People are creatures of habit.
Although this can work to their advantage in many situations, in the high stakes and complex world of software development, such routines can often put a damper on long-term growth.
One particular area in which a lack of innovation and growth can stunt an organization is when it comes to its software testing methodology and tools. If it’s not broken, they think, why fix it?
Unfortunately, there can be many hidden direct and indirect costs to your bottom line and workflow if your software testing program hasn’t evolved with your business.
Here are some areas in which organizations can experience drag on their growth with legacy software testing tools and how modern options can boost your team’s productivity.
Don’t let these reasons hold your development back!
When your organization is early in its software testing maturity, tools like Excel and other spreadsheet programs may work just fine to track requirements throughout the testing process.
However, as your software portfolio grows and the complexity of software design increases, you will quickly outgrow these tools. This can lead to more administrative burden on your staff, less-efficient workarounds, and increased opportunity costs from missing out on more advanced software testing features.
So why do organizations keep using them? Some of these reasons may sound familiar:
- They seem to be able to get the job done “good enough.”
- There is a lack of budget for new software testing software.
- There are other areas that need investment first.
But is your legacy software testing program costing you more than you think?
How do modern software testing tools boost effectiveness?
As your software development maturity evolves, it makes sense for the methodology and tools used to evaluate their effectiveness and fit for purpose to evolve with it. Otherwise, your team may miss defects or lose precious time handling administrative tasks that could be automated.
Here are some other ways modern software testing tools and a more sophisticated software testing program can benefit your team:
- An intuitive, collaborative user interface encourages interaction with testers and developer teams, leading to faster resolution.
- Test cases and software testing schedules can be saved to simplify the administrative aspects of this phase of work.
- Issue, risk, and requirement tracking are built in, allowing for end-to-end visibility with an audit trail.
- Built-in reporting and analytics tools are designed to streamline software testing.
- Integrations and other advanced features help your team increase productivity across the entire workflow.
What is the business case for a software testing program?
The benefits of a more modern software testing program extend beyond the development team and can even be a nice indirect boost to your bottom line.
For example, a software testing program that integrates the latest best practices can provide the consistency and structure needed to prevent issues with final products, which could potentially lead to frustrated customers or even account terminations.
One study found that the cost to remediate a software bug during the quality assurance (QA) testing phase was about $1,500, versus $10,000 if the bug was found while in production. Add in the fact that software developers are already spending 30-50% of their time fixing bugs, and every moment they aren’t digging through spreadsheets, consolidating disparate feedback, and sending emails and texts to collaborate is time—and money—saved.
Take the first step toward a modern software testing program.
We get it—change can be hard.
But if your team focuses on the many long-term gains to their productivity, customer satisfaction, and the brand’s overall profitability, the transition can be smoother. The team at TestMonitor makes it easy, delivering a test management platform designed specifically for software testing by testers like you, packed with the features you need to hit the ground running.
Ready to see for yourself just how efficient and productive your team can be with an industry-leading software testing program? Then click here for your free trial.
