Manual testing to automatic testing A formal training programme for testers at Bands 3 to 7

4.1.1 Apply Guidelines that Support Effective Test Automation Pilot and Deployment Activities

Part of 4 Implementing Test Automation, 4.1 Test Automation Development.

Learning objective: TAE-4.1.1 (K3).

In short

Start with a short, well-scoped pilot: try the key choices, put it in CI early, check progress often, then decide on evidence.

Key ideas

Decide what the pilot will settle: the programming language, the tools (commercial or open source), the test levels, which test cases, and the development approach. Several small prototypes can show the pros and cons of different approaches.

Run it well:

  • set timelines, and check progress regularly to catch risks early
  • integrate with CI/CD during the pilot: it exposes problems in the SUT, the TAS, or the tooling early
  • as the number of tests grows, revisit when and how the pipeline runs them.

Look at the non-technical side too: the team's knowledge and experience, the team structure, licensing and organisational rules, and the testing and test levels planned.

Evaluate at the end: test automation engineers and test managers judge success or failure and make a decision.

In this programme

The capstone (Module 16) is a pilot in miniature: an agreed scope with the product owner at the start, a review in every block, CI from the first week, and a decision at Gate 4 about what the team keeps.

Teach it (45 minutes)

In groups, write a one-page pilot plan for automating ten regression tests on a team's product: scope, choices to test, timeline with check-points, CI integration, and success criteria.

Check yourself

  1. Name five decisions a pilot should help make.
  2. Why integrate with CI/CD during the pilot rather than after it?
  3. Name two non-technical aspects to evaluate in a pilot.

Previous: 4.1 Test Automation Development · Contents · Next: 4.2 Risks Associated with Test Automation Development

Based on the ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Automation Engineering (CTAL-TAE) syllabus, version 2.0, section 4.1.1. The syllabus is © International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB®); ISTQB® is a registered trademark of the ISTQB. Copyright © 2024 the authors of the syllabus: Andrew Pollner (Chair), Péter Földházi, Patrick Quilter, Gergely Ágnecz, and László Szikszai. This page explains its concepts in our own words, for teaching, and is not an accredited course or a substitute for the syllabus.

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