It can often be a struggle to purchase furniture. Have it shipped to your home or office in a large box with mounds of tape to cut through. Upon opening the box to your frustration, there are multiple layers of packing foam and other constructs. Finally organizing your parts, to your dismay, the manual is not in a known language or in often cases, there may not even be a manual. A rabbit whole many have encountered leading to endless hours looking for online instructions or assembly videos, the same frustrations are true for testing solutions. A solution is only as great as it is usable, and an often overlooked asset is proper documentation. Being able to jump onto a testing solution and see immediate value is essential, and leads us to this week’s Feature Friday, Qyrus’ onboarding materials. Suraj and Joyal will take a deeper dive into all the materials Qyrus provides to help users get immediate usage and return when first encountering the Qyrus platform.
Tell us more about the onboarding materials offered by Qyrus, their use cases, and their impact on testing and QA processes.
Suraj:
Qyrus onboarding materials are hefty but none as important as our documentation page. We often see current and new clients navigating to docs.qyrus.com for any questions about our solutions. With detailed descriptions across all our action types, screenshots of the platform and examples, alongside a range of tutorial videos, the documentation page acts as a one stop shop to learn all Qyrus functionality.
Jorell:
And if this wasn’t enough all new Qyrus users are populated with a range of execution ready test scripts. So instead of starting with a blank slate, users have a range of projects to learn from and execute not only understanding the test building process but details on the Qyrus platform. For users who have recently come into automation, or just don’t know much about the Qyrus solution these resources become integral.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Jorell:
As previously mentioned many competitors and general SAAS platforms provide documentation. The difference truly comes in the usage and digestion of that documentation. Reading through fifteen pages of usage and best practices to find a single relevant example to a desired use case is never fun. This is why Qyrus uses screenshots and quick clips to provide direct and digestible access to required information.
Suraj:
Exactly not only is there immense detail and information that is processed and presented the onboarding documents even include courses that clients can go through to master the different testing solutions. Fully developed e-learning courses, including worksheets and answer keys. This amount of detail and information placed behind the documentation and onboarding materials truly differentiates them.
What is the overall impact on the testing process when using Qyrus’ onboarding materials?
Suraj
Great question. We see a drastic impact with providing proper onboarding materials, primarily because it provides a central location for all required documentation and information to successfully use all aspects of Qyrus. Clients find more and more answers learning the documentation with hands-on videos and usage examples, making it even easier.
Jorell:
Exactly, this helps across the testing process but most importantly for new clients who are in the onboarding process. The documentation becomes an integral resource to build knowledge on the platform and all of its testing features and capabilities.
How might these unique onboarding materials help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can this feature bring?
Suraj:
We see testers using the documentation and onboarding materials continually as a reference document. It not only teaches and provides one-time learning but also best practices and a dictionary for all action types with usage specifics. This level of detail and information across all features and solutions allows testers to learn all the corners and functionalities of the applications while using it, enabling efficient testing and high-quality application development using Qyrus.
Jorell:
Developers like to understand how the platform can test different aspects of their application. More of high-level thought, developers delve into whether functional and performance testing is available, different browser and device options, and other testing capabilities rather than use cases and action type specifics. As a reference point for different testing options and abilities, developers find confidence in being able to test aspects across their applications.
Suraj:
We often find business analysts using the tutorial course and videos to not only learn Qyrus but also more about testing and specifically automation. As a one-stop shop to understanding exactly how automation testing is implemented across different applications and specifically how to optimize the testing to produce the highest quality applications possible.
How do you see onboarding materials impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Suraj:
The documentation and other onboarding materials do help across day-to-day operations. Primarily speaking they are a primary point for direct assistance for all test builders. Everything from step-by-step details, action type information, testing offerings, and general automation can all be learned straight from documentation and onboarding materials.
Joyal:
Beyond that it is a great location to promote best script building and general testing practices. Whether you are versed in automation or entirely new to it, the onboarding materials Qyrus presents help you transition to full usage and get the most value out of Qyrus automation solutions.
The same reason you plan out every step of a camping trip, going through every required material, because actions become significantly more difficult without proper guidance or planning. And considering how integral applications are becoming to business prosperity should your testing solution be any different? This is why Qyrus provides a range of documentation, test scripts, courses and other learning materials. Making onboarding easier for clients allows Qyrus to produce value and begin the automation journey as soon as possible. Saving time and resources on learning and development Qyrus enables steadfast automation across all automation requirements. Join us next week as we continue to discover more Qyrus features that promote the best in test automation.
Consider the way ice cream flavors are all laid out at the local shop, or the clothing presented at the mall perfectly organized with color combination and size, the ability to pick and choose between well-presented options is, at this point, a requirement for clients and customers. And as with any product or service, testing should offer the same. As applications become the backbone of business, application requirements become more dense and functionality more critical for business prosperity. All of this can quickly become a nightmare for testing and quality assurance teams. This week’s Feature Friday interviews Joyal and Suraj who talk about Qyrus test execution capabilities, allowing clients to select browsers & devices, resolutions, and other testing specifics, almost like an ice cream shop for all execution specifics.
Tell us more about the test execution capabilities offered by Qyrus, their use cases, and their impact on testing and QA processes.
Suraj:
Test execution with Qyrus is so simple yet powerful that it becomes notable. Simply put, you can specify a range of requirements, including browser & device, variable environment, and screen resolution, among more advanced customizations, all within a few clicks, placed behind an easy-to-use interface.
Joyal:
As Suraj mentioned power, Qyrus allows for parallel testing, meaning you can execute a test across multiple browsers or devices simultaneously. Furthermore, built into our business process testing feature, end-to-end tests can now be executed, requiring multiple browsers and devices within a single test. And that’s not including the execution customizations.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Joyal:
Though the same functionality may exist, the difference is the simplicity of use and, furthermore, the extent to which this functionality is implemented across the platform. To be more specific, Qyrus test execution capabilities can be found for not only web, mobile testing, and API testing, but Qyrus also allows you to stitch together all prior execution requirements in a business process.
Suraj:
Though this could be replicated, you would need access to all required browsers, then all required devices, not to mention the end to end process would have to be executed manually or custom scripts would have to be coded for parallel testing and business process testing, not to mention managing infrastructure.
What is the overall impact on the testing process when using Qyrus’ test execution capabilities?
Suraj:
Consider buying a new suit, you pick out different colors and sizes and then execute when trying them on. Similar to that process, build a single script to cover a range of application functionality and then decide to execute it across different scenarios.
Joyal:
Exactly. Consider it a one-stop shop for all your execution requirements. Maximize test case coverage by testing in parallel across a range of different browsers or devices, firmly establishing application functionality.
How might test execution capabilities help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can this feature bring?
Joyal:
Developers are often seen testing their applications’ reliability and functionality across browsers and devices as they develop and release new features. This provides much-needed validation during the development process, taking a shift left and enabling the production of higher-quality applications for the first time.
Suraj:
Testers can test applications across multiple customizable environments. That includes data sets, screen resolution and configurations, devices and browsers, and more. Testers have the freedom and ability to efficiently test applications end to end with access to custom configurations within clicks. Expanding coverage and allowing testers the ability to test every corner of their web and mobile applications.
Joyal:
Business analysts are often seen building configurations to match their business insights. That’s to say, if most of their clients use Chrome and Edge browsers to access their applications, a business technologist can run all tests simultaneously across both of those browsers. This enables a proper user experience across the required browsers and devices.
How do you see test execution capabilities impacting day-to-day operations across an organization?
Suraj:
The day-to-day impacts of this feature are definitely prominent, especially when you consider its usage. Upon every execution, users are able to choose from a range of customizable browsers and devices. These varying options, across daily executions, can bring a lot of deviation to testing, creating a range of usage and testing scenarios. This not only increases test case coverage but also maximizes application functionality.
Joyal:
Not to mention Web, Mobile, API, and Business Process tests all have test execution capabilities, meaning this feature is found across all Qyrus testing modules.
Having multiple ice cream and clothing options is nice, but not necessarily a make-or-break. When considering testing and quality assurance, this concept becomes significantly more important. More execution options directly mean more test case coverage and higher quality applications. Consistent knowledge that your application is functioning properly across browsers and devices is essential for application and business integrity. Allowing for a range of execution options is essential for the testing and quality assurance processes. Join us next week as we continue to explore Qyrus features and standards that enable faster testing cycles, and higher-quality application development.
Summer’s half way over, and the dog days are now behind us. Hopefully, this means relief from the hot summer sun and the warm winds that follow behind – also known as perfect football weather (Bear Down!). We here at Qyrus hope to bring relief to the testing world through our unique platform and features that support it! Today on Feature Friday we are going to talk about our API process testing and how it can bring relief to nearly everyone involved in a release from testers to developers. Let’s hear more from our two Qyrus team members joining us today, Tim and Parth.
Tell us more about API process testing using Qyrus and its different use cases.
Tim:
Basically, API process testing is testing the functionality of APIs together in a chain. So, it takes our API functional testing a step further by allowing us to test these complex business flows and processes that we see happen in real day-to-day scenarios.
Parth:
Yeah, so, essentially it is taking data given in one response from an API test and passing it into another. We can chain requests together including one-to-many scenarios – the best part about these tests is the speed – they execute in seconds!
Tim:
Specifically, if clients want to test if their business flows are receiving and sending correct data, then API process testing is right up their alley. This feature also specifically targets clients that want to test the functionality of their end-to-end customer journeys.
That’s fantastic! We can test the functionality of these API processes, rather than just the individual APIs themselves. The impact on the testing process cannot be understated.
What is API process testing’s overall impact on the testing process?
Parth:
Overall, it impacts the testing process at every level. In terms of test building, we allow you to import functional API tests that were built previously. The user also does not have to have any coding experience because it’s all done from our graphical user interface. For execution and reporting, we allow users to parameterize tests for data-driven testing and provide a graphical tree view in the report of the execution along with all individual API reports.
Tim:
One thing to not forget is that it can also connect to CI pipelines, providing an even larger impact by allowing users to be completely hands-off when it comes to execution and reporting of the tests. And overall, we see this feature providing value in terms of an increase in test coverage and a reduction in effort for test building and maintenance.
Parth:
This means that when a build is triggered – first you can execute all functional API tests, assuming those pass – then you can execute your API process tests. With these two steps automated for each build – you will always know whether your API layer is ready for deployment. This means that during your UAT testing – your testers will mainly be focused on the UI. This prevents late-stage discovery of defects leading to increased rework times and possible delays for releases.
The versatility of this feature is no doubt. It can help in many aspects and in a wide array of areas. What kind of help with this feature bring to different types of users, though?
How might API process testing help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can this feature bring?
Tim:
For testers, using API process testing makes it easier to build these complex API tests and scenarios through importing of old test scripts. Instead of having to individually execute each functional API test, we can string them together. Testers also get the added benefit of the detailed reporting. Developers would see less usage out of this but could be seen using this to almost like unit test their API processes.
Parth:
And for business technologists, you might not see much usage, either. But, because of the graphical nature of these tests, business technologists might find it easier to understand these complex API processes and scenarios. The graphical nature of the reporting works to this end, as well.
It’s been interesting to hear about the different angles that API process testing has on the testing process. But, surely this isn’t something brand new out of the gates? It’s been possible to test API processes in the past…
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Parth:
Outside of Qyrus, you’d find yourself having trouble with finding something that can chain APIs together like Qyrus – especially in a low-code framework! Lots of other similar API testing tools just have the functionality aspect covered, but not the process.
Tim:
And on top of that, most things that do allow for some kind of process testing requires the user to have some coding knowledge. With Qyrus, everything is no-code. We can make these tests without coding, and we can chain them together without coding. All it takes is some basic knowledge.
How do you see this feature impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Parth:
By making test building easier by taking coding out of the equation, we often see a large time savings margin. Test building and day-to-day maintenance becomes easier, and reporting makes everything better, as well.
Tim:
We also allow for data-driven testing in API process testing. You can parameterize tests to turn your one chained test into one that can cover dozens if not hundreds of test scenarios – from happy paths scenarios to the most obscure exceptions/negative path test cases. And reusability is there, too, by allowing users to import previously built tests.
It’s true, the benefits of API process testing cannot be denied. The fact that you can parameterize these tests, and connect them to your CI pipeline? What else can we expect?!
Are there any future updates or developments that we might look forward to for API process testing?
Tim:
There are always things that we can improve on. And, although API process testing is a complete feature, we can see future improvements on the roadmap.
Parth:
That honestly goes for everything. If it’s not the feature itself, it’s the user experience behind the feature that can be improved upon. One thing that we’ve thought of doing is allowing for our global variables to be updated after a test execution, allowing those values to become dynamic in a sense.
And that about wraps it up! API process testing is an integral pillar in Qyrus’ API testing , and we see wide usage of it across many of our users. It brings relief where it’s needed most. Speaking of relief, we hope it’s not too hot wherever you are and that you stay cool for the rest of the summer. Join us next week here to hear more about our fabulous features here on Feature Friday!
Summer has finally officially started! Although in some places, it certainly felt like it started some weeks ago, the Summer Solstice is finally here! Every day is now shorter from this point onwards, but that doesn’t mean that your outlook on test management should grow darker with the days. Qyrus has a fantastic test management solution and we have Punit Gupta, a Qyrus team member, here to discuss it in more detail with you! So, although the days are darkening, hopefully your outlook on test management will grow brighter! Without further delay, let’s jump in.
From a high level, provide a summary of Test Repository.
It’s is a very huge aspect of the entire test building experience of a user. In this feature the tests are stored in the repository and then can be reused across the different test suites either in Test Lab or Sprint.
The tests that are built in the repository are stored within the modules to which they relate. The tests that are created within the repository can then be imported into the test suites within the Test Lab or Sprint section.
The most interesting part about this feature is that the tests that are imported into the test suites can be updated/edited from the repository across all the test suites where the scripts have been imported to. This also works in reverse. This helps increase the maintainability and the reusability aspects of building and maintaining the tests.
Another key feature of the repository is that the user has the option to save multiple different revisions of the script that the user is editing. They also have the ability to restore the tests to any of their previous versions that the user had earlier saved.
Describe in short what kind of use cases it specifically targets.
This feature specifically targets the maintainability and the reusability aspects of the tests that are built by the user. To explain this use case, let’s consider an example: suppose a user has built a login test and this is being used across multiple different test suites that are a part of the same Test Lab or Sprint cycle. If there is a change in the login flow where an additional step is added in the test, the locator changes, or the entire script needs to be changed, these changes can be updated across all the places where the script is being used. And again, this works in reverse, where the user can push changes back to the Test Repository. Finally, if a user wants to save the changed script without updating the old one, they can do that, also.
How is Qyrus’ test management different from how competitors have addressed test management?
Maintenance and reusability are key aspects of any test building experience and every competitor out there tries to solve this problem in their own respective ways. One way that our competitors typically address this problem is by making some aspect of their test like defining locators based on Page Object Model or defining a small block of steps as reusable by allowing the user to have them in one place and reusing them across other scripts.
Our approach to solving this problem is very unique when compared to the above-mentioned approach. While we have the same capabilities available on our platform in one form or another, the Test Repository makes the maintenance and reusability very easy and efficient as the users are not restricted to do the maintenance of their scripts in the repository alone but they have the options to edit/update the same in the imported suites and push back any updates to the repository and across other suites. This gives users more flexibility, adding to it is the ability to create multiple restore points of their script, allowing the user to make changes to the script and update them without having to worry about making mistakes as it can be restored at any point.
Test Repository was made with keeping testers and how they work in mind. It’s meant to enable testers to manage their tests in a better fashion. And, it doesn’t require any extra effort on the user’s end to set up or use. It’s an inherent part of the test building and testing process. The testers just create their test either manually or using our recorder and then add these tests as the part of the suites that these tests correspond to.
How does Test Repository make testing easier and faster?
Some of the concerns that testing teams have with respect to automation are building reusable components in their tests and the maintenance of these tests when things change. Qyrus addresses these key pain points of the testers with Test Repository, inherently making test management easier.
One of the most time-consuming tasks is maintenance of an automation script and making sure these changes are done and updated across all the other places as well. By using this specific feature in Qyrus, the testers will now only have to do the maintenance in the repository and push the changes to all the other places it is being used, making this cumbersome task easier and much faster.
In what way does it promote reusability, if at all?
This feature can be best leveraged and is designed in a way that makes the testers build the tests in a much more reusable structure. The tests are built in the repository under different modules and allows the tester to design the tests in a much more reusable fashion, as these tests can be imported to multiple suites, multiple times.
Is there anything new we can expect to see out of Test Repository moving forward?
Speaking of the roadmap for this specific feature, this feature in itself has gone through multiple iterations to address different aspects of the test building experience. Having said that, the potential improvements that we are looking at is for it to be combined with the test data management, test orchestration, and test script management in its whole.
Well, what do you think? Test management never sounded so easy! Test Repository is built to enable the user to better manage their tests from one area to another. On top of that it gives the users the peace of mind that their tests are in multiple places and reusable across the entire platform. Well, let’s not keep you any longer. It’s summer, as we’ve said, and time to have some fun in the sun! We’ll catch you on next week’s Feature Friday.
Over the years, time and time again, we have seen old, archaic work processes fall due to our progression in technology. Over time, everything has become more streamlined. Everything in one shape or form is faster or more efficient; whether it be in how the thing is made or processed to how it helps consumers. Software testing has been no exception to this rule, either. Over the years, we have seen software testing go from manual testing processes to automated, and now we are seeing a boom in codeless automation. Joining us today to talk more about the subject of codeless testing and how we do it on Qyrus are Steve and Brett from our Chicago team.
Tell us more about action types and what is offered by Qyrus. Also, mention their potential use cases.
Steve: First things first, actions in Qyrus are things that can be performed within a test script. This can be a thing such as mouse events where you would click on an element on a page, or input events where you set a text field on a page. Using actions, we build steps to our test scripts in Qyrus.
Brett: Steve already mentioned a few of the different action types we offer… mouse events and input events. But we offer so many more, including conditionals, alert handlers, browser window actions, and verifications, which lead to our dynamic data handling. Whether team members are new to automation or experts, these action types are simple to use, and comprehensive, allowing for a range of testing activities.
Steve: Under conditionals, you can have an if condition nested inside your test script. For example, if when the test script starts, you are already logged into the application, you can tell the script to first log yourself out before proceeding with the rest of the script. We can even do things like embedding test scripts within other test scripts using our action type, “execute the test case.”
What is the overall impact Qyrus has on the testing process through going codeless and using these abstracted action types?
Brett: I mean, honestly, the main impact is within the test-building process. Again, since we are essentially taking coding out of the equation, we can enable faster test building. There is a virtually nonexistent learning curve when transitioning to Qyrus, and with every release, we seek to simplify testing even further. Building out steps becomes as simple as filling out a form, as Qyrus displays all required fields per action type to be filled.
Steve: Yeah, overall, we see a large amount of time and effort saved when it comes to test building. You don’t need to know how to code at all in order to use our test-building system.
If you would like to learn more about how Qyrus is simplifying test building, you can read more about our web and mobile recorder tools that help enable testers to quickly and efficiently build out test scripts. Qyrus is all about scale, as well, and you can learn more about how we can then parameterize these tests to further scale our test coverage as well.
How might how Qyrus is changing test building help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can it bring?
Brett: Well, again, since we are essentially trying to simplify test building, testers, devs, and business technologists would all find the action of test building more accessible. This especially goes for newer members of the team and newer testers in general.
Steve: Yeah, we’ve seen inexperienced users pick up testing in Qyrus very quickly. This goes for new testers, like Brett mentioned, but even non-technical people. And the wide array of action types pleases our testers at the forefront of automation and innovation, promoting the highest levels of test-building efficiency.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Brett: Well, many competitors also use action types like we do here on Qyrus. However, they’re often geared toward testers and more technical users who already have technical knowledge. They use technical terminology, behind a complex user interface requiring a strong technical background or a difficult learning curve,. Whereas Qyrus designed these actions with keywords that would be easily identifiable for any user, and a simple-to-build, form-like user interface recognizable by all backgrounds, not only technical.
Steve: Right, and if you were to not use some competitor platform but rather code this out, you would have to build a framework from the ground up which requires immense overhead and specified engineers and technical resources. And what happens if a key developer of the framework or a large portion of the team happens to leave the organization. The issue with getting new members becomes terrifying. Not with Qyrus.
How do you see building tests like this impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Brett: So, I think we’re almost sounding like broken records, but the whole codeless building is really revolutionary when it comes to test building. We’ve built tests using Selenium and it definitely takes longer to set up and code out than it does using Qyrus. And that’s not even including the infrastructure and other pain points that are mitigated along the way
Steve: And, since all of the actions are put into simplified terms, you know what does what without having to constantly refer to documentation. It was always a pain having the documentation up in another tab or on a second screen and having to reference over. We aim to keep users going and keep the test building flowing.
And with that, we wrap up this week’s Feature Friday. We hope you learned a few things about Qyrus and how it can help enable faster and more efficient test building by leveraging our codeless test building. Action types are at the core of our codeless test building. As technology progresses, testing becomes ever more important and making sure quality assurance is held at a high standard can be achieved using Qyrus.
Tune in to the discussion that we had at STARWEST with Qyrus’ Senior Vice President, Ameet Deshpande, to learn more about Qyrus’ Testing Automation Platform!
In this discussion we covered multiple capabilities that the Qyrus platform has to offer. We walked through how the platform works to test mobile, API and web applications and how you can improve all your business processes to set you up for success.
Discover the power of PaaS and how it can improve a range of testing processes at scale.
RPA Definition
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is using technology and AI to mimic back-office human tasks. Through robotic software, RPA is able to perform repetitive tasks to help streamline business activities. RPA emulates human processes and can complete tasks like fill out forms, copy data, put data into new fields, etc. These features can have a range of applications within many different industries that deal with repetitive tasks.
RPA can either be end-to-end automation without human interaction at any step, or it can act as a helper and automate steps that don’t need human intervention. Manual processes like entering repetitive data or code are common places for inefficiency and human error, so utilizing RPA can help reduce errors and make testing more efficient. Why waste human labor on repetitive tasks, when a robot can do it for you?
RPA Example: Banking
In the rise of mobile banking, Robotic Process Automation Technology plays a key part in ensuring that banking features are working as efficiently as possible. Customer experiences are typically a critical part for success in many financial institutions. Users want to access their banking information and use banking features without dealing with setbacks and problems. Financial Institutions are often known for specific regulatory requirements, lengthy manual processes, and setbacks which result in poor customer service and lengthy service times.
RPA can help simplify banking activities and help enhance the overall efficiency for both the user and the business. The customer experience is crucial for any business, so it’s important to put proper RPA technologies in place to enhance accessibly and reduce any problems in relation to customer service.
Many industries, including banking, are adopting RPA tools to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks, which is allowing many industries to enhance efficiency while reducing overall costs and time. RPA also has applications for other industries like: Manufacturing, Medical, Government, Education, Retail, etc. RPA can help simplify many aspects of business, no matter what industry or department.
What Features Can Help Improve RPA?
Qyrus offers a range of features and AI automation tools that help streamline testing capabilities. Testing is an area of business that is typically time consuming and repetitive, which is the perfect place to utilize RPA. Manual testing takes a lot of resources which can cause delays in the release of new products or processes. Some Qyrus features that utilize RPA include:
Healer: An advanced AI tool that users can enable before they execute their test scripts. It helps prevent test flakiness and brittleness. Through the use of Healer, testers can say goodbye to the days of scratching their head wondering why their working tests break. If Healer detects a failing test it attempts to remedy the cause and provide the user with feedback as to what went wrong during execution.
Rover: An autonomous exploratory testing solution using machine learning that is capable of generating tests without any human interaction. Rover can generate test steps, check for crashes, and even ensure reliability of apps.
Hawkeye: A tool that creates a difference map of Rover explorations for two different versions of an application. Easily comprehend added, changed, or removed screens and transitions across two versions of an application. Testers and developers no longer have try and remember how a process used to function.
Component Testing: Test business processes across different platforms (web, mobile, API) and applications (internal, external, CRM, finance, etc.) by reusing tests built in other Qyrus Test solutions. Using the component testing feature, testers can create complex and comprehensive tests that cover a wide range of cases and scenarios, all managed from one spot.
Qyrus is an ever-evolving and ever-expanding platform that seeks to continue to push the limits and boundaries of its current testing capabilities. Many more features and solutions exist on the Qyrus platform that lend a hand to RPA and automation as a whole.
Benefits of Robotic Process Automation
These are just a few of the automation and AI features that can help improve RPA. Robotic Process Automation is a stepping stone towards digital transformation. Manual processes, without the help of automation, are typically areas where inefficiency and human error occur.
By utilizing RPA, businesses can improve their capabilities and enhance efficiency so that time is not wasted in the testing phase. Instead, with the freed-up time and resources business can focus on creativity and other important business tasks that actually require human intelligence and decision making. Adopting RPA into everyday business tasks has many other benefits that include:
Increased Productivity: By automating tedious tasks, Testers can focus on more important business matters because automation can do it quicker and more accurately than humans can.
Consistency: Through automation, repetitive tasks can be performed consistently every time so businesses can reduce the errors that are typically found in manual testing.
Reduce Costs: Repeating manual tasks are much more time consuming compared to when they are automated. When a robot is doing these tasks quicker, it gives more time back to employees that can be more productive and creative in other important areas.
Produce Products Quicker: Tests scripts can be created at an accelerated rate with more accuracy. This means that products or services can be tested quicker and can be released to market much quicker compared to manual testing.
Reduce Risks: Automation and AI can identify, fix, and change errors without the intervention of a human. Repetitive tasks are typically where errors occur, so when RPA is involved, the errors are reduced and more quality tests are being created at an accelerated rate.
Conclusion
Robotic Process Automation has many benefits and when integrated correctly can greatly enhance overall business efficiency while reducing time and money. RPA is very accessible and has applications for every industry, even the smallest of business. Starting to automate early and utilizing RPA throughout the business process will set them apart from the businesses that ignore automation. RPA is the stepping stone to digital transformation and will greatly help all businesses in the long run.
Chicago knows this time of year. The temperature begins to pinball, foreshadowing the long-awaited summer. Regardless of fandom, team, or even interest in the sport, there is a buzz felt in the air as the collective whispers grow to bedlam, “Take me out to the ball game!”
Let’s ponder for a moment, what makes a ballgame so special? Is it the bright lights that glisten on the freshly trimmed grass, is it the faint aroma of hot dogs and popcorn that tickle the nose, or is it the flood of fans and friendly faces singing in unison during the 7th inning stretch? A baseball game is an accumulation of hundreds of individual pieces, of which the functionality is essential to the heart of the ballgame. This week’s Feature Friday is brought to you by Brett and Linto who will be discussing CI pipeline integrations, which, believe it or not, are more similar to a baseball game than you may think.
Tell us more about the CI pipelines and integrations offered by Qyrus, their use cases, and their impact on testing and QA processes.
Brett: I think a baseball game is the perfect example to think of when considering a pipeline. A baseball game has hundreds of different components like concession stands, the ticket booth, security, restrooms, seating, crowd management, the game itself, and more. A quality baseball game boils down to the optimization of all these processes.
Linto: Consider an online store or a delivery service mobile application. They have to handle customer requests, list their services and products, build a payment structure, etc. Pipelines allow users to build out complex scenarios, often testing multiple services and applications in sequence.
Brett: Think about it this way: prior to pipelines, testing the “ballgame” would require isolating and testing each individual component. Imagine making sure the hot dog stand was functioning properly, then the ticket booth, then the lights one by one. With pipelines, you can automatically trigger all of these pieces to be tested in sequence from a centralized location. Instead of testing all these processes individually, build different user journeys throughout the ballpark that encompass and test many of these processes.
What is the overall impact on the testing process when integrating a CI pipeline with Qyrus?
Brett: This feature largely impacts the testing process. Conceptually, any development, ranging from feature updates to entire application releases, can be integrated into pipelines during development. Then, anytime code is pushed, these pipelines can trigger these scripts to execute. This provides robust reports of comprehensive application functionality upon all releases.
Linto: Offering out-of-the-box pipeline integration with Azure DevOps, Bitrise, Concourse, Jenkins, and Team City, we have integrations with industry-leading CI/CD tools. Furthermore, as a cloud-based solution, creating custom integrations is easily achievable and has been implemented for past clients.
Brett: We see this as a powerful feature that promotes functionality and quality assurance upon the development and deployment of code. Comprehensive testing that is reusable and can be automatically triggered to verify application functionality immediately upon code enhancements and alterations can optimize the testing and QA lifecycle.
This is starting to make sense. Thinking of the ballgame as one big application, these pipeline integrations allow you to test entire “games” at a time, rather than having to isolate and test individual portions of the game. Connecting automated testing to your CI pipeline is a powerful feature in terms of usage and coverage, so we had to ask about similar features within the market.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Linto: Testing solutions often offer integrations with common pipelines. That is not a unique feature. But, the silver lining usually sits within the functionality of these integrations. Qyrus enables test suites to be allocated as build steps within pipelines. Upon execution, Qyrus provides robust visual reporting and actual data feedback.
Brett: That’s correct. As many integrations allow you to run and provide a general pass/fail indicator, Qyrus goes the extra mile to offer step-by-step data, screenshots, and general test metrics, all located within comprehensive testing pipelines.
We’ve established the relevance of this feature and some unique qualities in relation to competition and similar industry tools, but testing and QA teams have multiple personas and skill sets that need addressing.
How might CI Pipelines help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can they bring?
Brett: Testers find this feature useful because they integrate Qyrus scripts into build steps within pipelines. With robust pipelines testing user journeys and edge cases, Qyrus’ test building and infrastructure enhance the testing process and produce reports straight into already built pipelines. This mitigates the requirement of any migration, re-building, or custom requirements. Simply create these build steps and have on-demand, robust test execution and reporting at your fingertips.
Linto: Developers see the direct and indirect benefits of this feature. As developers build and release new application features, they can simultaneously test these features, import, and integrate these scripts into pipelines. This not only promotes a shift left in the quality assurance lifecycle but also mitigates the need to rebuild tests on a separate platform. Build out tests and pipelines once and have the ability to execute upon command.
Brett: Even if developers are isolated from the testing and QA lifecycle and don’t directly work with the feature, they can find confidence in the fact that upon commit of new applications, updates, and features, the pipeline’s scripts are automatically triggered for comprehensive functionality and UI testing.
Linto: Business technologists also find value in the visual aspects of this feature. Being able to follow different pipelines and journeys with clear pass/fail indicators and screenshots for each step allows business analysts to fully understand application functionality and easily navigate business requirements, release cycles, and other required business processes.
A very interesting use case across different personas, this feature is valuable across QA and testing teams.
How do you see CI pipelines impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Linto: Simple test building, comprehensive execution and coverage options, and robust reporting, all quickly integrated into existing pipelines, mitigating any excess resource requirements. I think this feature speaks for itself.
Brett: And with integrations across Web, Mobile, and API testing, the feature becomes more relevant as testing demands increase. Considering clients with hundreds of tests, prior to pipelines and easy integrations, each script would have to be executed manually or scheduled on our platform. Doing this, every execution can add up to extensive resources and time.
That concludes this week’s Feature Friday with Brett and Linto about CI pipeline integrations offered within the Qyrus testing platform. After going through the purpose of pipelines, the relevance of integrations, and how Qyrus integrations are both unique and impactful within the testing and QA lifecycle, we can conclude that applications are not far off from baseball games. Utilizing Qyrus’ CI pipeline integrations can optimize the experience of all users—or, in this case, make a ballgame into a memory.
What do testers do when they need to cover dozens or even hundreds of different scenarios in a short amount of time? Writing a new test script for each scenario is a time-consuming process and quite literally a maintenance nightmare. Well, what if we told you there’s a solution to our problem, and that solution is called data driven testing? Some of you might already know a bit about it, but Qyrus’ implementation of data driven testing includes parameterizing certain steps in a test script to then allow data to be fed into those steps. We call this parameterization. And the last time we talked about parameterization was nearly half a year ago in one of our initial Feature Friday blog posts. Today, we’re joined by Adhiraj and Kiwaun to hear about the updates made to parameterization.
Tell us more about the parameterization offered by Qyrus and its use cases.
Adhi: Parameterization on Qyrus essentially allows users to utilize data-driven testing in their testing process. Test data can be pulled directly from a file or table that will then be fed into the corresponding test steps in the script during runtime.
Kiwaun: Overall, it allows users to test a large amount of scenarios using a single test case, promoting reusability as well as easier maintenance. Each row that’s in the datasheet represents a different test case.
For those that have read the previous post mentioned before about parameterization, we’d encourage you to read a bit about it before continuing on. Next, we’ll hear about the awesome updates made to our feature.
Tell us more about what’s new with parameterization?
Adhi:
The biggest update to our parameterized testing is our ability to create these tables directly on the Qyrus platform itself.
Kiwaun:
And, we’ve made it so it’s an easy process that’s done right alongside test building and on the exact same page. This enables the user to be more productive as they don’t have to go around to different screens or pages in order to fill in this information.
Adhi:
And, the really cool thing is that you can actually connect this to the test data management section in Qyrus. We’ve talked about our test data management feature in the past, and you can read more about it here. But essentially, this also allows users to auto-generate data in these tables for use during execution. We’ve really tried to tie all aspects of Qyrus together.
These new updates really highlight the importance of data-driven testing and how that can help users scale and increase coverage of test cases and scenarios. Qyrus is constantly looking to improve and update features to keep up with client requirements and advancements in the automated testing area.
What is this feature’s overall impact on the testing process?
Adhi:
Parameterization has an impact in all major areas of testing, including test building, execution, and the following reporting. And, with the advent of test data management and tying it into parameterization, even maintenance is something that is impacted here.
Kiwaun:
In terms of test coverage, the value of parameterization cannot be understated. The whole idea behind data driven testing is to push test coverage and also make it more efficient to do so in the process. We also want to make it easier overall, which can provide cost and effect reduction.
How might parameterization help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can this feature bring?
Adhi:
Testers would use this to push their test coverage, as we just mentioned. But besides that, it can help them specifically target what data and data sets to be used in testing for specific test cases and scenarios to be executed.
Kiwaun: Devs might use this to help them in building and running unit tests, but this is a tester-focused feature. The great thing, however, is that it makes this type of testing more accessible to those users who aren’t proficient in testing whatsoever. This can enable even less technical people, like business technologists, to be able to perform data-driven testing themselves.
Making testing simple is Qyrus’ mission. Through making testing simpler, we can make testing faster. Parameterization and data-driven testing can sound complicated, but with Qyrus it is made simple.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Kiwaun:
Prior to our parameterization as a whole, users would have to create multiple test scripts to cover these different scenarios. With parameterization, this isn’t an issue. But, even more importantly, with the updates that have been brought forward – including test data management – it has even more value than before.
Adhi: And, ultimately, competitors don’t have the same level of test data management that we do – especially now. But if we’re looking at this from a pure coding standpoint – data-driven testing is achievable. It’s definitely nothing new. But, what’s the real question is, how easy is it? Given Qyrus, it’s really easy.
How do you see parameterization impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Kiwaun: In terms of day-to-day, our parameterization and data-driven testing is extremely easy and would speed up test building and coverage. Test cases are all executed under one report and presented back as such.
Adhi:
And the days of coding day-in and day-out are gone! The codeless approach of Qyrus takes the coding out of testing and makes it simple. Even filling out these parameterized files or using the onboard test data management is simple.
Data-driven testing is essential to efficient testing. It is not easy to scale test coverage while also keeping up with the agile process of software development. Qyrus always seeks to keep updating their features, as well as adding new features. Keeping up with the testing requirements of our clients and the ever-evolving world of testing is a core goal of Qyrus. These updates to parameterization are just an example of how Qyrus is an ever-evolving testing platform.
As applications become a medium for business progress and success, Quality assurance processes have never been more essential. From the developer down to the primary user and back, quality assurance teams ensure functionality and user experience through consistent testing practices. Regardless of the practice, manual or automated, coded or solution architecture implementations, the fundamentals of Quality assurance rely on collaboration. The best QA teams have engineers, test architects, developers, and business analysts that are in tune with feature implementations, release cycles, and required application functionality. This week’s Feature Friday discusses one of the pillars of Quality Assurance, collaboration. Despite much to talk about with Qyrus’ all in one automated testing platform, Dan and Tim will discuss something more fundamental in how Qyrus enhances collaboration and communication throughout the development and deployment lifecycles, leading to higher quality applications with faster release times.
Tell us more about collaborative testing offered by Qyrus and its use cases.
Dan:
Qyrus has a lot to offer when it comes to collaborative testing and helping enable testing teams to be more collaborative not only within their own team but also with the organization as a whole. Some of these features include the ability to lock scripts from being modified, the ability to download, share, and email reports to anyone.
Tim:
On top of that, everyone can have access to each other’s tests. This also enables more collaborative test building among team members. Testers can work off of each other by copying or cloning tests created by other members in order to further their testing. This helps promote reusability in the testing environment. And, everything being done from the cloud enables better management as a whole. Our test repository also promotes better organization amongst team members.
Dan:
This is also very helpful with handoffs. Giving quick project access or sharing reports provides immediate clarity simplifying knowledge transfer of test requirements and data. Regardless of where your colleague is located, everything is consistent on a singular platform.
What kind of impact on the testing process does collaborative testing have?
Tim:
The biggest impact is going to be seen in the area of maintenance. Because everything is on the cloud and centralized in one area, there is less maintenance seen on the side of the testers. And, overall, all of our collaborative features provide impact in almost all aspects and areas of testing.
Dan:
The key, obviously, is to promote collaboration which in turn can help in other aspects such as cost and effort reduction as well as an increase in test coverage overall. A well-oiled machine works with extreme speed and efficiency, and a testing ecosystem is no exception.
How might collaborative testing help testers, developers, and business technologists? What value can collaborative testing bring?
Tim:
Testers would be the primary beneficiary of the collaborative testing process. These features help enable teams to better communicate and collaborate. And in a similar fashion to testers, developers in turn would become more collaborative. But more importantly is that these two teams, although separate, will become more effective when communicating and collaborating together. No longer do developers have to waste time in setting up testing environments and developers can unit test their applications early on in the process.
Dan:
And in terms of business technologists, they would become more engrained in the testing and development process because of their ability to just log in and check out what’s going on. On top of that they can download reports as well as PDF generated reports which can help them understand if the stakeholder requirements are being met.
Does the same or similar functionality exist without Qyrus, and how do competitors address similar problems?
Dan:
Straight off the bat, if the competitor doesn’t have a cloud-native platform, they’re already leagues behind us in terms of collaboration and testing. As seen with our competitors, it’s not as seamless of an onboarding situation when it comes to adding new members to their teams. With Qyrus, everything is done practically instantly and set up with the click of a button.
Tim:
And prior to Qyrus or any testing platform, users would have to use something like Git or other 3rd party applications in order to have a collaborative testing environment. The biggest thing is sharing these tests with other members of the team – whether it be for review, helping another team member, or as a continuation of the testing process – everything is easily accessible.
Dan:
The last thing anyone wants is a fragmented testing ecosystem. This can lead to breaks in the process and issues later on down the road. Furthermore, the users and environment setup and maintenance required for all QA team members to have required access can quickly become a nightmare. Everything being in one spot is not only convenient but also helps with collaboration and onboarding.
How do you see collaborative testing on Qyrus impacting day-to-day operations across organizations?
Tim:
By the nature of making the testing process more collaborative, things become easier within a team and their communication with each other. Locking certain scripts can prevent them from being meddled with on accident. Furthermore, small testing teams can script a rather large amount of test cases in a relatively short amount of time.
Dan:
If you think about it, test coverage as a whole will increase, making testers busier day-to-day, but all for a good reason. Lastly, reusability is promoted, so we might see a decrease in time spent doing repetitive tasks or scripting things already scripted.
If the idea is to promote the highest quality application, in the fastest time, it is essential that developers, testers, and business analysts not only have access to all application and release information, but transparency and collaboration throughout the entire development, Quality assurance, and deployment lifecycle. Qyrus enables the highest levels of collaboration through a cloud native platform. With the ability to quickly spin up user instances, sharable reporting, test building/cloning, and restricted access settings, Qyrus has created the perfect environment for professionals across businesses to co-create and release high quality, customer centric, applications into the market.
Jerin Mathew
Manager
Jerin Mathew M M is a seasoned professional currently serving as a Content Manager at Qyrus. He possesses over 10 years of experience in content writing and editing, primarily within the international business and technology sectors. Prior to his current role, he worked as a Content Manager at Tookitaki Technologies, leading corporate and marketing communications. His background includes significant tenures as a Senior Copy Editor at The Economic Times and a Correspondent for the International Business Times UK. Jerin is skilled in digital marketing trends, SEO management, and crafting analytical, research-backed content.
