QA teams struggle with slow, manual testing—resulting in higher costs, longer development cycles, and customer dissatisfaction. Transitioning to automated QA testing is the top priority in the software testing environment.
To help decision-makers assess the impact of test automation, we analyze 20 case studies highlighting real-world transformations.
Test automation case studies by industry
Software & IT
| Company | Vendor | Challenges/Goals | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimizely | Cypress | Slow regression testing | 4x faster test runs, 86% less time debugging, 40% increase in feature coverage |
| Siemens Software | Cypress | Flaky & slow codes, many false negatives | 49% reduction in test code, 38% productivity increase, 375% faster test execution |
| Lightstep | Cypress | Complex QA, time-consuming manual tests | 8-12k tests run daily, 48x faster deployment validation |
| SaltStack | Cypress | Slow manual testing | 93% reduction in regressions, 300+ tests written in one month, 100% test coverage for new features |
| Cobb Systems Group | Subject7 | Regression testing across multiple datasets & browsers | Reduced regression testing time from weeks to 3-4 days, ensured execution consistency |
Consulting, Logistics & Education
| Company | Vendor | Challenges/Goals | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| DHL | Cypress | Shipping labeling tool needed optimization | 65% faster run time, increased coverage & test execution |
| Global Consulting Firm | Subject7 | Changing test requirements for different clients | Easily modifiable automated tests |
| Leidos | Subject7 | Cross-browser testing, large test code volume, skill disparity among testers | 90% productivity increase, 42% savings in testing resources |
| Latitude CG | Subject7 | Recreating test cases took too long | 10x faster test case recreation, doubled test coverage |
E-commerce & Retail
| Company | Vendor | Challenges/Goals | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| An e-commerce platform | Testifi | Poor product quality, customer churn | Significant quality improvement, 10-minute feedback loop, reduced development cycle |
| Large independent wine retailer | Subject7 | Constant maintenance, not scalable | 60% reduction in testing cycle time, improved release quality, reduced costs |
| Motionsoft | Subject7 | Slow manual testing (2000 tests took weeks) | 3600 automated tests executed daily |
Finance, Construction, Government & Defense
| Company | Vendor | Challenges/Goals | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoFundMe | Cypress | High test failures, slow execution | 30x faster test execution, 98-99% reduction in test failures, 50% increase in developers writing tests |
| US Government Agency | Subject7 | Slow manual testing, inexperienced testing team | No-code test automation, continuous feedback with automated tests |
| Dovel | Subject7 | 976 man-hours required for regression testing | Reduced regression testing time to 7 machine hours, nightly regression tests |
| PlanGrid | Cypress | Slow, hard-to-maintain UI tests | 2000+ tests daily, 4-minute test runtime, 20+ custom test commands |
A common characteristic we noticed in 50% of the case studies mentioned is that the companies initially used or experimented with Selenium, an open-source tool for test automation. However, companies opted for a different test automation provider because they found Selenium to be either too complicated to use or inefficient for their needs.
What are the common problems in these case studies?
Bad coding
According to our observation, developers skip or reduce testing if a company has a hard-to-use or ineffective testing system because it increases the effort required without a clear benefit. An ineffective testing system can harm a company substantially by allowing bugs to reach later development stages, which can result in the following:
- Higher cost of bug fixing
- Lower product quality
- Loss of customers
Automation testing effect: Test automation can reduce the effort required by manual testing. It is reported that in 46% of the cases where test automation was implemented, 50% or more of the manual testing was replaced. Additionally, 55% of companies seeking test automation mention quality improvement as their main strategic driver.
Slow testing
Slow testing is a significant hurdle in the age of agile development and CI/CD. It is estimated that 35% of the testing cycle is spent on manual testing. Slow testing increases the development time and reduces the feedback available for each build of a design.
Automation testing effect: Test automation can significantly increase the number of tests that can be run in a time period. 30% of companies that are pursuing test automation indicate time to market as their main driver.
Workforce with different skill levels
Each company’s testing workforce is different. Within a team, skill levels can drastically differ among members; some can be professional testers with advanced programming knowledge, while others might not know how to program.
Automation testing effect: Test automation tools can provide no/low-code solutions that can benefit non-technical users.
To learn more about software testing best practices, you can read our Top 10 Best Practices for Software Testing.
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