More than ever before, modern software development moves at lightning speed. Applications grow more complex as new features are constantly being released faster – but this is all driven by high user expectations.
Keeping high standards under such intense pressures is what’s truly difficult for development teams. And even then, how can businesses guarantee their software works smoothly after release? This article looks at automation testing, and why it’s moved from being a helpful technique to an absolute necessity for creating reliable software in 2025.
What exactly is automation testing?
When making your own app, you will want to check its functionality and how it performs. Do all of the menu buttons work, even when on various pages, for example. To do this manually would take a lot of time, and it will consume more time the more pages there are, meaning it’s not scalable as the app develops.
Automation testing would be writing a pre-written script that does all of this for you, where any issues are flagged. Of course, human interaction is still important and you will have human testers down the line, but automation will cover a lot more ground for cheaper. Plus, some tasks are prone to human error, making automation testing more accurate in many cases.
Why automation testing is important
Methodologies like Agile DevOps and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment demand rapid feedback cycles, and these are becoming the industry standard. Manual testing simply cannot keep pace and so it creates bottlenecks that slow down the entire delivery pipelines – and, as you may already be aware, launching software takes a lot longer than first thought.
Automation is what provides immediate feedback, but consistency is key here. Automated tests execute in precisely the same way every single run, so it eliminates the variability aspect that persists in manual execution.
Modern applications have a ton of intricate dependencies, so automation has become a way to effectively manage regression testing to ensure new changes haven’t broken existing functionality.
The automation ecosystem
Automation testing is a field in its own right, with a ton of tools and platforms that cater to different needs. These range from open-source frameworks to agencies who will manage them for you.
Some tools are code-based, which requires strong programming experience, while others offer low-code or codeless interfaces. For instance, Selenium remains an important open-source project because of its ability to automate web browsers across various languages, offering a lot of flexibility. This could also be achieved with physically recorded macros (e.g. mouse movement recorders) but the results would not be as consistent, because variables can change.
Playwright developed by Microsoft is a growing open-source option which is lauded for its robust reliable end-to-end web testing. Cypress provides another popular open-source JavaScript-centric framework which is known for its focus on developer experience and fast execution.
Then there are agencies that will be more hands-on for you in managing the automated testing. For example, QAlified help with the entire QA process and do so remotely, from Latin America. Alternatively, industry giants Tata Consultancy Services and Capgemini also offer QA solutions, though it’s not their speciality. It is possible to outsource them to freelancers on Upwork and Fiverr, but the quality may be low, and it may not standardize them for ongoing use and maintenance.
Acknowledging the ups and downs
The idea is to get a greater return on your investments by cutting down the labor hours spent on testing, and instead allocating them to development and innovation. It’s not just about cost cutting though, but improving the time to market, which is vitally important when trying to run a marketing launch campaign and build a community.
Of course, it doesn’t come without its initial investments, as the automation takes time and money to set up – more so than casually doing some manual testing. So, scale is important, because at some point it becomes worthwhile, but it’s up to you to decide if you’re the right use case. And it’s not like test scripts don’t require maintenance of their own – they’re not set-and-forget.
High-level implementation steps
Automation testing requires a relatively structured approach, in which the scope and objective are clearly defined from the start. Identify which test cases offer the most value, then when automated, focus on repetitive critical regression tests or time-consuming validation tasks.
It’s important to select the most appropriate tools and frameworks, in fact, this is crucial to get right early on. This is where a consultant can be useful, as they can steer you on the right track and future-proof your testing. But, this will further increase the initial investment.
Then, develop robust and maintainable test scripts which focus on clarity and reusability (foresee that you may hand these over to an outsourcing company in the future, meaning you make them readable for others).
Future-proof software
Automation testing is no longer optional when developing and launching an app. It’s more important than ever, because features and expectations are rising, along with the push to launch quickly. Its ability to boost speed and reliability within testing is undeniable, but don’t underestimate the initial efforts and ongoing maintenance that it may demand.
