20 June, 2014

Implementing Agile QA Process on Scrum Projects - 6 Best Practices

Before discussing the 6 best practices of implementing Agile QA process on Scrum Projects, let us discuss at first what Scrum is. Scrum can be defined as an Agile approach of software development that puts primary emphasis on delivery of valuable features of business in short developmental iterations that vary from two to four weeks. The teams generally have two specific characteristics that define their skills – they are cross functional and self organizing. Cross functionality of the teams makes sure that they have the skill as well as the expertise of doing the necessary jobs and the fact that they are self-organizing means that they figure out the process that will be the best to do the job.

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Now going back to the iterations, as and when they start to flow for a particular team, the team is subject to a new kind of pressure. They are required to maintain a strict deadline (that varies from 2 to 4 weeks as mentioned previously) while testing as well as delivery of the software.

Under such pressure of production along with delivery, the teams cannot rely merely on their old practices of programming, but have to innovate newer practices. The coding practices need to become more agile, as well as capable of changing things faster, and sooner. This is where the Agile teams make a difference. The Agile teams have discovered that the code is more extensible and with low defect, with the simplest of robust designs working for the features that are currently being implemented. Hence, it has become almost a daily routine to find an agile team that has come up with several non-XP customer practices that make things easier. Let us discuss 6 best of them as per the priority list.

1. Ensuring that the SMEs and the members of business team have the knowledge that is needed

This particular practice categorically makes sure that the staff who are involved in quick iterations are experienced and experts in the practice, so as to quicken the iteration and reduce the customary delays. For instance, a member who is representing financial customers needs to be absolutely familiar with the requirements of those customers.

2. Enhance migration to Agile concepts by using various Agile terms as well as examples

Specific Agile terms and examples need to be used for enhancing migration to the Agile concepts. For instance, terms like requirements need to be replaced by user stories, while the ones like Project Management Office need to be replaced by terms like Agile Center of Excellence.

3. Creation of a physical environment or ambience that is conducive to the concept of collaboration

There should be a common practice of co-locating the team in a room where the members can meet and can interact with each other unabatedly. There are, however, other ways of enhancing the collaboration and that include reorganizing office spaces and using tools for connecting remote staffs.

4. Identification of measurable outcomes of what one needs to accomplish by using Agile

This is another very effective practice that yields the best results. A very pertinent example of this practice is the creation of a vision statement of project outcomes instead of outputs. Vision statements may include decrease in the amount of processing time by a specific amount during a set time and outputs may include the total amount of code that is produced.

5. Negotiation for adjusting the oversight requirements for a more Agile approach

This is another practice that helps the team in adjusting the oversight requirements with the use of frequent as well as tangible demonstrations for gaining the trust of the investors as well as the reviewers, thereby potentially reducing the requirements of the more official oversight database as well as documents.

6. Accelerating the delivery with the use of the latest automated tools

This is another practice that is one of the best, especially when it comes to tracking various software modifications along with the compliant development sites that help customers to conceptualize the software in a domain that meets the required security as well as the architectural benchmarks.

You can hire testers from top offshore software testing companies in India who can help you accomplish testing within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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