Automated Testing for Microsoft O365 Apps
Scaling QA Efficiency with Python-Based Test Automation
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Automated Testing for Microsoft O365 Apps
Scaling QA Efficiency with Python-Based Test Automation
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The Challenge
Manual testing across Microsoft Office applications was proving inefficient for the internal QA teams at a swiss global bank. Each application—Excel, Word, OneNote, and Skype for Business—required repeatable testing of core features like formatting, inserting pivot tables, creating notebooks, and managing contacts.
As the volume of test cases increased, so did the burden on internal teams to maintain accuracy and speed. The bank needed an automated approach that could replicate manual QA workflows, capture step-by-step results, and provide clear reporting.
The Solution
The swiss global bank partnered with Topcoder to launch a series of First2Finish challenges aimed at creating Python scripts for automating test cases across various Microsoft Office 365 apps. Across nine targeted challenges, community members developed scripts that:
Automatically executed detailed QA test steps
Captured screenshots and full video recordings of each run
Outputted a step-by-step Pass/Fail result table
Included clear deployment instructions and sample output files
Each challenge focused on a specific application and test scenario—ranging from inserting pivot tables in Excel to verifying contact addition in Skype for Business—allowing the client to modularly scale test automation across their QA suite.
Challenges we ran:
• Automated testing in python challenges 2 - Excel O365
• Automated testing in python challenge 6 - OneNote O365
• Automated testing in python challenge 9 - Skype for business
9
Challenges
111
Participants
16
Submissions
The Impact
The global swiss bank gained a powerful set of reusable Python-based automation tools, significantly reducing manual testing time. These scripts enabled consistent, repeatable testing with rich visual evidence, improving QA reliability while freeing up internal teams to focus on higher-value tasks. The success of this initiative validated crowdsourcing as a fast, cost-effective strategy for QA automation and demonstrated how precise task-based challenges can accelerate innovation at scale.
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