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Build or Buy a Software Testing Tool?
Each enterprise can avail
several advantages by
automating its software
testing efforts. As a more
efficient and effective
alternative to manual
testing, test automation
requires pre-scripted
tests to be executed by software tools.
These tools are further enable QA engineers to run
several tests repeatedly and frequently to improve
quality, while saving both time and cost. An organization
also has option to choose from a wide variety of open
source and test automation tools.
At the same time, an enterprise can also consider
building customized software testing tools according to
its specific needs. Therefore, it becomes essential to
evaluate the pros and cons of buying or building a
software testing tools to take the decision that will
increase efficiency, productivity and ROI.

2. 2
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Comparing Option to Build or Buy a Software
Testing Tool
1. Complex Nature of the Application: The decision to
buy or build test automation tools must be taken by
keeping in mind the complex nature of the application. If
the application has complex features, deals with large
volumes of technical data, or uses a frequently changing
UI, it cannot be evaluated effectively by the commercial
tools. Most of the commercial products do not offer any
off-the-shelf solution to submit and process a large
amount of variable data. So an organization has to build
customized tools to process the data effectively while
evaluating the software application.
2. Agile Development Approach: An increasing
number of enterprises are adopting Agile development
to deliver high quality software within a very short span
of time. But the Agile methods emphasize on changing
the UI at rapid and frequent intervals. So the software
testing applications must be customized to write and
executed a large number of automated tests. Also, the
automated test scripts need to run at a time to deliver
accurate test data. In such scenarios, an organization
can avail additional advantages by building the software
testing tools.
3. Open Source Software Testing Tools: An

3. 3
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enterprise can further consider using the open source
software testing tools to avail a number of benefits.
Along with being cost-efficient, the open source toolsets
are also effective in reducing dependencies on specific
toolsets or products, while promoting faster time-to-
market. The QA engineers can further avail the
assistance of the large open source community to
customize the tool without any hassle. Regardless of
your decision, you must consider using open source
tools to get higher ROI.
4. Cost of Development: The budget of an organization
will also affect its decision to buy or build a software
testing tool. An enterprise has to deploy a team of
developers to build a customized tool according to its
specific needs. Similar to normal software development
project, the testing tools development will also require
planning, time, resources and funds. On the other hand,
the commercial software testing tools can be procured
without any hassle. As an enterprise has option to
choose from a wide variety of testing tools, it can further
evaluate the pros and cons of each commercial product
according to its specific needs.
5. Option to Outsource QA Efforts: As an alternative
to building or buying a software testing tool, an
organization can consider outsourcing its software QA
efforts. Along with bringing the QA cost down, the

4. 4
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outsourcing will further enable the enterprise to hire
experienced offshore QA engineers along with availing
the advantages of customized test automation tools.
Once the test strategy, test plan, and test cases to be
automated are finalized, an organization can consider
outsourcing the project to save time, money and efforts.
At the same time, the QA service provider will ensure
that the best tools are used to deliver the most effective
test results.
While building or buying a software testing tool, you
must decide the test cases that need to be automated.
As the look and feel of an application cannot be
evaluated accurately by the tools, interface testing must
not be automated fully. So the test strategy must
seamlessly integrate both manual and automated testing
to achieve the predefined goals. You can hire folks from
professional automation testing companies who have
proven expertise of handling automation testing projects
as well to help you execute the test strategy perfectly.

5. 5
Download ISTQB Study Guide:
www.ISEB-Software-Testing.co.uk
Download ISTQB Study Guide:
www.ISEB-Software-Testing.co.uk