Are you still thinking about how to calculate ROI for mobile app automation testing? Or have you been looking for a detailed explanation about ROI calculation, and didn’t find a legit one? Well, if these are your issues, after reading this article, there won’t be any; catch it up now!
Before getting into mobile app automation testing, we would like to spill some beans about mobile apps. Every second, a new business is launching its own app. In fact, users nowadays are looking forward to trying more and more apps for specific companies to get a better experience.
And to be more honest, users loved mobile applications so much that by 2025, the expected number of users using apps would reach 7.49 billion. That’s very much huge. The guest posting provides you with all the latest news related to technology.
What’s more surprising is, by the end of 2021, the number of mobile app downloads reached a whopping 230 billion, up by 63 percent from 2016. These are the numbers we extracted from Statista, and these numbers are the only reason why ROI significantly matters in mobile app testing; we’ll let you know how!
Before launching any app in the market to the direct customers, testing the app itself is very essential. Because just a tid bit of performance problem or poor user interface would give the app a bad review. But what mobile app testing is actually and how automation and ROI calculation can give better results? Let’s check it!
What Is Mobile App Testing?
Mobile app testing is basically a testing process developers follow against an application to make sure it is working appropriately. This testing ensures that the app is usable, and is meeting all the requirements, and is ready for launch.
Several processes are involved in the mobile app testing phase, starting from general ones to mobile-specific ones. The basic ones include functionality, performance, security, usability, and load testing, while the specific ones are interruption, memory, certification, installation testing.
By all these names you must have acknowledged that mobile app testing is a rigorous process, which doesn’t just require much manual hours to perform but even huge costs. On the other hand, an app, if launched with defective functionalities can lead to poor user reviews, app uninstalls, negative brand perception, followed by additional post-launch cost to fix the bug.
Mobile app testing basically guarantees that an app post its launch date/release date is of superb quality. And this testing can be done in two ways – manually or by automating.
Manual testing undoubtedly takes much labour hours, followed by a good amount of investment. The tester must be well aware of market-ready functionalities, and he/she should work on each bug. But human errors are bound to happen, in any case. And here’s where Mobile Automation Testing comes in the picture!
Benefits of Automated Mobile App Testing
Reduced testing time during development phase
The very first benefit of automating the whole testing process is increased efficiency. Analysts can simply run a huge number of tests within bare minimum time.
Back then, manual regression tests during mobile app development took a lot of time and manpower. But with automated testing analysts only have to validate the failed test. All these test cases are saved automatically, and it can be re-run whenever a consecutive change is required.
Because of automation, developers can integrate additional app features within bare minimum time, without affecting the cost of app testing.
Reduced expenses
Next benefit of automating the overall mobile app testing process is reduced cost of project development. This happens because the testing done is very quick, which directly saves the time of the developer.
Moreover, the real cost saved from automation is the cost of reducing the bugs which are commonly found at the post-development stage. Also, if the launched app requires more additional features to be updated, the previous test cases can be used as the basis of continuous regression testing.
Complements manual testing
One of the major advantages of automated mobile app testing is that there are less chances of human errors – like overlooking documentation, missing critical features, or making subjective judgements. If in any case the automated test case fails, testers can manually test the app and validate it accordingly.
Faster app development
Last but not the least, one of the best and overarching benefits of automating the mobile app testing phase is faster app development. Whether a business is launching their app for the first time, or simply performing routine updates, automation speeds up all these processes. And even if the speed here is quick, the end results are always top-notch, giving a larger ROI to the business.
What Role ROI Plays in Automation Testing?
Quality is one of the major concerns that comes in while testing an app before launching. And since companies are growing every passing day, manual testers do face a lot of challenges. But when a company automates the whole testing process, they can get incredible ROI.
Coming to automation testing, this kind of testing basically compares the outcome with the expected outcome. Automation testing generates test reports either by writing test scripts or by using different tools. Then, the whole repetitive tasks are automated and the business can replay the recorded version whenever required.
Automating these tasks in the initial stages required little investment. And when it comes to business, we believe that no dollar should be spent without knowing whether it’ll come in later or not. Here’s where ROI comes in.
Calculating ROI in mobile app testing basically gives businesses a numerical representation of the return they can expect by embedding the mobile automation testing process.
Importance to Calculate ROI
When a business has a rough figure of automated testing ROI, they can decide whether launching the app, or investing in automation is financially feasible or not. A lot goes into automation, from gains to loss risks, a business has to think about it all. More and so, ROI calculation even allows them to think about short term and long term software testing needs.
To help you understand better the terms, catch up these few more meaning of ROI in automation testing:
- ROI calculation shows whether automation could be the best addition to your business when compared to manual testing
- ROI helps businesses estimate when they will get actual returns (that is, when businesses can expect to get money for cost savings)
- Positive ROI – Calculate The ROI attracts investors and decision-makers, the better your calculation, the higher investment you will get for your business
So, now that you are aware of a few reasons behind why to calculate ROI, check out this formula to calculate yours now!
The Formula for Calculating The ROI in Mobile App Testing
The very first thing you need to do before calculating your ROI is get a few numbers of your business:
- Investment costs
- Investment benefits
If you don’t have any fixed number of the above two, it’s completely fine. You can make use of the below given steps to find an approximate number of investment costs and investment benefits.
For calculating Investment benefits of your business, try adding up all savings and reduced risks you will face while in the process of adopting automation. You will need these numbers to calculate your Investment benefit:
- Hours your business will save by automating task
- Dollars you will save by cutting off avoidable expense (like cost of software post release, and the cost of troubleshooting)
- Dollars you will be spending on manual testing on your team/or their specific payouts
For calculating Investment cost, make sure to get into your QA process and get details out of there, like:
- Dollars you will have to spend on test automation team or third party services
- Time duration your team will take to write a code for the automation process
- Extra cost you will be required to spend on future automation frameworks and workflows (like maintenance)
Once you will get a rough figure of Investment cost and Investment benefits, you are all set to calculate the ROI in Mobile app automation testing. Follow the below give formula:
- Divide net return on investment through investment cost and multiply it by 100
- Subtract final value of investment from initial cost of investment
- Divide the number obtained through investment cost
- Multiply the value obtained by 100
Roughly, the formula would look like this,
Mobile App Automation ROI =
#1 Net returns on investment / cost of investment × 100
#2 Final value of investment – initial value of investment / investment cost × 100
Things that may affect the accuracy of your ROI calculations
Now, the formula might look easier to many, but the catch here is to find accurate details from a plethora of documents. Grabbing hands on total payroll of employers would be a lot easier, but the issue arrives when you will have to get off your manual testers completely.
Moreover, while quantifying investment costs and benefits, you will also have to calculate the changes that automation might bring to your workflow. Not all test cases can be automated, hence, you will have to keep a few manual testers to save your deal. (Diazepam)
Testing Environments are among the major factors that may affect the accuracy of your ROI calculations. You must never leave out the investment that you will put in while building an automated mobile app testing environment
- Not everything in a business comes with a specific monetary value, for example, the cost of bugs, high product quality, and more
- If you are thinking to build an in-house automation team, you will have to invest a bit more on onboarding and training costs
- Never expect 100% coverage with test automation, there would be a bit of troubleshooting, take care of that, and keep some money aside for the same
Wrapping It Up!
In short, mobile test automation will help businesses test an app more quickly and effectively. You can choose the right automation tool for your mobile test automation strategy. This tool should be cost effective, easy to learn and use, integrates well with current test practices, and can test across various platforms and investments.
Next, make sure to select the right test cases to automate, like: cross platform test cases, repetitive test cases, test cases dealing with complex business logic, test cases that require multiple users, test cases that might require a large amount of data.
So, calculate the ROI of your mobile app now and do let us know whether this formula is working for you or not!
FAQ
What is ROI in Mobile App Testing?
ROI is basically the number a business would get behind their decision to opt for a mobile automation testing process. It can either be negative or positive, indicating whether a specific would perform well in the market post launch.
What is better-automated testing or manual testing?
Both types of testing come with its own set of pros and cons. However, automated testing is more time saving and cost efficient as compared to manual testing.
