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.

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.

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.

Benefits of Hiring ISTQB Certified Testers for Your Testing Project

ISTQB or International Software Testing Qualifications Board is an internationally acclaimed organization, which provides certification of software testing qualification that is accepted by companies all over the world. ISTQB certification is the standard qualification for the S/W testers that is based on a particular syllabus and comes in the form of a definite hierarchy along with some accreditation as well as examination guidelines.

A majority of the modern companies nowadays hires software evaluators who are ISTQB certified because of the fact that there are certain added advantages of hiring these professionals. A lot of S/W companies as well as enterprise IT departments nowadays looks for trusted partners who are capable of offering complete testing solutions by utilizing the best working resources. This is why they are opting for ISTQB certified testers. Let us discuss the advantages one by one.

These professionals help reduce the defects of the software development

As per market research, it is revealed that a synergistic amalgamation of prevention of defects, pre-test removal of defects, as well as a formal evaluation of the S/W packages by ISTQB certified professionals can help the companies reach almost 99 percent efficiency in terms of defect detection along with fixing, backed by significant reduction of costs and shortening of development schedules.

Significant reduction of development of cost

These testers help companies to qualify for various low cost, yet value added insurance packages and that understandably benefits modern companies by resulting in a significant amount of cost savings in the long run.

These personnel help in faster delivery of packages

The test managers of the companies are of the opinion that use of ISTQB certified pool of software testing knowledge leads to a much better as well as faster communication along with a greater efficiency among as well as, across the development teams.

Provides an international or global tinge to the companies

ISTQB S/W testing certification is the effectual global standard of expertise that is accepted all over the world. Naturally, hiring certified professionals provide the companies a global flavor that is too strong to be ignored.

These certified personnel are budget-friendly

The certification of International Software Testing Qualifications Board does not involve any expansive course. That is the reason any employee can undergo these courses by self-studying, and use in-house trainers and utilize ASTQB accredited education without shelling out too much expense and without hampering the daily works.

It gives the employees enough flexibility to choose the education

The testers, once ISTQB certified are able to choose their syllabus as well as examination topics. They can use self-study methods and hence become too much flexible. This provides them a lot of impetus so far as performance is concerned and this naturally has a positive impact on the overall performance of the company, so far as the quality of work is concerned.

Hence, in a nutshell, hiring software evaluation professionals having this qualification have a lot of advantages that can be summarized in the following ways.

Having a string of certified staff provides a lot of competitive edge to the companies. Besides, this competitive edge helps these organizations to immensely benefit from adoption of structured as well as streamlined practicing methods of software testing along with optimization of testing activities.

Companies that hire ISTQB certification accredited staff have the benefit of providing high end services to the customers, thereby increasing the revenue and their brand value. Moreover, adoption of various schemes of ISTQB helps a particular organization, in remaining up to date with various software testing innovations. Besides, formal global recognition of the business organizations who have adopted the certification becomes much easier.

The reason behind global accreditation of ISTQB Foundation is also due to the fact that it demonstrates much higher extent of expertise, professional sharpness, along personal ambition of the software testers. Thus, the S/W professionals who have this particular certification to their credit have a significant advantage over the non-certified counterparts, particularly when it comes to being hired by various frontline software development companies.

You can hire testers from top web application 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.

How Important Is Manual Testing These Days?

Before we discuss the importance of Manual Testing, at first let us know what actually it is. It is actually a process that is followed to detect and pick up errors as well as flaws within a particular software application. Since the detection is done manually, the individual who tests the application plays the most important role as an end user when it comes to verifying as well as evaluating the features or the behavior of the application in question under various circumstances. Though it is the preliminary stage of assessment, it is needed to be executed in a seamless way before switching over to automated testing.

The principal objective of non-automatic evaluation is guaranteeing that the application that is subjected to test is free of glitches as well as defects and is working perfectly as per the specification of the requirements. Now let us see how important this type of software evaluation these days really is.

At present, even as the concept of automatic testing is fast gaining momentum in terms of popularity, this has not rendered the concept of manual evaluation totally useless. In fact, prior to starting the automatic assessment of a software application, there is an ardent need of setting up a base that will decide when and how to start the automatic evaluation. It is manual testing that forms that base and here lies its importance. This form of software evaluation helps to understand the reason behind testing, the role of quality as well as its reliability and the risks that are involved in the evaluation. Besides, it also helps in a better understanding of the risks that are associated. It also helps improving the testability through evaluation of the risk factors.

Although, there are a lot advantages that are associated with automated evaluation of software applications, the manual version has still not lost its importance and relevance whatsoever. In fact, there are certain instances where the manual variety is more important than the automatic variety. There are a number of software packages in the market, which are released successfully after solely depending upon manual testing without any type of automatic assessment whatsoever.

However, experts are of the opinion that the best way to evaluate a software application is by setting up a perfect combination of manual and automated testing and this makes manual evaluation so important in today’s context. Though you will find a lot of discussions regarding the efficacy or importance of automated discussion, there are certain cases where the manual version is more effective as well as more important than the automatic one. A perfect combination of the two varieties would provide you an error free software application with no regression bugs and this will allow you to give more thrust towards further development and enhancement of the application in question. In fact, there are certain bugs that can be detected only with the successful manual software testing.

The basic issue of non-automated testing is to know how to use each and every technique for solving various problems. Frankly speaking, when it comes to assessing whether a particular application can be used by human, the best answer is non-automated evaluation. This is because in most of the cases, automatic assessment is not able to decide whether the text or the information provided can be apprehended by the end user and here is where the importance of manual assessment comes into play. Even if there is an automatic process to do so that will be expensive. Hence, the popular notion is that, though it can well be automated, it is more feasible to manually test those effects, as this will very much provide more confidence to the users as well as much cheaper in terms of time that is taken.

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

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

What should You look for while Hiring Performance Testers?

Each company has to frequently explore options to develop innovative applications that will keep the users interested and engaged. An application can encourage users to access it again and again, only when it is tested by an experienced application performance tester. Many companies even deploy a team of professional testers to deliver the most efficient features, functionality and experience to the end-users. Often organizations find it a daunting challenge to find and hire a good performance tester.

Most companies hire testers based on their experience in developing projects and using performance testing tools. But it is also important to concentrate on some additional qualities that will help you in hiring a professional who can bring a variety of projects to threshold of success. In addition to checking the educational background, application testing skills and professional experience, you also need to check if the professional has adequate knowledge of testing lifecycle, ability to adopt innovative techniques to tackle new problems, and willingness to learn and adapt to a variety of systems.

Essential Qualities of a Good Performance Tester

Ability to Understand the Application Features and Functionality: Before testing an application, the performance tester has to walk through the project by meeting the development team informally. When the developing team explains him the feature, functionality and use of the application, the tester must pay undivided attention to minute details. At the same time, he also needs to concentrate and pay complete attention to understand the functionality of the application clearly. Some testers even schedule another informal meeting to clarify their doubts.

An Eye for Details: Each software performance tester must have an eye for details. While discussing the project with the development team, he must note down the key points keenly. Also, he must identify the data points that will help in correlating and parameterize the entire project while writing the testing script. For instance, the tester must pay attention to certain parameters like information related to date and time, login details to access the app, and use of specific menus and drop-down boxes. These details can be used to prepare a comprehensive performance testing script.

Knowledge of Performance Testing Concept: A good performance tester also needs to possess sound knowledge of software performance testing basics and concepts. Regardless of the nature and type of the project, he must clearly identify certain concepts like objectives of the testing; nature of the performance testing services; differences between performance metrics; reading the performance monitors correctly; and detecting the techniques and bottlenecks to optimize performance.

Experience in Writing Codes and Using Testing Tools: A good programmer can always be a good performance tester. So can always consider hiring a tester who knows how to write and compile codes. At the same time, the tester must be familiar in using a variety of free and paid application testing tools. You can even look for a tester who has good domain knowledge. For instance, if you are expecting the professionals to test financial application, it is a good idea to hire a tester who is familiar with accounting concepts, and understand the nuances of financial receipts and payment.

Good Analytical and Communication Skills: Each application is tested in several phases. But the tester must monitor and analyze the project constantly from the first testing phase. So he must possess good analytical skills, and apply his mind to track the testing results from the very beginning. At the same time, the professional must possess good communication skills to clearly convey his plans, ideas and thoughts. You can even ask the applicant to write a report to ensure that he can convey his ideas in simple and error-free English.

Must be a Team Player: Like all software development projects, software testing services also should be offered by a “team” of expert professionals. So the tester has to have a good rapport with his teammates, project manager, and the team of code writers or programmers. As the project will be successful only because of the combined efforts of the application development and testing teams, the professional must cooperate and coordinate with others to make the project a success. Along with giving relevant suggestions and ideas, the tester also need to pay adequate attention to the views, ideas, suggestions and feedback of other staff.

A tester often has to interact with the customer or client. Many clients even interact with the performance testers directly to clarify their doubts. In addition to the important qualities mentioned above, you must hire a tester by keeping in mind the specific testing needs of the applications being developed by your organization.

We provide performance testing services. If you would like to outsource load testing, then we request you to have a discussion with our load testers. We will be glad to assist you.