With ever-shortening project release cycles, assuring the quality of code, while managing the costs and risks, is a challenge faced by many enterprises today. "Test today to keep your competitors at bay" is the new mantra in the current scenario. With project life cycles decreasing even as software complexity is increasing, testing becomes a critical factor in the success of the project as a whole. Today, a lot more discipline and focus is ascribed to the field of quality assurance, owing to major software failures in the past.

Why would an enterprise require specialized testing services?

• It is important to improve the testing strategy as a whole, as opposed to finding defects, so that further flaws can be detected at an early stage.
• Manual functional testing needs to be bolstered by automation to keep testing costs and timelines in check, without compromising on quality.
• Vast knowledge of the domain, environment and user behavior is a pre-requisite in order to simulate close-to-live test environments and identify potential threats to the system.
• Minimize the time to market, while ensuring robust, reliable products, which meet the required quality standards.
• Prevent application performance degradation that may result in loss of revenue due to downtime experienced by the end users.

Why would an enterprise need an independent testing team?

Understanding software faults and failures is the first step to treating it & recognizing a failure is one of the most important skills that a tester can possess. A number of enterprises tend to make the mistake of using their developers to test their software applications. This is indeed a not-so-productive practice, considering that developers generally tend to overlook the issues in their own code and test the code only from a functional standpoint. A good test engineer, typically, would try to make the application fail & a good developer would try to see how he/she could avoid failure.

Ashwin Krishna, COO, Torry Harris Business Solutions explains "To minimize rework and project failures, it is imperative that an independent testing team validates the applications. 'Torry Harris QTLabs', an independent verification and validation vertical of Torry Harris, builds on the foundation of flexible and lightweight processes, to deliver software testing services to enterprise clients across the world".

Aspects that need to be considered, for testing:

• Selecting the right tools to use
• Drafting formal rules for each activity performed
• Setting up a robust test environment in order to ensure all environment-related issues are captured during the testing phase.
• Determining the types of tests to be conducted, based on the business requirements
• Determining the team, the processes and the platforms to be used

A few guidelines for testing:

• A useful exercise would be to define and review current testing processes followed. This would be a one-time activity that would prove beneficial in the long run.
• Building the correct infrastructure is a necessity to make the testing process a success. Optimizing current test resources would make the process cost effective and disciplined.
• Focusing on risk based testing strategy would help in cases of high risk/high priority requirements. This would reduce unplanned IT systems downtime across key applications. It minimizes impact on the live environment.
• Determining appropriate entry and exit criteria helps in executing to perfection.
• Understanding where automation may work is an important aspect, as all tests cannot be automated and may not be productive, if automated.

Conclusion

Testing is not an art; it is a discipline. By following well-defined processes and accurate planning, the quality of the application can be assured. The following aspects would need to be considered to achieve high-quality code:

• Implement an efficient, manageable and clearly defined process, which outlines all activities to be performed across the testing lifecycle
• Focus testing on high impact requirements to minimise potential risks
• Ensure all systems of a service are integrated to provide a stable test environment in which to perform acceptance testing
• Enforce higher quality end products through defined and enforced stage containment
• Introduce well defined accountabilities using testing expertise

CIOL Bureau