Requests to build new tests are scrutinized on a payback-time basis. This is a combination of how long it would take to recoup the time taken to automate the process, plus how much time automation will save in subsequent test runs. The team routinely incorporates this time-saved element into all of its test runs, which produces a conservative figure for the amount of time and money saved by converting from manual to automated testing. In the majority of cases, even using conservative figures, the payback time is remarkably short. It soon became apparent that huge savings could be achieved.
While the savings varied depending on the complexity of the process involved, they were rarely insignificant. A short run might save just a few hours, but for complex processes, a single run could save many hundreds of hours of manual testing. Says Chip Lee, “In one example, a process that used to take 260 hours to test manually can now be done in just twelve hours. That’s a savings of around 95 percent!”
As the team’s experience develops, the time it takes to build, implement and maintain tests gets shorter and shorter. That means the payback time becomes quicker and savings grow. For management purposes, the time-saved figures are collated every month. Over a 12-month period, Cargill Global Financial Solutions has conservatively saved more than $270,000.