Latest Software Test Automation Trends in Insurance
~ by Paritosh Upadhyay
Back in the old days, software testing was just about finding errors in a product with the goal being simply to improve product quality. But today, the range of software testing has broadened and, in recent years, we have seen software testing evolve into new dimensions.
The Shift from Manual to Automated Testing
The most important change has been a gradual shift from manual testing to automated testing, primarily because of the wide-ranging benefits the latter brings. In comparison with manual testing practices, automated testing brings improved test coverage as well as quality, thereby allowing for the speedy delivery of software into the market.
An Overview of the Most Commonly Used Automated Testing Tools and Approaches
AI-Powered Automation Testing Tools
Automation testing is focused on reducing manual efforts for repetitive processes like regression testing. The most significant advantage that AI-powered tools provide is ease of maintenance. These tools constantly monitor the code and look for changes or patterns. Once any change is found in the application, the tool modifies the test script accordingly.
Codeless Automation with Selenium
Selenium is the most popular tool for automated testing of web applications since it has multiple advantages such as:
- It is free to use and open source
- Supports multiple browsers and operating systems
- Supports multiple languages like C#, Python, Java, etc.
Selenium—combined with the power of AI and ML—provides codeless automation testing support. With such trends in automation testing, testers can now generate a self-healing Selenium code automatically. With these tools, testers will no longer need to worry about test case maintenance.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic Process Automation is an automation tool with AI and ML capabilities that can automate high-volume and repetitive tasks usually performed by humans. RPA’s role is quickly growing within the world of automation. It has already made its mark in software testing by slowly replacing regression, performance, and load testing, allowing testers to focus on exploratory, usability, and ad hoc testing.
Smart Test Execution
Testing is time-consuming since it requires heavy scripting and high execution cost. With smart test execution, testing cycles can be reduced significantly as the developer checks the code and identifies the exact subset of tests that need to be run for covering a particular check-in or for each given build.
Therefore, instead of running all the tests, only a few targeted tests can be executed. Companies will be able to save money, resources, and time since there is a smaller test set that is more targeted towards what needs to be checked in the code. If the tests do not bring the required results, then there is already an established direct correlation between that check-in and those tests which helps speed things up.
Cloud Based Testing
Cloud-based testing is used to access web applications for scalability, performance, security, and reliability testing. As the name indicates, this form of testing is performed on a third-party cloud computing environment that houses the required infrastructure to perform tests. Be it startups or large-scale enterprises, all of them are on the lookout for tools and techniques that can accelerate their development and testing process.
Whether there is a small QA team where all the team members are located within the same premises or there is a large QA team where the team members are spread across different locations, cloud-based testing has something to offer everyone. It even helps in solving the biggest remote testing challenges.
GOSU Framework for Integrated Tests (GFIT) for Guidewire Insurance Suite – CastleBay Proprietary tool
For those of us in the Guidewire applications world there is GFIT. GFIT is an implementation of FIT written in GOSU. GOSU is a Java-like language used to configure Guidewire applications like Policy Center. GFIT provides an extensive suite of fixtures that create data and execute tests with much higher performance and speed. It has multiple advantages such as:
- Easy test writing
- Low test maintenance and execution failure rate
- Fully automated execution
- Cost-effective customization for P&C insurers of any size
With these compelling advantages, GFIT is a very effective tool for Guidewire application testing and data creation.
Paritosh Upadhyay is a Senior Automation Engineer for CastleBay Infotech, the offshore delivery center for CastleBay Companies. He has 8 years of experience, primarily in test automation and quality assurance, with experience in various test automation tools and technologies.