Efficiency First: Launching Our Test Automation Handbook with Style (and Substance)

Last week, we hit a major milestone with our amazing QA Community — we officially launched the much-anticipated Test Automation Handbook: Efficiency First – A Balanced Approach to All Things Testing. And what better way to do it than with a hybrid event packed with great people, great quotes, and yes, even greater lessons learned! 

The Big Launch 

Our launch event was moderated by none other than Sorin Veleșcu, Functional Lead for the QA Community, who guided the conversation with the kind of calm confidence only years of wrangling test cases can give you. 

Seated at the helm of the discussion in our Iași office were Christopher Roy Turner, General Manager at CGM Software Romania, and Marina Dan, Senior QA Professional and the brilliant coordinator behind the handbook (and former FL in the QA Community). They were joined online by a lineup of special guests from Germany and Romania, who’ve played pivotal roles in bringing this project to life. 

Frank Brecher (Senior Vice President Customer Operations), who originally sowed the seeds of this idea during a visit to Iași, said it best: 

“𝐼'𝑚 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 — 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑! 𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦: 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔-𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑚 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙.” 

From Germany, Benjamin Grotius (Head of Group Software Engineering) also chimed in with support and a sneak peek into what’s next: 

“𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼’𝑚 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 — 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝐿𝐸𝑉𝐴𝑇𝐸 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑦.” 

And back in Romania (virtually), Cornel Neacșu, former Functional Lead in QA, summed it up with clarity and humility: 

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ.” 

How It All Started 

The spark for the handbook came partly from the success of the Product Owners’ Community guide, but mostly from our own challenges in the testing world — especially automation. Misunderstood, often misused, and occasionally glorified beyond reason, test automation needed a fresh perspective. And with encouragement from Chris, Frank and Benjamin, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. 

Why We Wrote It 

We saw too many automation projects kick off chaotically, without the right analysis or context — leading to maintenance nightmares. We also wanted to: 

Educate people unfamiliar with testing. 

Dispel myths about automation being “superior” to manual testing. 

Offer practical, real-world advice based on our experiences. 

Help new testers start their automation journey on the right foot. 

As Sorin put it: 

“𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑄𝐴 — 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡. 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.” 

Two Years, Countless Hours, One Handbook 

The journey wasn’t short. Or easy. 

Almost two years of collaboration, writing, reviewing, rewriting (and then rewriting the rewrite). What began as a brainstorming session between Sorin, Cornel and Marina turned into a full-blown project — with help from our passionate QA volunteers: Alexandra Chircu, Andras Demeter-Vincze, Alexandru Nistor, and Nicolae Plăcintă. 

The biggest challenges? Time management, imposter syndrome, and unifying our different writing styles into one coherent voice. Instead of smoothing over our differences, we embraced them — showcasing the diversity of thought that makes our community so strong. 

As Marina beautifully highlighted: 

“𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚. 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 — 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑄𝐴 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦.” 

Who’s It For? 

Everyone. Really. 

Whether you’re a developer, product owner, manager, or a tester just starting out, this handbook is for you. The first few chapters are especially beginner-friendly — no jargon, no gatekeeping — just clear explanations that make the world of testing accessible. The later chapters dig deeper into the technical side of automation, offering real-life examples and concrete strategies. 

Launch Day Vibes 

Was it nerve-wracking? A bit. Was it worth it? Absolutely. 

We’re not used to the spotlight, but stepping into it allowed us to reflect and celebrate. And hearing words of encouragement from Chris made it all the more rewarding: 

“𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑎. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 — 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜.” 

About CGM Software Romania 

As the software development center of excellence within CGM, we’re proud of the professionalism, dedication, and involvement of our people. We build the future of eHealth — together, and with heart. This handbook is just one of many initiatives where our people rise to the occasion and create meaningful, long-lasting impact. 

Looking Ahead 

We’re immensely proud of the team behind Efficiency First, and of every CGMer who contributed to making this milestone a reality. We can’t wait to see how this handbook empowers teams across CGM and helps shape a more consistent, thoughtful, and efficient approach to automation testing. 

We’ll leave you with this: 
This is not just a handbook. It’s a statement. 
That we believe in quality. 
That we build with purpose. 
And that we’re always striving to be better — together.