Breaking from QA’s Status Quo

To withstand the test of time, a company must embrace the changes that come along with it. The concept of Agile development was born from this ideology. However, a great idea is only as good as your ability to execute on it. Considering that 97% of organizations practice Agile in some form, but only 16% are mature in their approach indicates there is a significant lack of executional ability.

Think about it; how much have your testing teams and resources actually changed over the years? Probably not much, if at all. Even the most tried-and-true solutions need to evolve in order to operate at an optimal level. QA is no exception.

Over the years, there has been little innovation when it comes to QA. When in-house teams became insufficient to carry the load, companies traditionally sought out inexpensive labor in offshore testing teams. While these solutions still exist, the offshore model is fundamentally broken. It only perpetuates the status quo of QA and leaves organizations with the same core issues. It’s time to break from tradition and embrace a better solution. Here’s where you should get started.

Agile Demands Continuous Feedback

To optimize an Agile testing approach, continuous feedback is a must. However, doing so under traditional testing conditions is virtually impossible, even for the largest global organizations. There are only so many hours in the day and no one wants to test nights, weekends, or holidays.

If you’re lucky enough to have in-house testers at multiple offices around the world, you might be able to eliminate some of the downtime you experience. However, even in that case, the time difference creates gaps between the reception and integration of feedback. Offshore teams encounter the same time issues, but introduce several others in addition.

Going Beyond the Test Lab

Though much of your testing can be completed in a test lab between manual and automated tests, the true test of quality comes from testing beyond the lab. Let’s be honest, your customers aren’t using your app in pristine conditions – they’re experiencing it in the real world. If you can’t replicate those conditions, you leave yourself vulnerable to many unknowns.

The problem is, you likely service users from multiple markets, possibly even in multiple countries. Your testers can only be in so many places at once, so how can you possibly get enough testing done in those critical real-word scenarios? You can’t on your own. You need professional testers in your target markets to test in live conditions with real devices. Offshore teams can’t provide that as they operate in a lab, but more importantly, they’re limited to a single location. So where do you turn when the status quo solutions can’t maintain the status quo?

Now We’re Testing with Gas

You’ve probably heard the phrase “cooking with gas” when referencing a more efficient way of carrying out a task. Now don’t you want to test with gas? It’s not hard to do with the right testing solution. All it takes is a commitment to change. Applause has been fueling QA teams for more than ten years now, helping them mature their Agile process and improve everything from their software quality to speed to market to the overall user experience.

See more about how Applause can augment your testing practice and how it compares to your status quo solutions.