It’s important that QA leaders strike the right balance between delivery speed and software quality.
Friction between software programmers and testers remains a major concern for development studios and any organizations that produce their own applications in house. A major sticking point between these two teams has to do with the role of the quality assurance department and its effect on release delays. While testing is no doubt a critical component of the software development process, there remains some debate regarding how much time and energy should be devoted to it.
Software testing professional Martin Mudge addressed this quandary in a recent post he wrote for The Drum. He explained that an all-or-nothing approach to QA procedures could significantly harm an organization. If testers take too long to comb through code and identify disruptive bugs and defects, the project could face delays that would impact a company’s bottom line. Short-changing the testing process presents its own set of concerns. A buggy release will likely turn away both prospective and returning customers. Despite that risk, many business leaders choose to cut QA time short in order to meet product launch dates.
“Traditionally, good quality testing has taken weeks or months at the end of development,” Mudge wrote. “As a result, a lot of enterprises choose not to test beyond what has already been done by a third-party developer, or perform just a few days of testing in-house or by outsourcing. This often results in faulty software that can damage a brand’s reputation.”
Take the foot off the gas
Even with today’s short software production schedules in mind, companies should never rush through the testing process. There have been numerous instances in recent memory of organizations cutting back on their QA time tables in order to meet a deadline only to have that decision come back to haunt them. The government’s troubled rollout of its Affordable Care Act website has proven to be the most publicized, but there are plenty of other cautionary tales offering the same lesson: Software testing shortcuts will inevitably sink a project.
QA team members should always be given the proper amount of time needed to run test cases and ensure that recent builds function as expected. Software testing veteran Cheylene Thongkham argued that patience was one of the key virtues that every QA professional should demonstrate. Carefully analyzing in-development applications to eliminate disruptive flaws and defects will only make the finished product more reliable and consistent, resulting in an overall better experience for the end user.
Because of the potential issues that can arise from the release of a buggy software build, it is imperative that QA managers give their team members enough time to run test scripts and check for errors. Organizational leaders should always strive to strike a balance between delivery speed and software quality, but in the end, the tester should have the last word.
About the Author
As the VP of Client Service for Zephyr, Sanjay brings over 15 years of leadership experience in IT and Technical Support Services. Throughout his career, Sanjay has successfully established and grown premier IT and Support Services teams across multiple geographies for both large and small companies. Most recently, he was Associate Vice President at Patni Computers (NYSE: PTI) responsible for the Telecoms IT Managed Services Practice where he established IT Operations teams supporting Virgin Mobile, ESPN Mobile, Disney Mobile and Carphone Warehouse. Prior to this Sanjay was responsible for Global Technical Support at Bay Networks, a leading routing and switching vendor, which was acquired by Nortel. Sanjay has also held management positions in Support Service organizations at start-up Silicon Valley Networks, a vendor of Test Management software, and SynOptics.
