IoT Automation Testing: All You Need to Know

When one develops an IoT-based product, testing is deemed to be among the most important aspects of the process. However, given the complexity of the IoT testing process, we have now seen the emergence of automation.

What Is IoT Testing?

IoT testing is primarily the practice of executing QA tests that helps validate the performance, functionality, and security of an IoT device. This is because every IoT device transmits data from one object to another via the internet. Further, it’s crucial to verify that your IoT devices can transmit sensitive information wirelessly. That’s why many successful IoT businesses today rely upon IoT automation, penetration, and performance testing tools so that any defect can be detected before it reaches consumers.

Benefits of IoT Automation Testing

IoT automation testing is decidedly helpful. To help you understand its potential, let us start with an overview of some of the top benefits of IoT automation testing:

Speed

Virtualization, a key facet of the IoT automation testing process, helps the development team to identify issues that obstruct the effectiveness and efficiency of the IoT setup. Furthermore, automation facilitates the execution of simultaneous tests on various devices. All in all, this process is conducive to the consistent and quick testing of IoT devices.

Improved Productivity

Another benefit one gains in this process is via the combination of runtime analysis with live tests. This makes it easier to track errors, generate automated test scripts, and execute regression tests, among other things.    

Comprehensive Coverage

Automation makes it that much easier and more affordable to test not only IoT devices but also the relevant software, different app versions, etc. It also enables the development of easily scalable virtual labs for various testing processes.

Challenges in IoT Automation Testing

Now, let's acquaint ourselves with the challenges that lay on the path to IoT automation testing:

Volume of Data

IoT devices have to deal with huge amounts of data; in fact, the amount of data is so immense, some companies can find themselves struggling to properly manage and leverage this abundance of data. This particular challenge is easily addressed through robust network connections.

Security

One of the most pressing concerns in the context of IoT is, understandably, security. To ensure top-notch security, it is imperative to undertake intensive and all-encompassing security testing of IoT devices. Oh, and don’t forget to implement the latest security measures.

Data Availability in Real-Time

The entire point of IoT is for the real-time transfer of data between the hardware and software and this exchange is often impeded by bandwidth issues and network failure. Hence, make sure to test network performance in accordance with different real-world scenarios.

Key Strategies for IoT Automation Testing

Finally, a look at the key strategies:

Periodic Testing

Testing teams would do well to remember that the key to ensuring the success of automation IoT testing is regular tests, patches, etc. for the software following the release of an update. While we are talking about updates, please remember that the lack of regular updates can pose a grave threat to network security.

Network Virtualization 

Even though IoT equipment is highly dependent on network availability, the fact remains that network tests can prove to be quite challenging, especially without the recreation of real test environments. This is why network virtualization tests are recommended since they allow companies to visualize the expected network conditions ahead of time and address issues that may arise, if at all.

Conclusion

IoT testing, while a tad complex, is undoubtedly imperative to achieve sync between IT infrastructure and the network. Hence, the Quality Assurance team must pay careful attention to this facet of the overall testing process as well.