to be accounted for.

Each step and part of the software development process will need to be detailed and outlined, to ensure everyone is aware of where the focus of the testing needs to be. Not knowing the parameters of the project can lead to a lot of confusion and many mistakes in the testing and automation process.

Be sure to involve everyone on your team when it comes to outlining the project and your automated testing needs. The more objectively the project is viewed (and by more people), the better your needs will be identified. Also, know your budget and how much you can afford to invest in automated testing.

Try Them Out and Experiment

Once you know what you need out of your automated testing solution, begin to look at the options on the market. As automation and automated testing have become more popular, there are lots to choose from. You need to get to know the available tools, so you can learn of their capabilities.

However, instead of just choosing based on features or marketing materials, be sure to try a couple out. Many companies will offer a free trial to companies to try out their services before buying them. Even if you need to spend a little to try them out, it is often worth it. Once you find the right one, you will be glad that you put the effort in instead of simply choosing the first tool that you discovered.

Ensure They are User-Friendly

Whatever tool you end up going with, it needs to be user-friendly. Out of all of the potential solutions you try, the one that is the easiest to utilize is often a good call. Of course, you want one that works and does what you need, but the importance of user-friendliness cannot be overstated.

Every member of your team may have different specialties and knowledge, and you want to ensure the tools can be used and understood by everyone. If only certain team members can understand them, the solution won’t be very effective. If things are too complicated, your team will almost surely get frustrated. Productivity can also take a major hit if the solution you choose is too complex. This is another reason why it is important to try the automated testing tools before deciding to implement and use them.

In conclusion, selecting the best automated test tools is incredibly important to making your business more agile. The software development process and all things aligned with it can often be made much easier by ensuring you have the right tools for the job.