STARWEST 2006: Positioning your Test Automation Team as a Product

Test automation teams are typically created with the expectation of facilitating faster testing and higher product quality. To achieve these goals, the test
automation team must overcome many challenges--stale test data, burdensome test script maintenance, too-frequent product upgrades, insufficient resources, and unfamiliarity with the systems under test. Satya Mantena describes a creative approach to test automation that overcomes
these challenges. The first step is implementing keyword-driven testing. Satya demonstrates how the keyword testing approach is implemented proving this approach is not just theory but has been "proven in action." Satya concludes
by showing how positioning the test automation team as a "product" rather than as a central service, or embedded within each testing team, results in better testing.

• Examine the difference between a service and a product
• Increase the probability of a successful test automation effort
• Learn how to reduce time while increasing the success of test automation