McKinsey believes that automation is the future of quality control. Yes, the research firm was talking about pharma – its research into digitization, automation and online testing was laser-focused on this specific industry – but the nugget of truth remains the same: automation provides quality assurance (QA) with improved efficiencies and faster problem-solving capabilities. With automation, the QA and testing process, says Mandla Mbonambi, CEO of Africonology, is faster which means more thorough testing in less time.

“Automated testing tools allow for QA teams to execute a significantly higher number of tests over a shorter period, allowing them to do more test cases with greater test coverage,” he adds. “The value is also not just in speed and volume, but in consistency, the ability to catch errors, improved accuracy and, of course, cost savings.”

Automation can reduce the cost of testing because of its speed and its ability to potentially minimise the risk of human error while improving accuracy. Running 24/7/365, automation doesn’t get tired or need time off, so testing can continue consistently without the need for manual input initially. Of course, it’s important to introduce quality and checking processes to ensure that automated QA is operating optimally and to cross-check results, but what automation brings is an added edge that can enhance the QA process overall.

“Using automation to bolster your testing, you can improve the quality of your software significantly,” says Mbonambi. “It allows for your QA teams to run multiple configurations simultaneously, to dig deep into the depths of an application to assess its performance on multiple levels, to execute tasks at scale, and to do all this without long waits. It’s a joy for the business as it means faster time to market, and it’s a delight for QA teams as it means faster identification of potential issues, and potential opportunities.”

There is, of course, the ongoing perception that automation will replace skilled manual testers due to its abilities. The truth is very different – automation is a powerful ally for testing teams as it gives them more time to concentrate on challenging, interesting and complex projects instead. Automation takes on the repetitive and tedious tasks that would have, in the past, been boring and time-consuming for human testers. This allows developers to shift their skillsets and focus across to solutions that inspire them, and that can potentially deliver immense value to the business.

“Automation has proven itself such an invaluable asset, that it has already been integrated across multiple types of testing such as unit testing, regression, API, security, acceptance and UI,” says Mbonambi. “It supports skilled professionals by providing them with tools that they can configure and use to suit their objectives and KPIs. Companies must have access to trained engineers and QA experts to ensure that automated testing is correctly optimised and managed.”

At this intersection between the need for skills and the ubiquity of automation lies third-party service providers - companies that have trained engineers and software developers with the requisite experience in using automation to further testing and software development objectives. Their goal is to fit into the gaps left behind by limited access to skills and the urgency of going to market by providing the right people and automation toolkits at the right time.

“Working with a company that has a rich understanding of automation and how it can be properly leveraged to achieve objectives can be transformative,” says Mbonambi. “The speeds, efficiencies and scale that this combination of expertise and technology can achieve will deliver measurable returns on your investments, eliminate long delays, save costs across errors and time-consuming tasks, and improve time to market.”

By wedding automation to testing, and outsourcing testing to a trusted partner, companies can reinvigorate their software development and augment their development processes in fresh ways while ensuring that risks are minimised and processes remain optimised.