Enterprise application leaders are increasingly turning to automation as a way to maximize the return on their current IT expenditures, boost employee productivity, and enhance the user experience for both customers and partners. Numerous businesses have already begun the automation process, and in 2024 it’s anticipated that even more people will be employed in this field. This trend is highlighted by the Gartner CIO Talent Planning for 2023 Survey, which found that 81% of organizations increased full-time equivalents (FTEs), and 67% of those increases were up to 10%.
The number of use cases and the types of technologies supporting those use cases will surely climb as businesses scale automation. Automation will boost benefits, but it will also raise costs and hazards. Organizations run the risk of developing an unmanageable collection of technology, data, algorithms, and procedures if the proper governance and disciplines are not in place.
To ensure success, enterprise application leaders must set up the proper governance, organizational structure, and technology adoption strategy along with avoiding the most common test automation mistakes on how automation should be used.
Mistake #1: Clinging To One Technology
It makes sense for businesses to use the technology more extensively once it has been successfully purchased and installed in one process. However, it is the use of a combination of technologies and not one, that will increase the value of automation. When businesses start with the end goal in mind and then align the right set of tools, they will succeed.
There are numerous use cases that can be answered with a single solution, as many organizations deal with a surplus of outdated systems, manual processes, and workarounds. One such example is automating manual data entry by using RPA to process order data from an email into a legacy user interface. Real value can be produced when they are coupled in a hyper automation manner. The key to success and avoiding this single-tool addiction is to use a framework to identify the intended business objective and the proper strategy to automation before choosing the tools. Organizations should concentrate on two or three technologies when launching an automation programme and only expand after gaining expertise.
Mistake #2: Believing that Automation Can Be Implemented Single Handedly Without IT Involvement
Because so many vendors emphasize how simple it is for business users to use their automation solutions, many organizations fall into the test automation mistakes of IT not being necessary vital for the adoption of new technologies. Business users may find it simple to establish the procedures, algorithms, and guidelines that an automated process will follow with the use of such technologies. However, identity management still needs IT support to ensure proper access control to potentially sensitive data and systems.
Business users run the risk of handling customer and data records incorrectly because they lack the institutional knowledge necessary to do so. They might miscode the procedure, which IT would then have to repair. Finally, there are system integrations that business users don’t comprehend and that, when upgraded or altered, frequently result in the process halt.
The key to automation success is rapid and agile process rollout methods, but not at the expense of IT discipline and subject matter expertise.
Mistake #3: Believing that Automation is Always the Best Course of Action
For business and IT operations when systems have not been modernized, integrations have not been put in place, or IT expenditure is limited, automation may be the best long-term solution. Automation can be used as a band-aid while the long-term solution is being built, even when application modernization plans are in place and have quick deployment periods. However, automation can also be exploited and would under one of the test automation mistakes to fill up gaps in a shoddy process. By extending the life of old systems and delaying the modernization expenditure, effective tactical automation solutions might harm business cases for system replacements.
Under these circumstances, alternative options like replacing existing systems or modules with fresh, off-the-shelf solutions eventually pay off. Such system installations might be necessary to support the expansion objectives by enabling product innovation, system modularity, and openness.
Mistake #4: Not Giving Testing Enough Time
Automation technologies only function when the rules and algorithms are perfect. When various technologies are combined over end-to-end processes that could last for several months, hyper automation makes this even more crucial. Testing must look at the entire process, not just the programming and automation features. It’s possible for downstream effects, such as lost data, bad data, or newly developed bottlenecks, to be equally as harmful as bad code.
When these issues are found in production and have an impact on customers, staff, and processes, businesses who neglect to invest substantial effort on upfront user acceptance testing of automation tools will need to act swiftly. If data is corrupted or results in inaccurate business outputs, improper automation applications will quickly become a significant problem. The expense of fixing one error might easily equal the cost of automating the process itself, and any brand harm might never be repaired.
Mistake #5: Viewing Automation as an Exercise in Process Replication
Automation of a particular activity without a fundamental change might result in the creation of initial value through process improvements and enhanced SLAs. The replication of the business process without properly analyzing any reengineering that can result in a more acceptable business outcome is a common error in the deployment of process automation tools. For an automation programme to be effective, process reengineering methodologies like Six Sigma, design thinking, lean, or others must be used beforehand or as part of the initiative.
In the dynamic world of automation, understanding and learning from common test automation mistakes is a crucial step towards success. By steering clear of these pitfalls, organizations can embrace automation as a powerful tool for optimizing processes, increasing efficiency, and driving innovation.