Stop Paying Your CI Tool To Run Tests
If you are paying for parallel builds/jobs for your continuous integration tool to run parallel test then you could cut your costs by 50% or more. Read on...
Continuous Integration is a necessary part of the software development process. If you are writing code that needs built and deployed then most likely you are using a continuous integration tool. Yes, you can get by doing manual builds...but it doesn’t allow for automating the devops process and why would you want to do it manually? With the latest devops movement to the cloud most companies are heading toward automated deployment pipelines. Running automated tests with parallel execution is necessary for fast feedback and release cycles. But, make sure your strategy includes understanding the implications of running your automated tests in parallel from a cost standpoint.
Most continuous integration tools charge by:
- the number of servers you use
- how small or large the machines are being used
- how many parallel builds/jobs you use
- how many minutes you use
- or a mixture of the above options
Adding in parallel jobs for test automation will make your CI bill skyrocket and it's not always obvious. For instance, one popular CI tool charges $600/month for 4 concurrent builds where another charges $230/month for 5 concurrent builds but they also charge for minutes used. Pricing can get confusing and at the end of the month can throw you for a loop when the total is 3X what you expected ($$$$).
Adding parallel test execution into your deployment process is a great idea to ensure quality, quicker deployments and standardization. Many companies may default to adding more parallel builds on their CI to accomplish this. Not only were CI tools not designed to run automated tests but it is expensive (in money and time)! Many development teams wait on builds to finish in order to get their feature out the door. This wait time costs the company money too. Save your company time and money by considering an alternative approach.
Testery is a continuous testing platform that does automatic parallelization and runs tests super fast and at scale. It takes the burden off your build machines freeing up more time for your team to do what they need to do...like get another release out! Here is how testery works:
Your build machine kicks off the tests, Testery does the heavy lifting to parallelize and run the tests at scale, and then results are sent back to your build server to trigger or stop the next step in the process. Easy!
Here are the benefits to this approach:
- Saves you money (more concurrency on CI tools = $$$$$, Testery doesn’t charge for concurrency...only minutes used)
- Reduces wait time for team members by freeing up builds
- Consolidates test results across parallelized test runs that you would have to do otherwise
- Runs your tests super fast (unlimited parallelization)
- Gives your team a platform focused on test automation and quality (can give you insights into what is going on with your tests across environments)
Sound too good to be true? Try it out for yourself for free. Our team is here to get you up and running quickly. You won’t be disappointed.
Contact support@testery.io with any questions.