The software industry is booming, and new software startups are showing up daily. The trends of what makes these startups' successes or failures are continually shifting. To keep up with the demands of the market, you must be ready to do everything you can to ensure that your next best thing is precisely that, the best. 

The most straight forward and commonly overlooked way to achieve this level of preparedness is to ensure that the software is well tested before the power falls into the hands of the end customers. Underestimating the power of a small problem could lead to a high cost. You don't have to search very hard to come up with examples that support this argument. Take something as significant as the Equifax breach back in 2017. More than a third of the US population had their information breached due to a lack of quality assurance practices. You can even trace back to GameStop's epic failure at entering the game rental service. Only a month after launching, the company discontinued the service only due to a lack of implementation and integration. They blamed the complete failure on computers not being programmed to manage the program. You would have thought this was something they would have known or planned on integrating, but life moved on, and GameStop seems to be doing okay when it comes to competing in the digital world.

You want your company to be remembered for the excellent service it did for your consumers and the communities you impacted, not for your lack of willingness to put in the work to ensure quality products. Let's break down a few different ways you can ensure quality software testing and implementation.

Planning

To avoid any failure to launch, like that of GameStop, your first move should always be to plan. Your worst mistake would be to come up with an idea, develop the software, and throw it out into the world, hoping you did all the required steps to succeed. Do not wait until you have finished up your requirements phase before you start laying out what the testing process will resemble. "Testing software should be seen less like tasting the food once it is on the table, and more like tasting the recipe at every step to make sure nothing is missing. In addition to the broad concept of planning, test processes should also be well defined and have the ability to be documented. When it comes to defining testing procedures, quality management plans are a great resource," says Adam Kram, a tech blogger at Essay Help and Academized.

Quality Management

The key components to quality management revolve around developing clear objective, concrete steps in the process that can be reviewed for the quality level at that stage, a set of standards, controls, roles, and tools to measure by. The overall purpose of this step is to give you a tangible way to outline the potential roadblocks you may face when developing the software, and how you would address any gaps that may not have been expected from the beginning. This tool is also helpful when you want to ensure that not only are you producing quality software for consumers, but you are also meeting their needs and expectations as buyers.

Work Environment

Let's talk about the individual testers and how much value they hold to your vision and your company. As generally recognized, testers sit on a deficient level of the power dynamic in a company. Their job is not to create or bring to life a new and fun project, but rather to find all the things wrong with what was created. "This frequently makes the job feel less valued. If testers feel this energy, likely, the job will not be done well. Recruit candidates that have a knack for details and have patience through the process. There should be a level of respect and admiration for the position, not only out respect for their qualities as a person but also ensure that high-quality goals are set and met," explains Dan Jacobson, a software tester at Gradeonfire and WritingPopulist. It is also a widespread practice to encourage proximity between testers and developers. The culture and teamwork aspect of this project is highly valuable, and this methodology encourages quality through physical interaction rather than applications or emails.

Automated

Although the value of manual testing is something that can not be undervalued, there is a certain extent to which automation should be incorporated to keep your systems competitive and accurate. Implementing automation skills can assist testers in performance layers, browser compatibility, and much more. As long a tester is equipped with proper training, they should be able to utilize automation to produce higher accuracy within the software. If we simplified this down and highlighted the top reasons what the integration of automation is valuable, it would be the ability to save time, increase quality, reduce testing cost, increase capabilities, and improved test coverage.

Reporting

What would be the point of collecting all the testing data if you had no idea what to do with it at the end of the day? That is where reporting comes into play. Testers must be able to compile and organize their data in such a way that you could produce a tangible resource that guides your next steps. The most important aspects of this component include detailed descriptions of testing activity, precise information, follow a standard template or outline for consistency, and be specific when it comes to summarizing. You can only generate information based on the data you collect, but you don't want to overwhelm your testers with too many expectations, or you will end up with bad data. Know your objectives and collect information that will help you better real those goals.

Separate by Systems

When you can allow testers to focus on systems separately, you are increasing the understanding of each tester in their niche. When they start to understand how their system works and are not continually having to switch gears from one system to another, they begin to identify problems that are not necessarily trained on. This is the value of the learning curve. The more they get to work with something, the easier it becomes for them to navigate the system and increase efficiency in their work. Here you want to make sure that you have testing environments that resemble production systems. That way, if you do need to move a tester from one system to another, they can still learn the process quickly. This will increase efficiency and help avoid any significant problems that might arise from separating testers by systems.

These are just some of the many practices you can begin to implement that I guarantee will shift the way your testers and consumers are affected by your software system testing processes. Testing is essential to developing a high-quality product and a smoothly run company. If you are willing to put in the time, money, and effort from the start, you will save all of these things in the future. This is not an overnight process, and I would encourage doing as much research as you can into your objectives and consumer expectations so that you implement the most effective system possible.

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About the Author

 

Bea Potter enjoys reading and writing in the realm of online marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Her beliefs and platforms for growth address lifelong learning and self improvement. Not only is she a writer for Resume Writing Service, but Bea also writes for Assignment Writing Services.