Every software development process has to go through a stringent routine of Testing before the product is finally delivered. Test engineers work hard to identify bugs but they often reappear. Manual testing is carried out by testers mainly to locate new defects whenever new features are introduced in a product. However, Automation testing helps increase efficiency and coverage of testing specifically when we are looking for regression defects after the introduction of improved features.

Even though Automation Testing has improved the testing coverage quite extensively but there are times when automated tests are not able to find all the errors or defects in the product. Let us list down the reasons for failure of automation tests and how can they be avoided:

• Mistake in the test code: The test cases do not run correctly or the tests do not operate as expected by the test engineers. This could happen when the test engineers have made a mistake while coding the test scenarios or may have put the verification points at the wrong places.
• Test environment issues: Test automation not only depends on the test case and the product code but also the test environment in which it is being run. This could involve third party applications and downstream systems on which the entire testing effort depends. If there is a problem with these systems or they don’t respond to the automation test scenarios then the automation tests are bound to fail.
• Test designer missed out a test scenario: Test automation is a long process wherein initially the test designers or engineers need to identify the possible test scenarios and once identified they are coded or scripted in a programming language so that they can be executed on the automation platform. Hence, if the test designer happens to miss a possible test scenario initially then it cannot be scripted and thereby the bug remains unidentified.

Hence automation testing involves meticulous planning and correct test scenario scripting. Any mistake on the part of the test engineer or the test environment settings could lead to the failure of automation test process.

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