Introduction

This Vienna-based nonprofit organization, founded in 1999, employs approximately 50–100 people, including a 10-member development team. It specializes in digitalizing and streamlining Austrian public procurement procedures. Its flagship products are two widely used web applications that support the publication and search of procurement announcements, serving around 5,000 subscribers.

The Story

The organization had historically relied on in-house manual testing to ensure product quality. However, as the feature set of their applications expanded, the growing complexity introduced significant risks. To maintain high-quality standards and reduce the overhead of manual testing, they decided to transition to automated testing. The development team worked in agile sprints, and the introduction of automation was designed to align with this agile methodology.

The Challenge 

At the start of the project, the primary challenge was designing a test strategy that clearly defined how to effectively test both web applications. With no existing automation framework in place, the objective was to build a robust foundation from scratch.

The selected technologies included Angular for the frontend and a .NET-based backend. To meet project requirements, the automation framework was planned using Playwright, applying the Page Object Model (POM) design pattern, and integrating automated test runs into the Azure DevOps pipeline.

The estimated timeline for establishing the base test framework was approximately 3–6 months of full-time equivalent (FTE) effort. This covered strategy development, framework implementation, and the definition of key milestones to guide delivery.

The Results

The project successfully delivered a scalable and maintainable automated testing framework tailored to the organization’s needs. Built with Playwright and structured using the Page Object Model design pattern, the framework was fully integrated into the Azure DevOps pipeline, enabling seamless test execution within the agile development workflow.

Automated regression tests now cover the critical functionalities of both web applications, significantly reducing manual testing efforts and accelerating release cycles. The team benefits from rapid, reliable feedback on system quality, which has improved early defect detection and enhanced overall product stability. This shift to automation has strengthened the organization’s ability to consistently deliver high-quality updates, keeping pace with the evolving needs of its 5,000+ subscribers.