Why you need e2e solutions for e2e testing

Modern application testing has gotten quite complex. Most applications rely on embedded libraries or even 3rd party components. They are developed using CI/CD, meaning new versions are constantly being released. At the same time, the applications are becoming richer and more complex. As a result, the job of testing has become much harder.

Once, you could rely on manual testing for everything. Then Selenium allowed you to automate more and more tests. But Selenium is now groaning under the weight of test debt. So, what are the components for a proper modern end-to-end testing solution?

• Issue tracking. Without this, you won’t have proper visibility or traceability of all the things that need to be fixed. Probably the most popular software here is Jira. It is used by 80% of Fortune 500 companies and is remarkably flexible.
• Test management. This is key if you are going to keep track of all your tests, both manual and automated. There are many options here, depending on your needs. Some of the most popular are qTest, TestRail, and Xray.
• AI-powered test automation. This is a must to deliver testing that can match the pace of modern software development. Here, there are only a few players, and Functionize is definitely well in the lead with our platform.

Why one component is not enough

On their own, each of the above does a critical job. However, they can’t deliver what you need to keep up with the pace of modern software development. To give an example, let’s look at Jira in a bit more detail.

Why Jira doesn’t solve your testing needs

Jira is great at what it does. However, it was designed primarily to help dev teams track features and issues, plan sprints, and view progress. That means there are some key weaknesses when you use it as your test management solution.

1. Jira reports on issues rather than test results

Nearly all testing is pass-fail—either the test passed or it failed. This is especially true for test automation. However, Jira specializes in tracking issues, things like bugs, improvements, features, etc. Clearly, there is a link between test results and issues—a bug is created when a test fails for instance. However, you need to manually create the issue and record all the relevant details.  

2. Jira was designed for managing dev projects, not tests

Jira is great at what it does. However, there is a world of difference between managing a sprint and managing product testing. One of the most significant differences comes from the nature of what is being tracked and planned. In a sprint, you are dealing with tasks. Each task is unique, and once complete, it is marked as done. Test planning is very different. Efficient testing requires you to reuse tests repeatedly. That’s a key requirement to maximize ROI. To achieve this in Jira requires a hack and is messy to say the least. 

3. You can’t map issues across multiple projects

Jira issues are strange beasts. They can only ever be mapped to a single project. This is one of the main reasons reuse is so hard. The upshot is, test steps that should be reused between multiple tests end up being duplicated. Take log in for instance. This is probably a prerequisite of many of your tests. Of course, you could require that tests start in the logged-in state, but that can be a limitation. Far easier is to create a reusable set of test steps that log a test user in when required. Having to repeatedly recreate these steps just takes time and effort that could be better spent creating new tests and improving the product quality.

Creating an end-to-end testing solution

A complete testing solution requires assembling all the pieces and integrating them into one complete whole.

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Clearly, this means you need to choose your pieces carefully. Specifically, you need to be able to seamlessly integrate all the pieces using native integrations. This is essential to solve testing across any large organisation where you may have dozens of teams working on multiple applications at once.

How Functionize helps

Over the past few months, we have been focusing on improving our integrations to deliver exactly what you need to build an enterprise-grade e2e testing solution. Our aim is to allow you to automate as much of your testing as possible, while maximizing the visibility the rest of your team has. So, what do we offer you?

Functionize is purpose-built to manage large-scale automated testing.

Our platform is designed to handle testing at a huge scale. You can create tests in minutes without sacrificing advanced test capabilities. You can test across multiple browsers simply by changing the target browser in the UI. Everyone in your team has access to the test history with the option of drilling down to specific areas of concerns, down to the level of the individual test step. You can also easily reuse, change and version your tests. Use Functionize to run and rerun tests with different parameters: different environments, different geographies, different datasets. In short, you get the best test automation solution out there.

Our software is designed to integrate cleanly

All our integrations are designed to be two way and to provide seamless interoperability. If you connect Jira and Functionize, you can raise defects or bugs directly in Jira from the Functionize UI. Devs or product owners can click on the issue in Jira and are taken to the relevant test in Functionize. There, they can quickly see what failed, using tools such as our before and after slider to compare the failed step with what was meant to happen. Once they have fixed the issue, your test team can instantly see which test needs to be rerun to verify the fix.

We don’t impose artificial limits

Functionize allows you to create an unlimited number of tests and invite an unlimited number of users. If you use any of our test management integrations, you can get visibility across all your tests, manual and automated. Everyone in your team can see the Functionize test results without any limits or any need to install a desktop app. Testers, developers, product managers – all your teams stay aligned with a single source of truth for test status, and releases become easier and quicker.

If you want to find out for yourself how Functionize integrations can transform your end-to-end testing, book a demo with us today.