January is perfect for testing improvements. There's something about turning the calendar to a fresh year that makes us want to improve everything. Here’s a resolution that matters—fixing what's broken in your functional testing process.

January gives you a natural checkpoint. Q4 is behind you, budgets are refreshed, and you've got a whole year ahead to make meaningful changes. The testing challenges you faced last year don't just magically disappear, but 2026 can be different if you're willing to tackle the real problems head-on.

Here are five resolutions that will genuinely transform your testing process for the new year.

Resolution 1: Automate repetitive regression tests

Your team is spending way too much time clicking through the same test scenarios day in and day out. It's mind-numbing work, and it's expensive. Every manual regression cycle delays your releases and burns out your best developers and testers.

The solution isn't to automate everything overnight. Start with the tests that cause you the most pain. Which scenarios do you run before every release? Which of those take the longest to execute manually? Those are your targets.

Here’s how you can get started with OpenText functional testing solutions:

• Use AI-powered test automation to capture repetitive workflows.
• Leverage intelligent object recognition that adapts when your UI changes, reducing maintenance time.
• Write one script that works across web, mobile, desktop, API, and mainframe platforms.
• Let your team focus on exploratory testing where human insight matters.

Pick your most critical test scenarios this month. Automate them. See the difference. Then expand from there.

Resolution 2: Improve test data management

Bad test data kills good testing strategies. Tests fail because the data is corrupted. Environments are tied up waiting for the data to refresh and now your testers can't find the specific data combinations they need.

This year, treat test data like the critical asset it is. Build a proper test data strategy that includes data provisioning, masking for security, and on-demand access. Here’s how OpenText functional testing solutions can help:

• Integrates test data management directly into your testing workflows.
• Gives testers on-demand access to the data they need without filing tickets.
• Uses data masking to maintain security while testing with realistic data.
• Reduces environment wait times and keeps your testing pipeline flowing.

Good test data management isn't glamorous, but it's the difference between a testing process that flows smoothly and one that constantly hits roadblocks.

Resolution 3: Implement continuous testing in CI/CD

If your testing still happens at the end of development, you're already behind. Continuous testing means running automated tests throughout the development pipeline, catching issues when they're cheap to fix.

The practical approach? Start small. Run your fastest smoke tests on every check-in, broader regression tests nightly, and full suites before major releases.

OpenText functional testing tools allow you and your teams to:

• Integrate seamlessly with Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab, and other CI/CD platforms.
• Automatically trigger tests at every stage of your pipeline.
• Get immediate feedback when code changes break functionality.
• Track and prioritize issues automatically based on business impact.

Developers get immediate signals when they break something, and your release confidence skyrockets.

Resolution 4: Expand test coverage in neglected areas

Every application has them. The modules that rarely get tested. The edge cases that "probably work fine." The integrations that only get checked when something breaks in production. These neglected areas are where your biggest risks hide.

Run a coverage analysis and identify the gaps. Look at production defects from last year. Where did issues slip through? OpenText helps you:

• Use coverage analytics to visualize gaps and identify blind spots.
• Expand testing across web, mobile, API, and enterprise applications.
• Address platform-specific risks (maybe your mobile testing lags behind web).
• Make conscious decisions about what you're testing rather than discovering gaps when customers find bugs.

You can't test everything, but you should consciously decide what you're not testing rather than discovering gaps when customers find bugs.

Resolution 5: Harness GenAI to transform your automation practice

2026 is the year to leverage generative AI in your testing strategy. OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform Functional Testing brings cutting-edge GenAI capabilities that fundamentally change how you approach test automation.

• Accelerate automation authoring: Generate test scripts from natural language descriptions or existing manual test cases
• Intelligent test maintenance: AI suggests fixes when UI changes break tests, dramatically reducing maintenance overhead
• Smart test generation: Automatically create additional test scenarios based on your application's behavior
• Faster defect analysis: Get AI-powered insights into test failures and root causes

This isn't just incremental improvement. GenAI capabilities in Core Software Delivery Platform Functional Testing can massively improve your automation practices and give your team superpowers they didn't have before.

Make your resolutions stick with OpenText functional testing solutions

What is the difference between resolutions that fizzle out and the ones that transform your testing? Having the right tools backing you up.

OpenText Functional Testing gives you AI-powered automation that works across web, mobile, desktop, API, mainframe, and enterprise applications. We're talking about intelligent object recognition that adapts when your UI changes, so you're not constantly rewriting tests.Save automation authoring and maintenance time by writing 1 script for multiple platforms.

OpenText Functional Testing for Developers lets your development team shift testing left without leaving their favorite IDEs, catching issues earlier when they're cheapest to fix.

OpenText Functional Testing Lab for Mobile and Web provides an entire enterprise-grade lab of real devices and browsers, so you can test like your users experience your apps.

Everything integrates. Your automated tests flow into CI/CD without drama. Test data management sits right where you need it. Coverage analytics show you the gaps before customers find them. When you discover issues, they get tracked and prioritized automatically based on what matters to your business.

Thousands of organizations count on OpenText for their most critical testing, from complex enterprise systems to agile teams shipping daily.

Set achievable goals and measure success

The testing improvements you make in 2026 will pay dividends for years to come. Don't try to fix everything at once. Pick the resolutions that address your biggest pain points and execute them well. Small, consistent progress beats grand plans that never get implemented.

Here's to a year of better testing, fewer production incidents, and a team that's actually excited about the improvements you're making. Happy new year from all of us at OpenText!

Ready to make 2026 the year your testing strategy matches your ambitions?

The post New year, new test strategy: Resolutions for better functional testing in 2026  appeared first on OpenText Blogs.