4 Tips for Better Software Testing Management

Organizations rely heavily on their technology infrastructure to enable business growth. Software testing management is critical to ensuring that applications used by the workforce perform as intended and won’t break down when employees are in the middle of crucial tasks. Quality products don’t happen by chance but are the result of a rigorous testing process.  

What is Software Testing Management?

Software testing management covers all activities performed by testers before, during, and after the development process. In legacy processes, most testing occurred after development teams completed their build. That changed as more IT shops shifted to agile development. Testing now occurs at all project phases, leading to faster testing and faster delivery of finished, high-quality products. 

The test management process is essential to measure software development progress objectively. When done correctly, the methodology lowers the risk of overlooking mistakes that can be costly to fix once they are in production. You can also eliminate wasteful procedures, overcome testing challenges, and speed up the software testing process. 

4 Tips To Improve Test Management

You’d be surprised to learn how many top enterprises still have testers relying on spreadsheets to track and manage test cases. Many testers also perform their tasks manually, making it harder to try and meet critical project deadlines. It’s a good idea to invest in testing management software that lets you organize, design, automate, and execute essential testing processes while adhering to the best practices listed below. 

1. Identify Current Testing Challenges

Testers should start with a comprehensive plan covering the entire test life cycle. 

Planning Phase

Look for and analyze risks that might crop up during the project. For example, what happens if you cannot get information from a subject matter expert (SME) about a critical process? What impact will that have on the development team’s ability to include functions that accommodate a specific business area? This is where you identify alternative methods of obtaining the data to ensure that the rest of the project flows smoothly. 

You should also document any software risks or vulnerabilities. For example, you should note whether there have been any recent security alerts around any third-party application programming interfaces (APIs) tapped for use with the product under development. 

Once you’ve identified all the risks, draw up estimates around the resources you’ll need to complete your testing and the skills required from test team members. You must also determine the time and costs needed to complete each test. Mapping this out beforehand makes the execution of tests flow more smoothly. 

Execution

Perform the following activities during your test execution:

• Set an outline of goals to achieve for your project
• Understand what metrics will be used to measure the success of each test process
• Compare the expected outcome with the performance results
• Create activity reports on each of your findings
• Report any issues that arise during test execution

2. Leverage Automated Testing

Because testing happens earlier in development for agile teams, you’ll likely have to repeat software tests after developers make their changes. Use test management tools with automation capabilities to prevent the need to replicate the tests manually. You can run automated tests repeatedly without adding to your initial costs. Automation can typically complete in hours tests that take humans days to accomplish. 

Software test management tools with automation functions let you cover more testing ground. Test automation repeats steps in the same order while recording the outcomes. Because you’re removing the need for manual intervention, you can avoid human errors that might affect the results.

You can run test automation on multiple computers using different configurations to mimic various environmental conditions. In addition, automation can be run from inside applications to view data tables, file content, and internal programs to monitor behavior more effectively. 

3. Encourage Collaboration Within Your Team

When testers and developers collaborate throughout a project, it increases the chances of success. Engaging with each other helps ensure that both teams are working toward the same goal, not opposing each other. In addition, eliminating any early tension makes it easier for testers and developers to open a dialog to ensure there are minimal bugs to fix, saving money in the end. 

Test management tools make monitoring testing tasks easier for developers and testers. A shared platform that facilitates collaboration makes it easier for both teams to review progress, even in different locations. Testers can also keep up with any internal developer tests to understand how to prioritize certain features or what to look for in code behavior. 

4. Use Reports and Data to Improve Your Process

Reporting is crucial to the test management cycle. A lack of reporting can lead to gaps in understanding how well testing is progressing. Having the right test management tools in place can make it easier to record metrics, generate reports, and share progress with interested stakeholders or clients.  

Reporting helps you spot potential gaps in your testing processes and fix them before they lead to costly mistakes in the final product, such as:

• Issues with the test automation scripts
• Problems with the construction of the backend systems
• Bugs that crop up during the execution of testing

Reports provide you with insights that let you make faster business decisions. Your reporting solution should provide you with more than the bare minimum regarding information. Examples of additional information you should capture include screenshots, logs, and testing history. 

Because so many teams are under pressure to deliver products faster, reporting becomes even more critical. The accuracy of your reporting can be the difference between quickly spotting and resolving an issue or delaying a release because of an overlooked error in a crucial function. 

Streamline Your Testing Process

Make your testing process more efficient by investing in a quality test management tool. Ranorex empowers teams by supporting collaboration and removing the complexity from the testing process at every phase. Reach out to one of our team members to learn more about the benefits of Ranorex Studio.