Keys for Successful Offshore Test Automation

Joe Vallejo, Senior Test Automation Lead, LogiGear Corporation

Building a successful automation program with an onshore team has its challenges and many companies are not even successful with their onshore development of their automation program. So you can imagine the effort that is need in building and managing an offshore test automation team such that automation is successful in your organization.

I see two mandates that you may have that may lead you to offshore test automation:

1. You need automation as an addition to your manual efforts but you budget will not allow you to hire automation engineers.
2. You already have automation but would like to grow your group in a cost effective way to help you produce more test cases and increase your automated test cases in production.

No matter which situation, I've found the following to be the top five keys to offshore test automation success:

1. Infrastructure

Determining what you want to automate, how you are going to automate it and how you will provide builds to the offshore team is essential before starting your offshore test automation project.

If you already have an offshore team, then the offshore test lead should provide you a plan on how this will be accomplished. In many cases, you may be able to use existing infrastructure for manual testing (such as the build delivery system).

If you are already automating domestically, then the infrastructure should have already been setup due to your existing automation framework. In this case the offshore test lead can help you in finding holes / gaps in your infrastructure and can guide you in creating a more efficient infrastructure.

2. Process, Training and Communication

The offshore team is most likely made up of very skilled programmers who are able to quickly learn to create test automation scripts. In order to have a scalable test automation effort using team members across the globe, it's essential that everyone follows the same process; training is the best way to ensure that the offshore automation team understands your processes and will make valuable contributions to the test automation framework. Based on my experience, it's worthwhile for the onshore test automation lead to travel to the offshore location and train the team in your framework and processes.

Once the offshore team understands how to create automated tests within your framework, it's essential to provide them with clear lines of communication. A good communication plan should include regularly scheduled status meetings, as well as protocols for availability (i.e. the onshore test lead will be available via phone or IM for two hours each morning in case the offshore team has questions) as well as responsiveness (i.e. all emails must be responded to by end of business day).

3. Setting Goals and Expectations

It is essential that the offshore team has clear expectations about the frequency and quantity of their deliverables. One of the best measurements of their productivity is the number of test cases automated. While test cases vary in length and complexity, the number of test cases that an engineer can automate within a week should not have too much variance, so I like to set expectations based on the number of test cases automated per week.

4. Source Control

Test automation is software, and you should manage it that way. Having a good version control mechanism is essential; it will allow the onshore test lead to see exactly what has been checked in during a certain time period, and also reduce the risk of any loss of assets. Most source control systems now support globally-distributed teams. There are also some test automation tools which come equipped with built-in version control of the testing assets.

5. Test Review and Verification

Make sure that you review and execute the test automation created by the offshore team on a regular basis. This will allow you to verify that the team is meeting the expectations you've set for them. Having a good source control mechanism means that the onshore team should have seamless access to the assets created by the offshore team.

Depending on the size of your team, you may want to review and run the tests created by the offshore team every day. At a minimum, I'd recommend having a code review and executing the tests at least once per week.

Every organization faces unique test automation challenges, but addressing the five key issues will put you well on the way towards a successful offshore test automation effort.

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