Scaling Test Automation using a Metadata-centric architecture

Engineering systems that scale well is not something that is always considered up front when systems are initially designed. Often the first priority is simply to deliver something that meets customer requirements, and everything else is secondary. As the system begins to grow and evolve over time, however, it can become increasingly difficult to meet customer requirements because the system is not able to scale effectively. Lack of scalability creates a bottleneck presenting different obstacles for different functions within a product team (BSAs, Developers, QA, Production Services); for QA it can mean that automated tests become increasingly difficult to maintain, more challenging to trouble shoot, more unruly to navigate, and too time consuming to run.

Donald Maffly

Software QA automation specialist with a focus on data. 35+ years of experience.