Transitioning From Manual to Automated Testing in Dynamics 365

Are you testing manually, but not getting very far? Your team may have dabbled in Selenium and found it a nightmare to get it to work. Attaching onto element IDs is a task in and of itself, and not everyone has the time to code automation for your Dynamics application.

So what solutions exist for teams who are moving from manual to automated, and most importantly, what's the easiest and fastest option?

In this article, we’ll explain the points to consider before choosing an automation testing solution for your Dynamics application.

Skip ahead:

• Automation framework or vendor?
• Key points to consider when choosing an automation tool
• Why go codeless with your automation?

Automation framework or vendor?

There are many avenues when venturing down the automation route. But which option you choose will impact your ability to test efficiently, without compromising on quality.

An automation framework can be costly because, generally speaking, it requires someone with programming knowledge to build. This makes it difficult to match the pace of development, and takes time away from testing. Additionally, it’s difficult to scale because frameworks are usually built for one application type (e.g. Salesforce, SAP, Oracle).

Learn more: Test Automation Frameworks: Why They Fail

Using Selenium is a valid option as it’s free, but you’ll experience challenges along the way. Because Dynamics products are almost always customized, it can be difficult to automate with Selenium scripts. For example, getting Selenium WebDriver to find the right element in Dynamics 365 would require a tester to spend time scripting a locator strategy.

Read more: How to Test Dynamics 365 with Codeless Selenium Automation

Codeless UI automation enables a level of agility that frameworks don’t. You can alleviate testers or developers from writing and maintaining Selenium scripts, create fully automated form fields in minutes, and automate across technologies.

Key points to consider when choosing an automation tool

With businesses under pressure to do more with less while maintaining the quality of their IT environment, the toolkit used to perform testing is essential to your strategy.

To excel in an ever-competitive marketplace, the way you test your system must be maintainable, easy to use, and scalable.

Below, we’ve listed six characteristics to look for in an automation tool.

• Ease of use. How suitable is this tool for the team using it? If you’re looking for a tool for your testing team, and they don’t have time to build scripted test cases, search for a solution that is quick and easy to use.
• Reusability of tests. How quickly can your automation approach create usable test cases? With reusable tests, your team can reduce the maintenance workload and automate even faster.
• Quick identification of errors. How quickly can you identify errors in your test cases? Do you have to go through lines of code to find them, or can they be visually presented through a video log or dashboard?
• Cross-application/technology support. Are you using your Salesforce application across technologies and operating systems, and does it interact with non-Salesforce applications such as Dynamics or SAP? Everyday business-critical processes often involve several applications. Automation that uses the same approach no-matter the application or technology is faster than building test cases with different programming languages.
• Supports DevOps. Can the tool integrate with different agile planning tools like ALM or Jira? With DevOps tool integrations, you’ll make it easier for people to collaborate, and protect against the risk of a poor quality or delayed product.
• Reporting. Can you get an overview of trends and reporting of your automation projects? Making sense of the vast amounts of information will make it easier to evaluate the outcome of your projects.

Why go codeless with your automation?

Codeless automation increases the quality of software and helps businesses better prepare for Service Updates and Proactive Quality Updates and changes to Dynamics.

Read more: How to test automation Dynamics 365

• Built for the many, not the few. Leapwork doesn’t require programming knowledge. Instead, you use the resources you already have available - the key business users. Our no-code approach enables the people in your organization with a deep understanding of Dynamics 365 applications and processes to build and maintain automation easily.
• Automate end-to-end. Test end-to-end with every release and Microsoft update. Leapwork strips away unnecessary complexity and keeps maintenance to the minimum, so QA teams utilize resources better.
• Made to be reusable. Reusable test cases and test case components, visual debugging and advanced analytics make automation easy to maintain, for a more agile delivery pipeline.
• Made for DevOps. Leapwork is made specifically with DevOps in mind. Remove silos, collaborate easily, and integrate directly into your CI/CD pipeline with plugins to Jenkins, Bamboo, Azure DevOps, and more.

Learn more about building quality automation for every Dynamics update in our on-demand webinar, or access our checklist on evaluating tools for Dynamics 365 for faster testing.