In today’s business environment, software is key to the success of many companies. As an owner or manager, you have options for what kind of software you use. It could be off-the-shelf or customized by your own internal team or outsourced professionals. If you choose to use a customized solution, you should be aware of one more critical step in the development process: quality assurance (QA).
This step is especially important if your software development takes place in-house. If you have a star team of developers working on your software and it seems great upon initial testing, you should still have it checked out by an independent QA services provider. Even the best professionals can overlook details and you don’t want to take chances on something so critical to your business, especially if the software is your product.
Why Businesses Need Software Testing
The goals of a business are usually clear: provide excellent customer experience, generate revenue, maximize profit, and maintain a good reputation to help attract customers in the first place. Software testing can help you achieve all these goals.
By ensuring your software is secure and easy to use and provides the expected results, you offer customers a high-quality product or a seamless experience in doing business with you. These results lead to an enhanced reputation and more and/or higher-dollar purchases, which in turn lead to increased revenue and profit.
Conversely, if you provide faulty software as a product or as part of your service, your reputation quickly diminishes, leading to fewer sales and decreased revenue and profit. In addition, any serious problems in the software could cost a good deal of time and money. Software testing ensures your company doesn’t start on this downward spiral.
Software Testing Basics
So, what, exactly, do software testers do? Essentially, they look for everything that could go wrong with a software program. They seek out errors and problems in order to fix them before the program is put to use. Software testers may perform some or all of these specific tasks:
- Functional testing, which involves verifying that each software function operates as expected
- User experience (UX) review, which ensures the software is easy for users to operate
- Competitor analysis, which evaluates the software in comparison to similar products
- Disaster scenario testing, which involves thinking of the worst-case scenario results from software gone wrong and making adjustments to prevent it
- Customer support check, in which testers get information from the customer support team about common customer complaints regarding software already in use
Testers can start the testing process before the software is complete. In fact, the earlier in the development they get involved, the better. When developers know about errors and bugs upfront, they can avoid building on a faulty foundation. In fact, before development begins, testers should develop a test plan for the development process.
In the design phase, they can create scripts for test cases and generates test data. During project development, they can ensure roles and other key components are properly defined and that the design works well on a variety of devices. Once development is complete, the testing team can perform functionality checks, as mentioned above, and retest once defects are fixed. Even after the software is deployed, testers can continue to respond to user concerns.
If you’re tempted to think you can skip any of these steps to save time or money, consider what the costs could be if something goes wrong with your software.
How to Choose a Software Testing Service
Like other outsourced services, external software testing can offer valuable assistance at a reasonable cost. As with other vendors, it’s important to know what you want to accomplish. Ask each provider what their goals are and how they perform specific tasks.
Another critical issue is cost. While a vendor may provide a quote upfront, there could be additional costs when the final invoice comes. Ask about fees for added services. Also, consider whether each provider has experience in your industry. Those who do will likely have an experience that will be valuable in completing your project.
How well does each provider communicate? Try to get a feel for their communication style and determine if it’s a good fit for your team. Narrow the field to two or three providers you think would do a great job, then check references for each one.
In Summary
Software testing may seem like an afterthought to your software development project but, in reality, it’s a crucial component. Good software can help you gain more customers, build loyalty, and enhance your reputation, while a bad program can have the opposite effect.
Whether you use in-house or outsourced professionals to test your software, they should perform enough analysis so you can be confident in putting your work into the marketplace. Outsourced QA services provide professionals who have considerable experience and expertise and an objective eye for your project.
