Continuous testing solutions provider Sauce Labs Inc. today announced plans to acquire AutonomIQ Inc., a scriptless test automation solution service that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to assist clients.

Sauce Labs is a provider of continuous testing solutions for customer application experience so that web and mobile applications run better before they are placed in customers’ hands. Using Sauce Labs’ testing capabilities, clients can ensure that web and mobile apps look, function and perform exactly as they should on every browser, operating system and device, the company said.

Through the use of AI and ML, AutonomIQ helps users more quickly and easily create and execute tests for modern software-as-a-service and low-code applications.

Through this planned acquisition, Sauce Labs expects to expand its testing portfolio by adding scriptless test automation to its library of capabilities. That now includes application programming interface testing, visual testing and front-end performance testing.

Sauce Labs will use AutonomIQ’s capabilities to complement the company’s existing expertise in Selenium, Appium and other leading scripted test frameworks, enabling a broader range of users and use cases. AutonomIQ is suited for an emergent class of users such as citizen developers, manual testers, product managers and business analysis who lack the coding expertise to write scripts but still need to participate the test and development lifecycle of apps.

Selenium and Appium are open-source test automation tools. Selenium simplifies automated web application testing by supporting a multitude of browsers, operating systems and programming languages. Appium simplifies automated mobile testing across native, mobile web and hybrid apps.

“The planned acquisition of AutonomIQ lowers the barrier to entry for Sauce Labs users lacking background or proficiency in the coding of automated test scripts,” said John Kelly, chief technology officer of Sauce Labs. He added that it also provides additional value to “traditional Sauce Labs users who, while proficient with scripted frameworks, are nonetheless responsible for many test cases where simple, easy-to-use scriptless automation can save them time and help them be more productive.”

The solution also works for administrators of other software-as-a-service applications such as Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, Oracle, SAP and others now common in modern enterprise stacks that have begun to define business processes amid increasing digital transformation.

“With the continued maturation of AI and ML capabilities, there is now both a need for and opportunity to deliver easy-to-use, scriptless test automation solutions that address those users and use cases for which scripted frameworks are not the ideal solutions,” said Kelly.

This planned acquisition follows Sauce Labs’ recent acquisition of API Fortress, a provider of modern API testing solutions for agile and DevOps teams. It continues the company’s expansion of its stable of testing tool capabilities for clients and enables comprehensive continuous testing for API-driven applications.

The acquisition is expected to close sometime this month but an exact date is not set.

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