Cloud-Based Testing Tool: The Ultimate Solution for Your Business

Our whole lives are moving to the cloud – why leave software testing behind? 94% of US enterprises are already using cloud technologies, including cloud-based testing. There are many reasons for the shift from on-premises solutions and we’ll tell you about all of them.

Be it cloud-based application security testing tools or no-code test automation platforms, the true adoption of new technology always lies in seeing a comprehensive picture of its benefits and downsides, and for this, continue reading this blog post. Psst. at the end, we’ll tell you about a one-of-a-kind cloud-based automation testing tool with no coding at all and the biggest traps not to fall into when choosing a cloud solution.

Benefits of Cloud-Based Services and How The Cloud Works

To learn why cloud-based testing tools have gained so much traction, we need to understand the very nature of the cloud. No, you don’t need to buy a personal jet to reap the benefits of cloud-based software testing tools. The peculiar naming actually does make sense if we think of the whole internet as the sky with a network of intertangled services, tools, and devices, i.e., various clouds containing abstract data.

The notion of the cloud is, indeed, abstract, and its main advantage for clients is the lack of necessity for on-premises devices. But the companies maintaining the cloud-based solutions do possess hardware, investing huge amounts to ensure the security and agility of the tools.

Among all cloud services, cloud-based testing is especially remarkable. We used to believe that testing was possible only when the infrastructure was bought, downloaded, and maintained locally by an in-house IT department. But things have changed dramatically, as even the testing part of software development can be performed on the cloud. Cloud-based software testing services are usually provided in the following forms:

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

• The cloud-based platform features a whole set of all the tools needed within the software development life cycle, including those for testing, database management, and other middleware and infrastructure. All of them are maintained by the solution provider.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

• Includes networking, storage, and computing resources that are manageable and customizable by a user themselves, which demand much more expertise compared to the first ones.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

• SaaS products serve as a solution for one particular problem, are accessible through a web browser, and fully relieve users from the necessity to maintain software manually. Some SaaS tools have the feature of writing custom testing environments, just like in the IaaS model.

No-Code Tools: A Game Changer for Cloud-Based Testing Solutions

One of the best techniques for cloud-based testing is delivered through no-code tools. It’s basically an amalgamation of the most cutting-edge technologies, which double their advantages for businesses. Mobile apps and web apps, FinTech and Ecommerce testing – everything is possible with no-code cloud-based testing frameworks. The only thing you need to do is choose the right one for your business.

Most of the codeless testing tools literally require no coding skills from a user. Basically, a piece of software is being tested with complicated algorithms and, well, coding employed behind the scenes. Most modern tools allow for test automation via an intuitive, user-friendly interface, meaning that it can be done by non-QA specialists. Different no-code tools for test automation greatly vary in the levels of customization and functional capacities, which are detailedly described in our automation testing guide. Now let’s concentrate on the benefits of low-code/no-code platforms, particularly their most cutting-edge representatives:

24/7 Access and Collaboration

QA teams, developers, and every team member can access cloud-based no-code test automation tools from any device and browser without being attached to a single computer in an office. QA engineers can simply log in, enter a platform, and start testing in the online mode while simultaneously cooperating with their colleagues and sharing results.

One of the biggest benefits of cloud-based applications is their integration with project management and collaboration programs, which is a great opportunity for team members in different time zones to communicate with each other without downloading separate software to their laptops.

Money and Time Savings

Cloud-based automation testing tools are often subscription-based. Just like you buy a yearly or monthly subscription to Netflix, you pay a certain amount to use a platform. Need to scale? Easy! Just pay a bit more, and within seconds your testing steps and types are expanded.

Maintenance and updates are the responsibilities of the vendor, which frees up a huge part of the budget. Once a new browser version is released or a new collaboration tool emerges, the vendor immediately adjusts the configurations to make it work for you. A local test tool would require constant investments to change the hardware and update the program.

Make sure your codeless testing cloud-based applications offer reusable test components and parallel and scheduled test functions. Let’s take cloud-based browser testing. Parallel testing allows you to test an app against a number of browsers and operating systems instead of making Safari wait its turn in a long queue. Add to it the main low-code/no-code benefit – codelessness, and you end up with an extremely agile process.

Compliance with DevOps

This already should’ve crossed your mind when we mentioned the efficiency of cloud-based testing tools. DevOps is about an uninterrupted, fast chain of building, testing, and deployment, and the idea of no-code cloud-based automation testing solutions fits in perfectly. CI/CD integrations streamline the QA processes, ensuring the development pipeline flows smoothly.

No coding, automation of reports and testing, feedback loops, and, of course, enhanced collaboration features all help the business delve deeper into the DevOps culture and, hence, make the team exceptionally effective and productive.

Increased Test Coverage

With a codeless automation testing tool it’s not only possible to increase the number of tests executed, but diversify its scope. When choosing your cloud-based software testing tool, check what testing types it supports. It may turn out that it’s a cloud-based mobile testing tool for native apps only, or it might not have the feature of cross-browser testing that’s crucial for web apps.

For example, DogQ is a codeless cloud-based functional automation testing tool that’s also capable of cross-browser, UI, smoke, and e2e tests. To gain a more profound understanding of the exact machinery of codeless automation testing through a number of real examples, read our previous article. Meanwhile, we go straight to another remarkable benefit of no-code cloud-based applications.

Reduced Reliance on the It Department

This point is especially important for small businesses and startups that can’t afford to maintain a large IT team. As all the main testing tasks can be performed by non-tech experts, such as project managers and business owners, in the beginning you may easily check your app yourself.

Further on, as your app becomes more complex, you probably won’t be able to do without a QA team. But even at this point, a no-code test automation solution will be of service to streamline QA activities and also for you because you won’t need to hire engineers to deal with software maintenance.

How Can a Witty Cloud Vendor Dodge You?

Remember we promised to let you in on a secret about the traps set by many codeless cloud-based application testing tools vendors? They’re often referred to as the “downsides” of no-code cloud-based tools for codeless automation testing. But even the mere knowledge of their existence and a wise approach to the choice of a tool will help to circumvent them. So, here are the downsides, aka traps:

Not truly codeless

A lot of tools require either coding or expertise of some level to leverage them, so you can end up hiring costly experts.

Inability of integrations

If you use tools from different cloud providers, make sure they work together flawlessly.

Lack of data security

Using a cloud-based tool implies that you share your business data with a third party. Ensure the app of your choice is compliant with GDPR and other modern security solutions.

Unnecessary services

Making a business owner pay for the tools testers don’t use at all and redundant tests is a common practice, so monitor carefully for what you’re charged. With a reliable DogQ, you can be sure that you pay only for the number of steps you need in your testing routine, expanding and reducing the amount whenever you need.

So, if, by any chance, all the benefits of no-code cloud-based testing didn’t get you all riled up, well... Why not give it an absolutely free try? Today, we can only trust our own experience, and, understanding this, DogQ has created a free trial period for you to kick the tires before you buy a subscription. It’s high time to give it a try!