Leveraging Scalability in Software Testing Teams

This article discusses how many QA testing teams leverage scalability by implementing an effective test management strategy that reduces rework and testing chaos.

Scalability is all the rage in software engineering and development teams. One very scalable action in development is the software testing team. Many QA testing teams practice scaling up or down on a project or even daily. What is scalability in software testing? Scalability for software testing is the ability to manage workload variations by removing or adding testers to minimize costs.

Scalability improves the QA team’s stability and recoverability when testing becomes longer or short-cycled, or must be performed rapidly for a quick turnaround for customers. How do QA testing teams leverage scalability to increase productivity, identify more defects and execute testing cycles?

This article discusses how many QA testing teams leverage scalability by implementing an effective test management strategy that reduces rework and testing chaos.

What Is Test Management?

Test management is a method of organizing test artifacts manually or preferably through a software-based tool. The advantage of using a tool is many of the processes are automated to save time and keep testers focused on testing. A tool can help QA testing teams adopt standardized processes and automate tedious manual procedures.

Test management organizes the following QA tasks:

• Test case development
• Feature or test documentation
• Issue and test prioritization
• Defect management and tracking
• Test execution organization using variable test suites
• Test execution status and tracking
• Business reporting of defects and other software quality metrics
• Provides access to team members for test artifacts and application test data

Test management enables the effective and efficient management of a software application’s test artifacts and objectively documents test results, repeatedly. Test management enables development teams to control, analyze and track the software-testing process and resources to help produce a higher-quality application.

The most important aspect of test management is organization. Well-organized and effective test management helps QA testing teams prioritize testing, manage testing resources and measure software quality over time. The key to effective test management is organization. Even with the nicest test management tool, the test team must start with an intuitive organization method. Otherwise, tests will get “lost” and rewritten, creating duplicates.

Tips for organized test management:

• Don’t make the folder structure so complex testers cannot locate a test.
• Enable links in test cases for defects, requirements and associated test cases.
• Choose to either store manual and automated tests together or separate them. Never both.
• Don’t make folders too deep. Try to stick to three folders deep maximum.
• Share the test management process with the team regularly to keep all testers on the same page.

An effective test management approach or strategy helps provide testing scalability across the team. Additionally, it improves team efficiency by eliminating wasted time hunting down test cases.

What Are the Advantages of Implementing Test Management?

The advantage of implementing an organized test management strategy is an increase in testing productivity by eliminating or reducing wasted time. Additionally, QA testing teams benefit from collaboration tools, enhanced communication options and reporting for continuous improvement. Everyone on the testing team has access to the test data or deliverables they need all in a single tool or location.

Test cases, plans, execution status and defects are all visible and trackable in a single location. No more rifling around trying to find tests and execution status manually. No more attempting to track it all manually and tediously within a spreadsheet.

Primary advantages of using test management include:

• Test case prioritization
• Team or customer collaboration through test sharing
• Regulatory compliance tracking and history
• Tracking test execution history
• Traceability to requirements or user stories
• Ease of finding the right test case when you need it

Test management tools offer a repository, version control and easy access in one place. Without a test management system, QA testers spend a significant amount of time looking for existing test cases to reuse, and when it takes too long to find them, then a duplicate test is developed. Rework wastes time and creates a disorganized and chaotic system of test case storage and control.

Test management tools also track defects and test execution results. Often teams can easily trace test cases to requirements, user stories, defects and test execution results. Tracking and traceability enable software teams to meet regulatory compliance standards. Accurate tracking checks that requirements or user story acceptance criteria have tests associated with them for increased test coverage.

Test management also allows for test execution efficiency through test suite creation and scheduling. Both enable better effective resource management by knowing who is assigned to test what, when and even where. So, if a bug pops up later, it’s far easier to locate the test and correct it so that defects are identified during any future test executions.

Finally, test management tools provide the ability to manage multiple projects easily. Execution status and documentation aren’t lost, and the team isn’t using an incorrect test version. For example, when tests are stored in spreadsheets or document files, they are often lost or are invalid due to lost changes or invalid updates. Testing is expensive, and organizations can’t afford to constantly rework test deliverables. QA testing teams that use test management tools perform testing with fewer instances of unnecessary rework.

How Does Effective Test Management Build Scalability?

Effective test management builds scalability by organizing test artifacts and data. When testing teams are organized, they can scale up or down to meet the testing needs of multiple projects.

For example, an organized QA team can add or remove testers as project needs dictate without setting the tester or the development team in a tailspin. Testers moving teams can still easily find the tests they need. When new tests are developed, they can be quickly shared with everyone on the testing team. Development teams’ operational practices tend to vary significantly even within the same organization. However, with an organized testing team, everyone is on the same page and operating under shared principles and guidelines. It’s simple to scale testing teams that operate cohesively.

Keeping the team organized also saves time and reduces chaos. It’s essentially the first step toward efficient scalability. Think of it as being the AWS (Amazon Web Services) of the testing world. Every tester operates on shared principles and can be scaled up and down at will.

Why Is Scalability Important for QA Testing Teams?

Scalability is critical for QA testing teams to keep up with the speed of development projects or tasks. Software development teams work at an ever-increasing rate of speed. With development iterations ranging from one day to one month, it’s mission-critical to provide an organized and scalable testing approach.

Development teams shift continuously depending on projects. Many teams get larger or smaller depending on the customer or project priority. Creating an organized, scalable QA testing team makes it quick, easy and efficient to add and remove testers to teams without missing a beat. No need for testers to spend excessive time ramping up on each team’s testing procedures.

An organized testing team creates higher-quality software and a far more enjoyable working situation. Testing morale remains more positive when time is not frequently wasted on unnecessary tasks, busy work or hunting down tests in a maze of test artifacts. Leverage the power of scalability for your QA testing team by organizing your test management strategy.