The 6-Month Strategy to Prevent Your Automation Project from Becoming a Total Disaster

As someone who has spent the last five years selling test automation, I've observed a common pattern: many companies launch test automation initiatives only to abandon them later. The root cause often lies in technical leaders' lack of experience in managing these complex projects. To help you avoid this pitfall, I've compiled a set of crucial questions and expected answers to guide you through the process of implementing a successful test automation strategy.

Before you Greenlight Automation

Before your automation engineer begins writing a single line of code, there are several key questions they should be able to answer. This pre-automation checklist will help set clear expectations and provide a solid foundation for your initiative.

Framework Selection Question:

What framework are they going to use? 

Expected Answer: In today's landscape, you should expect to hear names like Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium. While proprietary tools exist, they often build upon these frameworks and can be more limiting than helpful. Your automation engineer should be able to justify their choice based on your specific needs.

Architectural Philosophy Question:

What architectural philosophy are they going to use? 

Expected Answer: The most common approaches are the Page Object Model or a Data-Driven Model. Your engineer should explain their choice and how it aligns with your project structure.

Guiding Principles Question:

What are some of the key principles that will guide them? 

Expected Answer: Look for principles such as:

• Each test should focus on a single, specific concern to ensure clarity and maintainability.
• Ensure tests are designed for parallel execution to speed up the testing process and improve efficiency.
• Design the automation framework with scalability in mind to accommodate future growth and complexity.
• Consider following the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle to avoid redundant code.

CI/CD Integration Question:

How will the automation be integrated into the CI/CD pipeline? 

Expected Answer: The engineer should provide a comprehensive plan detailing how automated tests will be triggered, where they'll be executed, and how results will be reported and integrated into CI/CD tools.

Test Data Strategy Question:

What is going to be the strategy for test data? 

Expected Answer: The engineer should articulate a well-thought-out strategy for managing test data, which might include approaches such as data generation, data seeding, or data masking.

Development Roadmap Question:

What is the general development roadmap? 

Expected Answer: The engineer should present a clear, high-level development roadmap outlining key milestones and deliverables over the next six months.

The First 30 Days: Laying the Groundwork

In the first month, expect a smoke/sanity suite of approximately 50-60 end-to-end (E2E) tests covering critical paths of your application. This suite should be highly reliable, integrated into your CI/CD pipeline, and potentially gather performance-related metrics from production after each release.

Warning: If your engineer is not near these goals after 30 days, consider abandoning the project. At least 50% of companies should likely call it quits here if progress is unsatisfactory.

IT IS AT THIS POINT YOU SHOULD MOST CONSIDER ABANDONING THE PROJECT. 

The reality is that most test automation engineers are not great at what they do. You now have 30 days of evidence. 

At least 50% of companies should likely call it quits here. If your engineer is not anywhere near the goals above, if they are still failing to answer questions from the initial evaluation, or if they are blaming developers. Pull the Plug. 

It won’t magically get better. 

30-90 Days:The Feature Deep Dives

Expectations for this phase include:

• Deep dive into critical features
• Implementation of database seeding
• Mocking of certain dependencies, if necessary

The biggest risk at this point is if your engineer doesn't understand how to use test data to set state. Ensure they have a solid strategy for data management.

90-180 Days: Scaling and Maintenance

Expectations for this phase include:

• Addressing maintenance challenges while expanding the suite
• Keeping documentation up to date
• Dealing with consistently failing test case

As the test suite grows, maintenance becomes a significant concern. Your automation engineer should be implementing strategies to keep the codebase manageable, such as refactoring common code into reusable functions or libraries.

Keys to Ongoing Success

As you move beyond the six-month mark, keep these factors in mind for continued success:

• Regular Review and Refinement: Schedule periodic reviews of the automation strategy to ensure it continues to align with business goals.
• Continuous Learning: Encourage your automation engineer to stay updated with the latest tools and best practices in the field.
• Cross-team Collaboration: Foster communication between the automation team, developers, and manual testers to ensure a holistic approach to quality assurance.
• ROI Tracking: Implement metrics to measure the return on investment of your automation efforts, such as time saved, increased test coverage, or faster issue detection.
• Scalability Planning: As your application grows, ensure your automation framework can scale accordingly.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

To prevent wasting resources on your automation initiative:

• Set Clear Goals: Define what success looks like for your automation efforts and track progress against these goals.
• Avoid Over-Automation: Not everything needs to be automated. Focus on high-value, frequently executed test cases.
• Maintain Balance: While automation is powerful, it shouldn't completely replace manual testing. Some scenarios still require human insight.
• Invest in Training: Ensure your team has the skills necessary to maintain and expand the automation framework.
• Plan for Maintenance: Build time into the schedule for maintaining existing tests, not just creating new ones.

By following this roadmap and keeping these principles in mind, you can maximize the value of your automation initiative. 

Remember, successful test automation is not just about writing scripts; it's about creating a sustainable, efficient, and effective quality assurance process that supports your overall software development lifecycle. 

With proper planning, clear expectations, and regular check-ins, you can avoid the common pitfalls that lead to wasted resources and instead build a robust automation framework that delivers real value to your organization.

Conclusion

Successful test automation is not just about writing scripts; it's about creating a sustainable, efficient, and effective quality assurance process that supports your overall software development lifecycle. By following this roadmap and keeping these principles in mind, you can maximize the value of your automation initiative and avoid the common pitfalls that lead to wasted resources.

Remember, with proper planning, clear expectations, and regular check-ins, you can build a robust automation framework that delivers real value to your organization. Don't be afraid to reassess and potentially abandon the project if it's not meeting expectations in the early stages – it's better to cut your losses than to continue investing in a failing initiative.

By asking the right questions, setting realistic expectations, and maintaining a critical eye on progress, you can navigate the complex landscape of test automation and emerge with a valuable asset for your development process.