The transition from manual to automated Salesforce testing

Manual testing excels in exploring and understanding various features of an application, particularly in scenarios that demand a human touch for effective validation.

Through hands-on exploration, testers can identify usability issues, assess user experience, and ensure the application meets user expectations.

Manual testing is well-suited for exploratory scenarios where predefined test cases may not cover the entire spectrum of potential issues.

The manual execution of test cases is time-consuming, especially for repetitive tasks, impacting overall testing efficiency.

Manual testing is susceptible to human errors, including oversights, typos, and missed steps, leading to inaccurate test results.

As the application grows in complexity, manual testing becomes less scalable, requiring additional time and resources.

Automated testing significantly reduces testing time by automatically executing repetitive test cases. Testers only need to set up the test cases and scripts – the rest is up to the automation.

Automation ensures consistent execution of test scripts, minimizing human intervention and the risk of human error, providing reliable and repeatable results.

Automated testing efficiently scales with the size and complexity of applications, handling many test cases across different scenarios.

Automated testing facilitates early bug detection in the development lifecycle, allowing teams to address issues before they escalate.

Setting up automated tests and scripting can be time-consuming, requiring a significant upfront investment. However, it paves the way for an efficient and error-free testing process.

Automated tests need regular maintenance, especially as the application evolves, to ensure that scripts remain aligned with the changing codebase.

While excellent for scripted tests, automated testing may not be as suitable, often demanding a more intuitive, human-centric approach.

Unlike manual testing, which is inherently time-consuming due to its iterative nature, automated testing operates at an unparalleled pace. The automated and swift execution of test cases significantly reduces the time taken in testing cycles. 

The automated and speedy execution of test cases allows you to run frequent tests and identify any bug before it hits production. This allows businesses to expedite the delivery of high-quality Salesforce applications. Salesforce development is synonymous with speed and agility, and automated testing is the boost your processes need. 

While manual testing has its place, especially for smaller entities with less complex systems, it struggles with scalability. Human intervention has inefficiencies, making it less ideal for more extensive, intricate Salesforce environments.

Automated testing, on the other hand, makes your testing process faster, more efficient, and less error-prone. The automation software and tools completely eradicate any chance of human error.

Automated testing is more reliable and accurate than manual testing as it eliminates human error. It follows predefined scripts meticulously, ensuring consistent and dependable results. This reliability becomes paramount in testing complex integrations and workflows within Salesforce, contributing to maintaining the overall quality and stability of the ecosystem.

Moreover, as your business processes grow, the number of test cases grows exponentially. This scenario gets too time-consuming and – impossible – for a few human testers to handle. But with automated testing, you can quickly expand your test suite to meet any complexity or number of test cases.

🗣️ Author's note: Human testers can't work 24/7, but automation software can.

Automated testing comes with unparalleled consistency. This is handy, especially when managing regular releases and updates. It's the go-to for regression testing, ensuring that resolved issues don't come back with new releases. This consistency not only upholds the quality and stability of the Salesforce ecosystem but also empowers businesses to confidently deploy enhancements, minimizing the risk of introducing regressions.

While there's an initial investment in setting up automated testing frameworks, the long-term cost-effectiveness is undeniable. As your Salesforce business expands, the effort required in manual testing grows exponentially, leading to inevitable rework – a more costly affair in the long run.

Automated testing, as I've already talked about, significantly reduces time and resource expenditure on repetitive manual tasks. The initial setup cost is almost immediately paid off through increased productivity, accelerated testing cycles, and reduced long-term maintenance costs.

Before you start practically with anything, you need to be clear about your needs. Start by understanding your existing testing process (if you haven't already). Identify areas that could benefit from automation by focusing on tasks prone to human error, repetition, or those consuming an undue amount of time.

Figure out the high-value test cases that, when automated, can significantly impact your overall quality assurance efforts. Before proceeding to the next step, jot down any questions or proof of value exercises that can provide more insights.

When you understand your current processes and loopholes, you can start figuring out suitable test automation solutions. Before you pick one, thoroughly evaluate both the product and the vendor.

Here are some parameters that you should look at before selecting a test automation solution:

Product parameters

• Test resilience or fragility: Assess how well the solution handles changes in the application.
• Reusability: Evaluate how test scripts can be reused across different scenarios.
• Ease of use and learning: Consider the tool's user-friendliness and the learning curve.
• Testing adjacent systems: Check the solution's capability to test integrations with other systems.

Vendor parameters:

• Support: Ensure the vendor offers robust support services.
• Training: Evaluate the training programs provided to ensure your team can effectively use the solution.
• Customer success: Consider the vendor's track record in ensuring the success of their customers.

⚙️ Author's note: Demo multiple solutions to see which one best meets your Salesforce environment's specific needs. Remember, your ideal test automation solution should score high in terms of both the product and the supporting vendor.

Now comes the implementation process. Mind you, it involves more than just setting it up and forgetting about it. You'll need to work closely with a representative from your vendor to set up the foundation. Then, work on a fool-proof test strategy that clearly outlines your automation efforts' scope, objectives, and approach.

As per your business, identify the types of tests that will be automated, prioritize them based on their impact, and determine the level of test coverage required. Establish clear lines of communication and collaboration between all teams involved in the QA process.

✍🏻 Author's note: I can't stress enough on this point.

Also, ensure that all stakeholders understand the purpose and benefits of test automation and involve them throughout the implementation process.

Collaborate with your vendor to create a comprehensive training program for all testing team members. This ensures that your team is comfortable with the solution and can effectively move from manual to automation testing. It is essential to understand that getting test automation software is just one part of the picture. The whole picture includes an effective test strategy and scenario, team communication, and test coverage planning.

Sounds too obvious, right? But it is indeed one of the best practices to clearly identify which tests you'll target for automation. Run down your manual testing strategy and test cases and select which tests can be automated, focusing on the most vital ones.

If you plan to automate your manual test cases, do it under regression. You can also start with smoke suites by picking tests or automating the complete business flow.

Clearly define the environments in which your tests will need to run. Outline the support required for each environment, ensuring your team knows these parameters.

Automated tests save time – reusable automated tests save more time. Aim to make your tests reusable across different orgs, languages, and user profiles. Utilize your test automation solution's reusability features to improve the efficiency and scalability of your testing process. This enables you to make your testing efforts more efficient and achieve faster time-to-market.

As you dive into automation, make sure to link up your manual test cases with the automated ones to keep a close eye on the results. Be transparent about which tests aren't or can't be automated so that your team knows about any tasks that still need manual attention.

Regarding support mapping, think about whether simply mapping test cases is enough. Or you might want to go the extra mile and map out each step for every automated action in the script. Remember, though, that mapping out test steps can be a bit of a grind and might be challenging to keep up with over the long haul.

Choose how you want to share the results of your test executions with your team. Make sure your report doesn't use too much technical language so that everyone involved in the project can quickly grasp it. Clearly show which manual tests succeeded, which ones failed, and if any were skipped. Also, consider integrating your test execution results into the test management system to make the whole process smoother.

You must develop tactics to manage test data strategically to ensure an overall organizational view of your data and analytics in one central hub. Here's what you can do:

• Assessment: Start by evaluating your current test data management practices. Identify areas that need improvement, such as data organization, accessibility, and relevance to test cases.
• Centralized repository: Ensure all team members have access to a single repository that contains data for planning, design, and execution.
• Regular maintenance: Implement a regular maintenance schedule for your test data. Remove outdated or irrelevant data and update records as needed.

To ensure that automated testing becomes a complete part of your software development lifecycle, you must integrate your tests into your CI/CD pipelines. Set up triggers so that it runs automated tests whenever changes are made to your codebase. This helps you catch issues and provide feedback in the early stages.

Here's what you need to do:

• Tool selection: Choose a CI/CD tool that aligns with your development process. Jenkins, GitLab CI, or CircleCI are popular options.
• Test trigger setups: Configure triggers to automatically initiate your automated tests when changes are made to the codebase. This could involve setting up webhooks or integrating your testing tool directly into your CI/CD pipeline.
• Feedback loop: Ensure the feedback loop is tight. Configure your CI/CD tool to notify the team immediately if a test fails. This accelerates issue identification and resolution.

With reliable test suites and well-covered workflows, you must also focus on how users interact with your application through various platforms and browsers. Each entry point may respond differently to your tests, necessitating repetition in each environment.

• Platform and browser matrix: Create a matrix of platforms and browsers relevant to your user base. Identify combinations that require testing to ensure comprehensive coverage.
• Regular review: Review your platform or browser matrix periodically to keep user trends updated. Adjust your testing strategy accordingly.

You can only improve if you learn. To stay current, form a culture of learning and knowledge-sharing within your testing team. If your automation tool subscription includes educational courses, encourage your team to participate individually or as a group.

Conduct feedback and retrospective sessions to identify and fix loopholes in your automated testing processes. Last but not least, stay updated on the latest advancements in the automated testing space, such as exploring new tools and frameworks, mix-matching your browser matrix, etc.

• Data seeding made simple: Hutte simplifies data seeding through custom buttons, making it easy to populate test environments with relevant data for realistic testing scenarios. These buttons are shortcuts within the Hutte interface, allowing users to efficiently seed their test environments with relevant and representative data. In the context of Salesforce development, data seeding refers to populating a database with initial data essential for testing applications' functionality.
• Shift-left testing advancements: Hutte also allows QA teams to conduct early testing on unpublished or released work by easily creating scratch orgs from any development branch. This accelerates the shift-left testing approach, integrating testing into the early stages of development.

• Custom buttons for test automation tasks: Teams use Hutte's custom buttons to create shortcuts for crucial testing actions, like running Apex tests or executing automated tests performed by a headless browser. This ensures a user-friendly interface for essential testing activities.
• Inspiration from Hutte Recipes: Explore practical examples and solutions in Hutte's GitHub repository to enhance test automation processes based on real-world experiences and shared knowledge.

• Synergy with the Salesforce ecosystem: Hutte seamlessly integrates with various Salesforce tools, ensuring a cohesive environment for streamlined test automation processes within the broader Salesforce ecosystem.
• Flexibility and extensibility: Hutte's flexibility allows integration with third-party tools and custom solutions, enabling organizations to tailor their test automation ecosystem to specific requirements.