28 October, 2014

Independent Testing - Its benefits and risks

Independent Testing is carried out by testing specialists who are not involved with the development of the system. This is done to make sure that the software that is delivered is able to meet both functional as well as non-functional requirements. This process helps to avoid any type of author bias and is proven to be effective for finding any kind of drawbacks or failures. There can be several levels of independence, such as the tests can be performed by a person who wrote it; by another person belonging to the same team; by a person who belongs to another group or an independent test team and by a person who belongs to a completely different company or by an external body.

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When deciding upon an independent test team, it is important to comprehend that independence does not depend on any condition – it is a range. This range is present at one end of the independence where the programmers carry out testing within the programming team. When you move further towards independence an integrated group of testers are found who work alongside the programmers. But they are still reporting to the development manager. Once you move a notch up on the independence level, the team of testers can be completely outside the development team. But they can be reporting to the project manager. On the other side of this level lies complete autonomy. This process will involve a test team from the organization which is equal to the project or development team. As far as the teams are concerned they might be composed of specialists in business domain, technology, and testing.

Here is a list of benefits that are associated with independent testing:

Firstly, when a tester is completely free of inhibitions, he can seek out more defects or discrepancies than the one who is already working within the developing team. The law also applies for those who are programmers by profession. Secondly, if you are engaging designers, business analysts, programmers and marketing staff they bring with themselves a certain set of assumptions. In case the tester is hired separately then the individual will introduce a completely different set of assumptions to the process. The person’s reviews, too, will be quite different. This, in turn, aids in pointing out the hidden defects and troubles associated with the software development. Thirdly, an independent tester can submit his/her report to the higher management in complete honesty and without any concern for any kind of retaliation from the co-workers or managers. Fourthly, there would a separate budget for such teams. This method helps to ensure that a proper amount of money is spent on training the tester, testing tools, equipments, etc. Fifthly, this process helps in reducing the lifecycle cost. This leads to focus exclusively on quality and confirm to the quality specified by the clients. Finally, there are certain organizations where separate test teams can find it easier to have a proper career path that can also lead to a senior role as well.

While there are several benefits associated with this process, there are ample numbers of risks as well. If you are planning success in this kind of testing then it is important to take note of the probable risks associated with it. There might be a possibility for the team to get isolated. This can raise the issues of interpersonal isolation from the different departments including designers, programmers, and project teams. Communication problem is another risk related to the process. Another risk is lack of support from the rest of the team. This will also lead to identification of problems regarding project goals. There might also be uncalled for situations if the existing team considers the separate team as a source of delay.

Despite the obstacles an independent testing is a proven way to ensure success for software development. If the risks can be handled properly, carrying out this process successfully would not be problem at all.

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

We provide qa and testing services. If you would like to hire software testers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

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