An Invitation to Connect
Hey there, We wanted to share a few updates and create more opportunities for us to connect this year. To kick things off, we're hosting a couple of informal sessions for Community Champions to meet us, learn more about our plans for the year and share any ideas or feedback you'd like to contribute. Group sessions: Tuesday, June 23rd 2026 Time: 13:00 BST (British Standard Time) Thursday, June 25th 2026 Time: 13:00 EDT (Eastern Day Time) To keep the sessions exclusive to Community Champions, we won't be posting the meeting links publicly. If you're viewing this in the community, simply hit the Like button on the post and we'll send you an invitation. If you're reading this via email, just reply and let us know which session you'd like to attend. If you'd prefer not to join a group session, let us know by reply and we'll be happy to arrange a conversation at a time that works for you. We'll also be introducing regular open office hours in the coming weeks, so there will be plenty of opportunities to connect in whatever way suits you best. We'd love to hear from you, but there's absolutely no pressure - we'd simply like to make it easier for us to stay in touch and work together going forward. With best wishes, Jo and Tanzeem.Who Am I? (OK, so I am a Community Champion.)
I’m a 10-year TestComplete veteran in the United States, working for a mid-sized manufacturing company. We develop and maintain our enterprise software in-house. I started out as a test automation developer working with internal order management applications. I am now a Development Analyst and Agile Project Owner for that same team. Since I did most of my automation work there, the transition was a natural one. Test Case Automation We started using Keyword Tests about 11 years ago — about a year before I joined the company. We then moved to scripting with VBScript and C#, and eventually settled on JavaScript. Our developers primarily used TypeScript, so JavaScript made sense from an in-house support and learning-curve perspective for both the team and the department. We dabbled in Python several years ago, but at the time it was still fairly new to our team, so we stayed with JavaScript. Now I’m learning Python again. It has become more popular with our developers and in the broader community. We may move to Python at some point, but for now all of our scripts remain in JavaScript. Our tests run through DevOps pipelines, so I’m familiar with the process, although it was never mine to own or configure. We use Git with DevOps for source control. I love Git — it has saved me more than once! Other SmartBear Products I’ve also experimented with integrating SoapUI and TestComplete, as well as running a trials of ReadyAPI and Zephyr. We don’t currently do a large amount of automated API testing, but I expect that may change as we continue modernizing and moving away from legacy applications. Test Case management is done in Azure Devops mostly due to the tight integration with the DevOps pipelines and a strong history with Azure Devops. I like Zephyr and ReadyAPI however for the seamless integration on the QA side. We currently have a pretty smooth operation with TestComplete and Azure DevOps and everyone is familiar. Upgrades Over the years, I’ve seen many TestComplete upgrades, and our team has developed a workflow to mitigate issues. We incorporate many of the concepts outlined in Hassan_Ballan's excellent article... Surviving Upgrades: How to Manage Change Across Test Automation Toolchains. For the most part, we are not early adopters. Our test lead installs the latest version he considers “stable” based on version numbers, release notes, and research in the forum. He typically runs it against multiple projects for a few weeks before rolling it out to the rest of the team. These are the core practices. AI Yes — I use AI. In fact, I’ll probably use it to proof this post. 🔍 Our organization provides licensed AI tools and actively encourages responsible use. I use AI as a pair programmer and productivity assistant. Sometimes it’s a bit of a love-hate relationship. I don’t typically copy and paste code directly, but it gives me solid ideas and helps me quickly find relevant information. I don’t script in TestComplete as much as I used to, but I still write the occasional utility script — things like speed checking data entry, repeatability, validating order limits, or generating testing data, things that wouldn’t fit neatly into a regression suite or would be too time-consuming for manual testing. As an application owner and development analyst, I also use AI to help collect information from work tracking and collaboration systems to support backlog grooming and better understand how our software is being used. I’ve worked with tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok. Each tends to be better suited for different purposes. Certifications & Learning I don’t have a long list of fancy certifications. I’ve mostly learned on the job and through online courses. My LinkedIn profile reflects a number of course completions and certifications including many from SmartBear. I don’t typically connect with just anyone — my network consists of people I know personally, follow closely, or have built a long-standing professional relationship with. These days, it’s important to be intentional about who you associate yourself with online. If you’re a Champion, let’s hear your story! I may even start linking to mine as a tagline in my forum posts. Cheers!
Champions Spotlight: Share Your Expertise!
Hello Champions! First and foremost, thank you for being such an incredible part of our community! Your insights, expertise, and dedication continue to inspire and help countless developers in the SmartBear ecosystem. We're excited to remind you about our Champions Articles space – your platform to shine and share your knowledge with the broader community: Champions Articles | SmartBear Community Why Share Your Articles? Showcase your expertise and thought leadership Help fellow developers solve real-world challenges Build your professional brand and visibility Contribute to a stronger, more knowledgeable community What Can You Publish? Whether it's tutorials, best practices, case studies, how-to guides, or innovative solutions you've developed – we want to hear from you! Your unique perspective and experience are invaluable. We're Here to Support You: ✅ Most of the champions have Blog Author permissions ✅ We'll help promote your content across relevant community spaces ✅ Content will be reviewed and published based on topic relevance, context, and quality Need Help? If you encounter any permission issues or have questions, please don't hesitate to DM me directly. Ready to share your story? Head over to the Champions Articles space and start publishing! Your contribution could be the breakthrough someone needs. Looking forward to reading your amazing content! 🚀 Warm regards, Tanzeem Community Manager, SmartBear
Surviving Upgrades: How to Manage Change Across Test Automation Toolchains
The Pain Point (a story we’ve all lived) It’s Friday afternoon, and your team is on the eleventh-hour push to ship a release. Everything has been working all week — the build is green, the smoke tests passed, and you’re finally feeling the relief of a job well done. Then it happens. A test suite that has been stable for weeks suddenly fails in dozens of places, and the failures don’t make sense. You didn’t change anything. The application didn’t change. The environment didn’t change — or so you thought. But somewhere in the stack, something moved. Maybe the browser auto-updated overnight. Maybe a Windows patch was applied. Maybe the CI agent updated. Maybe the automation tool itself installed a minor version update without you realizing. Now the release is blocked. The team is waiting. The deadline is looming. And you’re left in the middle of a nightmare: “Everything was fine… and now nothing works.” That’s not a automation tool problem. That’s not a browser problem. That’s not even an automation script problem. It’s a dependency chain problem — and it’s the most common cause of “suddenly broken” automation. The Real Issue: You’re Managing a Chain, Not a Single Product Automation tools are only one link in a longer chain that includes: OS or security updates Browsers and runtimes Test tools (TestComplete, ReadyAPI, etc.) Drivers, plugins, integrations The application under test CI/CD agents and infrastructure When one link moves ahead, the chain breaks. So a “successful upgrade” isn’t just installing a new version — it’s ensuring the rest of the chain can support it. The Goal: Upgrade Intentionally, Not Accidentally Upgrades should be treated as controlled change, not something that “just happens.” The upgrade decision should be based on: Need: Do we require a feature or fix? Risk: What can break? Environment readiness: Is the stack aligned? Rollback plan: Can we recover quickly? If the answer is “no” or “not sure,” it’s perfectly valid to wait. Early Adoption: Not a Risk — a Strategy Many teams avoid early adoption entirely, waiting for others to report issues. That’s passive. A stronger approach is: Create internal early adopters intentionally. What that means: A pilot environment is designated for early upgrades Early adoption is expected, not accidental Findings are documented and shared This turns early adoption into risk discovery, not risk exposure. The One True Anchor: Test Environments Across all team sizes, the same rule applies: If you don’t control your test environment, you don’t control upgrade risk. The test environment is the contract that defines what “works.” Environment best practices: Lock OS, browser, and runtime versions per environment Disable auto-updates where possible Treat environments as managed assets Separate: Sandbox / pilot Test / QA CI/CD execution When environments are stable, upgrades become predictable. Scaling Upgrade Practices by Team Size Upgrade strategy changes with organizational scope. Here’s how: Stand-alone automation users You are the early adopter Backups are essential A spare VM can be your pilot environment Rollback must be quick and simple Small teams Use a pilot machine Freeze browser versions used in automation Stagger upgrades across the team Keep a lightweight shared change log Large teams / enterprises Environments are contracts CI/CD agents should upgrade last Forced upgrades (security, browsers) are inevitable Change visibility matters more than speed Browser Updates: The Frequent Weak Link Browsers often update faster than automation tools officially support. Mitigation strategies: Pin browser versions used in automation Validate browser upgrades separately from tool upgrades Expect compatibility lag Use community feedback to spot issues early Browser drift is predictable — and therefore manageable. A Simple Upgrade Flow That Works Everywhere Here’s a repeatable pattern that scales from solo users to large teams: Review version history and known issues Back up projects and configurations Upgrade in a pilot environment Run smoke tests first Observe and document findings Roll out gradually Upgrade CI/CD last This flow keeps upgrades controlled and prevents cascading failures. How to Start (if you have no process yet) If your team has never formalized upgrade strategy, start small. You don’t need heavy change management — just a lightweight, repeatable approach. First 30 days: Choose a pilot environment (VM, spare machine, or sandbox) Create a simple change log (spreadsheet is fine) Define one smoke test suite that represents core workflows Disable auto-updates where possible Next 60 days: Add an upgrade checklist to your workflow Upgrade one component at a time (browser, tool, CI) Share findings with the team Decide on a cadence (monthly, quarterly, or as-needed) By 90 days: Your process becomes repeatable You’ll have real data on what breaks first You’ll stop being surprised by “suddenly broken” automation Printable Checklist Upgrade Readiness Checklist Review release notes and version history Confirm need for upgrade (feature, fix, security, compatibility) Backup all projects and configurations Identify pilot environment Disable auto-updates where possible Run smoke tests in pilot Document findings and workarounds Stagger rollout to team Upgrade CI/CD last Final Thought The goal isn’t to always upgrade first — or always upgrade last. The goal is to upgrade intentionally, with visibility, feedback, and control. When upgrades are planned around environments, team size, and deliberate early adoption, automation becomes resilient instead of fragile.Upgrade Best Practices?
Hello everyone, I would like to start a discussion 'Upgrade Best Practices'. I have seen updates go wrong here in the community with reports like, "Now it's all broken!". Is there a 'Right' way to upgrade? The upgrade and Best Practice pages are pretty slim on content. We are usually never on the latest release unless we need the feature updates. We usually have one person who will install and run with the update on a machine for a week or so before we update everyone else. https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/installing/maintaining/updating.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/working-with/best-practices/index.html This community and the version history pages are always my first stop. https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/version-history/index.htmls What do you do?Letter to the Champions!
Hey All! We wanted to follow up now that we’ve had a little time to settle in and properly get going into our community planning. Looking ahead for the next few months, our focus is on planning community strategy and programmes. Have you noticed we’ve pinned a survey on the Community homepage? We would really appreciate if you could find 5 minutes to provide your feedback there. It’s important that we capture your experiences in order to shape the space to be more in tune with what our members need going forward. Link for your reference - SmartBear Community Survey. We’re also planning to trial regular office-hours–style check-ins, more to follow soon! We’d also love to properly say hello!! If this is something you would like to do, we’re happy to set up a short meet-and-greet video call — either one-to-one or as a small group with the other Champions. Totally optional, and no pressure if that’s not your thing. Please let us know in the comments if you are interested. Thanks again for everything you do — we really look forward to working more closely with you this year. With warm wishes, SmartBear Community Team[Announcement] Q3 2025 Champion Rewards Issued and other updates 🎉
Hello Champions! 🌟 Rewards for Q3 2025 have just been issued to all Champions who qualified. Your knowledge, enthusiasm, and support continue to make the SmartBear Community such a vibrant and helpful place. I also want to share some exciting news! Please join me in welcoming Jo-Laing and tanzeem , who will be helping lead our community programs moving forward. They will be your main points of contact for all things related to the Community Champions program and other community initiatives. I am not going anywhere. I will still be here and involved, but Jo-Laing and tanzeem will be the best people to reach out to for questions or ideas. Thank you for everything you do. The community thrives because of you. Keep sharing, helping, and inspiring! 🙌 Thanks again, Doug and the SmartBear Community TeamTechnical Articles Points
Hello all! Due to API changes by our community platform vendor, points for Technical Articles will no longer be included in the progress gauge in your profile. These points will be added to your point total at the end of each quarter. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks, Doug[Announcement] Q2 2025 Champion Rewards Issued 🎉
Hello Champions! 🌟 Rewards for Q2 2025 have just been issued to all Champions who qualified. Your knowledge and positive energy keep the SmartBear Community vibrant and helpful. Thank you for everything you do. The community thrives because of you. Keep sharing, helping, and inspiring! 🙌 Thanks again! Doug and the SmartBear Community TeamResolve Old Threads
Champions can resolve old threads. Someone posted on a 12 year old threads today. Since it is slow today here I am resolving some old open threads. There must be 100's. If we pitch in together maybe we can clean it up. 🙂 SmartBear Community Rules | SmartBear Community Thread Resolution Guidelines To help keep our forums organized and valuable for future visitors, Community Champions and SmartBear staff may mark a response as the accepted solution if a thread shows no activity after 7 days and an answer appears to resolve the issue. If you return to your thread and feel that the marked response does not fully solve your problem, you are always welcome to unmark it as the solution and continue the conversation.
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Surviving Upgrades: How to Manage Change Across Test Automation Toolchains
4 MIN READ The Pain Point (a story we’ve all lived) It’s Friday afternoon, and your team is on the eleventh-hour push to ship a release. Everything has been working all week — the build is green, the smoke te...71Views2likes0Comments