Top 7 Software Testing Myths

Testing is an easy task: This is the biggest myth for testing profession. Usually developers believe that testing is an easy task but the fact is different. Testing was never easy otherwise automation testing tools wouldn’t have born. The tester tests each and every loopholes of an application thoroughly so that the end user will get better quality user experience. Hence we can’t compromise on the quality of testing at any cost and for the same we have to give enough effort and time for testing.

Reasons behind Testing a Software Application

Software development is just a business transaction between the customer and IT company. So each IT company wants to make the client happy by delivering a high-performing, reliable and flawless software application. At the same time, it is also important for the developer to ensure that the software confirms to specific customer requirements and predefined standards.

Testing application using QTP - What are the benefits?

All major enterprise of the IT industry give maximum priority to the testing because they believe strongly on the quality of service and for the same the importance of testing. Testing is an integral phase of software development life cycle. For a product to be user friendly, reliable and robust, it must be gone through several testing process. The testing operation makes the product not only perfect but also provides a better user experience which is the aim of every product. In other words we can say, testers are the connection bridge between developers and the end users because tester check the application’s functionality and he gives the feedback to the developer if any enhancement is required to give greater experience to the user.

Avoiding Risk of Application Failure with Quality Software Testing

As a key field of software testing, reliability testing is performed widely by businesses to ensure that the application is working under given environmental conditions. Thus, software reliability testing help enterprises in avoiding risk of application failure by identifying and fixing the problems in its design and functioning. However, each business must focus on a number of important features to eliminate the risk of application failure by optimizing the quality of software testing.

Steps You Need to Follow while Testing an Application

Each business wants to get higher ROI by launching a software application that delivers flawless user experience. That is why; most IT companies, nowadays, adopt test-driven development approach. Likewise, many companies automate their testing efforts to ensure that the software meets the requirements of end users. Based on the enterprise’s objectives, the software testing strategies and process vary. However, it is always important for the testers to understand and follow some essential steps of software testing.

Why software testing is increasingly being outsourced and what should businesses consider

Among other business activities, software testing (ST) is being increasingly outsourced nowadays to reduce the exorbitant expenses that are associated with it as well as to make sure that the evaluation is conducted by the best in the business.

Let us get into further details. Various critical business applications are being evaluated by third party vendors these days, as each and every business is striving to cut costs. Software development and testing are highly expensive processes and involve a number of critical parameters to be attained. Testing is often plagued by software failures and other uncalled for incidents that compel huge investments to go haywire. That is the reason, ST often demands huge investments to make sure that there is enough fund for rigorous in-house evaluation of the software by the most experienced as well as trained software professionals along with an able backup process to compensate any kind of failure whatsoever.

The digitisation of modern businesses has led to increased reliance or dependency on software systems for internal as well as external business activities. This has in turn led to increased emphasis by the business houses on evaluation or testing of these software systems within the process of development. All these have collectively resulted in the increase of software testing outsourcing.

A large chunk of ST centres where the projects are outsourced are located offshore – in countries like India, China or other countries in Asia. This is done after a lot of impeccable planning, taking into account the location of these countries as well as the difference in time zones wherein these countries are located. In case a company can obtain the results of evaluation over night, it effectively helps them to streamline the process of development they follow.

Now let us discuss the factors that the businesses need to consider while outsourcing software testing services.

Selection of Engagement Models

The first factor that needs to be considered is the engagement model that a business should rely on. This is ostensibly the most crucial aspect as the entire outsourcing plan will depend upon a correct decision. The process includes a number of factors – evaluating strategies of international business, selection of a geographical location, a thorough understanding of the landscape along with deciding on the particular strategy, etc. Some of the engagement models are:

Incremental Outsourcing

Businesses can opt for mitigating the risks associated with outsourcing by breaking the entire project into smaller projects that are more manageable or can be outsourced to the service providers in stages.

Holistic or total outsourcing

In this particular model, multiple projects or programs are outsourced to a service provider who takes up the responsibility of program management as well as the delivery on the client's behalf.

Mobilization

The agreement includes a mobilization period for both the parties. This particular phase includes setting up of an effective communication protocol between the client and the vendor that defines breakdown structure of work, standard template sharing, setting up of test strategy, etc. This generally includes testing engineers and leads, project managers along with technical specialists. Knowledge acquisition, evaluation of infrastructure, integration with the different third party service providers are other aspects of mobilization.

Whatever processes or steps are followed, every single company needs to do a lot of homework in a thorough as well as impeccable way before they opt for ST outsourcing. An able service provider will be able to effectively single out the pitfalls at the very outset. This ensures that uncalled for situations can be avoided later on while testing the software and delivering the project well within the deadline. Besides, it will also help in reducing the costs and help the companies to stick to the budget that they have initially fixed for the completion of the project in question.

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

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

Avoid QA Challenges with a Unified Test Management System

Enterprises often explore innovative ways to optimize the performance of their software applications. Some organizations automate the testing efforts, whereas others opt for test management systems. But a number of recent reports have highlighted how an organization can optimize quality assurance (QA) efficiency through a single or unified test management system. Agile project management approach requires organizations to build a cohesive unit by eliminating the barriers between the team of software developers and testers. As the efficiency of the QA process is affected due to diverse and incompatible systems, it becomes essential for each organization to avoid QA challenges with a single test management system.

QA Challenges that can be Addressed with a Unified Test Management System

Integration of Onsite and Offshore Business Units

A constant increase is noted in the organizations outsourcing their software testing projects to reduce operational costs and shorten release cycles. Many enterprises even develop and test software applications in a distributed environment. So the test managers find it a daunting challenge to integrate the onsite and offshore business units. A unified test management system will enable them to facilitate smooth and uninterrupted communication between in-house and remote teams regardless of their location.

Smooth and Uninterrupted Communication

An organization must implement an efficient communication system to identify and fix the bugs, errors or flaws in a software application immediately. The organizations that hire skilled remote QA engineers to curtail project cost must facilitate clear communication between the developers and testers. Often the absence of real-time updates affects the project negatively. When the members of geographically spaced teams cannot communicate with each other clearly, it becomes difficult to share real-time updates. A unified test management system will reduce both labor cost and production time by facilitating clear communication between the members of geographically spaced teams.

Provide a Single Framework

An organization can use a single test management system to provide a single framework to its distributed teams. In addition to facilitating clear and uninterrupted communication between the teams, the single interface will allow the teammates to upload test scripts, cases and metrics immediately. Further, the interface will provide each member with the tools required to carry out their activities. The QA managers can use the unified interface to monitor the progress of the entire development cycle by avoiding the unnecessary operations. The unified test management system makes it easier for enterprises to provide a single interface to the members of its distributed teams.

Automate the QA Initiatives

Each enterprise wants to optimize its QA initiatives by using test automation tools and frameworks. But organizations often find it a daunting challenge to automate the QA efforts in a distributed environment. A unified test management system makes it easier for enterprises to automate the software QA efforts. The offshore QA engineers can write test scripts based on the information received by them. The test scripts can further be reused to reduce the time and effort required to evaluate the software application. The unified test automation system provides a testing dashboard to users for storing the automated test cases. Thus, the existing test scripts can be reused for future projects. As the test scripts are accessible to members of the distributed, they can simply save the test scripts on their computer, and run these without writing new scripts.

With more and more companies working with distributed teams, it becomes important to use a unified test management system that allows the members to communicate and coordinate with each other without any hassle. A single test management system also allows organizations to optimize the QA process by using automated test tools and frameworks. At the same time, an organization can use the system to adopt Agile project management techniques.

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

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

Justifying Real Acceptance Testing

Testers have always been involved in testing and bringing to their clients varied applications that have been tested over time. This means they have immense expertise as well as knowledge on the applications which they have worked on in the past. In this day, one now has to move into the areas of user experience for testing. UAT or user acceptance testing was mostly done by short test cycles in tandem with BSAs, from where the test cases were brought ahead. However, it is the difference that comes on board which makes all the difference, so let’s take a look at how real acceptance testing can be justified.

How it goes

In traditional testing mechanisms, when the development was over and done with, traditional testing took place. This was logically correct, since testing something when it existed made more sense, and specifications could be sought as well as obtained. The codes then can be tested well and the verifiers would come out with real time results too.

Acceptance testing has changed that all, but is somewhat alike to what test driven development in sync with acceptance test driven development was. Both have tests written before the code can be brought in. However, here instead of the static document being written or a specification for the same being shown, one can have a specification which is executable and on which codes that run can be written too. The codes can be refined as well as re-factored.

With acceptance test driven development, testers now have change of work. They do not need to be around when a cycle ends, but are there right from the beginning, contributing at every step and stage. They help well with small teams, when one cannot afford to bring on board a business analyst that would be dedicated. This would be best as an idea which would help smart testers work and help, and they can keep in touch with the end users too. With them around, real time feedback comes across, which means more productivity at work.

Is it testing or not?
TEST is spoken off but it hardly is a test, say experts. Call it a tool available for goal facilitation if you please, it is a communicative method bringing everyone under one umbrella. Whatever is desired would be defined in ways non-ambiguous. When tools such as these are used, sharing with members in the team is easy, and across various languages too. Hence, no barriers or hurdles to deal with.

It allows you to focus on the problems as well as to come up with solutions. This would allow you to reap many benefits ahead, and to write important features which focus more on solutions. Yes, it takes a little time to learn a skill but the upside is that one doesn’t have to be a genius to go forward on the learning curve.

Moreover, with the tool, one doesn’t have to deal with too many documents, literally. The feature has source codes that live close to the other codes around, and none of them are dead or outdated.

The whole team can now collaborate as well as work for higher output using real time testing, right from the beginning to the end. Silos are prevented in doing so, irrespective of the team size. It is a natural way to bring the whole team together.

Team size can be small, because of the executable specifics along with the way the software works which helps pass specifics at the end of the day. Only a small number of men and women are needed to make things work using this tool, not a large group. One can sit to describe the wants while another person can work on execution.

To learn more about real acceptance testing along with how it can benefit your company, take a look online. Read reviews, client testimonials and understand the nature through which it brings revenue to businesses across the globe. Thanks to modern day technology, business owners now have more options to unburden, and this is just the tip of the ice berg which brings in more.

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

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

Crowdsourced Software Testing – 2 Approaches

Each enterprise finds it a daunting challenge to implement the software testing strategy effectively. In addition to being labor-intensive, software QA processes further require efficient collaboration between software developers, testers and users. So a constant increase is noted in the number of companies adopting crowdsourced testing solutions. The innovative form of software testing enables organizations to avail the combined advantages of crowdsourcing and Cloud computing. Unlike conventional software QA methods, crowdsourced testing can be performed by community of external expert QA engineers working from different location.

The organization is, thus, not required to hire any experienced testers and consultants to test the application in a realistic environment. However, each enterprise has several options to access to the crowd. In addition to using a self-service model to access the crowd, an organization can consider availing crowdsourced testing solutions through managed service provides. Also, a company can avail both self-serviced and managed crowdsourced testing solutions. It is always important for an organization to choose the crowdsourced testing solutions according to the nature and significance of a specific task.

Two Distinct Approaches to Crowdsourced Software Testing

Self-Service Crowdsourced Testing Solutions

As the name indicates under this approach, an organization has to set up the test, manage the project and evaluate the requirements internally. The organization has to deploy external testers to evaluate the application under real-world conditions during the development phase. Some enterprise level companies even get the QA done through their existing customer base. As the testers work from different locations, documentation is essential to ensure adequate test coverage. At the same time, the organization also needs to make the issues traceable and reproducible. Once the application is evaluated by the participating testers, the test results needs to be integrated and analyzed by the internal team.

That is why; the resource requirements will vary according to the size and nature of individual processes. However, each company has to consider several factors before adopting the self-service model. Along with evaluating various aspects of the project in detail, it also needs to decide the resources required by the setup. Also, it must have adequate manpower to manage the testing project internally based on the documentation provided by the crowd. The enterprise further has to deploy an in-house team to setup and manage the software QA projects effectively. On the whole, an organization must have to capacity to setup an internal environment to get the software tested by through self-service crowdsourced testing solutions.

Managed Crowdsourced Testing Solutions

The concept of managed crowdsourced testing is similar to that of project outsourcing. Most companies opt for managed crowdsourced software testing solution to save time, money and efforts. Each organization also has option to choose from several crowdsourced testing solution providers. But the managed crowdsourced testing solutions are more expensive in comparison to the self-service method. Also, the enterprise has to avail managed solutions from the right company by keeping in mind the specific details of the project. At the same time, the company also needs to decide if its budget allows it to avail managed crowdsourced testing solutions from a reputable firm.

While availing managed crowdsourced testing solution, an enterprise must define how to document each test. Each external tester must provide screenshots, screencasts and written documents to make the issues reproducible. It is always a good idea to avail managed solution for large and complex projects to save both time and money. Also, the managed services must be integrated seamlessly with the internal processes to avail benefits in the longer run. However, each company can avail managed services initially to check if crowdsourced testing works for it.

An organization can always consider combining both self-service and managed crowdsourced testing solution to avail better results. At the same time, it must compare the cost and efforts required to test a software application under these approached to take the right decision.

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

How To Make A Developer Fix Your Bug?

Testers have a major complaint these days, which is that there are many bugs caught in the initial stages of development, but considerations for the same aren’t made on the spot. Most testers would say that it isn’t their lookout to deal with such issues, especially fixing bugs. However, as frustrating at it can be, when the efforts aren’t taken seriously, something needs to be done and someone needs to do it.

Experts say, the more you market your bugs the more would attention come through from developers around. One of the ways to catch the attention of developers is to make sure that the bug report you write is enticing enough. This would be something on the lines of advertising, in this case promoting the report of the bugs involved.

Here are a few tips on how to make a developer fix your bug

To make the bug that bugs you stand out in the special edition reports amongst all, please read on and be well-informed of the same:

• Keep it simple as well as straightforward. When the report can be repeated well and in tandem to the report you have generated, pat your back for a job well done, because the report would then be an enticing one to capture many developers’ attention or fancy.
• The report needs to be for real, and remember the bug needs to have everything to do with it in real terms, or else it wouldn’t entice the developers to come calling.
• Developers would be able to reproduce the reports better when they have more sets ups around. This is especially important when the bug which has been spoken off would be an important dependent for configuration needs.
• Nip it in the bud or go to the source, thereby pulling the root out. This is because bugs have more symptoms, not just one to make a problem happen. In such cases one should mention the issues which are very serious, for example, corruption of data as well as the description for the same in the report generated.
• The report created should be appealing, inviting along with invigorating for the attention to be caught. By saying so, exaggerating the report can be great, speaking of the possible outcomes in combination with the importance of the bug as well.
• The description of the bug should be in detail. Also, the report should be well-written, containing details about how it would affect the end user. Speak of the distress calls made by the software when the bug ran through it, along with how competition suffers when the bug plays its game.
• The report should be more of a sales ad, one that markets the bug as well as captures the attention of the developer. It is like selling the bug, wherein the buyers are developers. When you learn how to market the bugs well, getting them fixed in no time wouldn’t be a challenge to deal with.

Problems would be sporadic, say experts, and improving the logging system for the same is a must, which would then tell you where next as well as in which context the bug would appear. Then there are bugs that would only show up when systems run along with various other activities. Hence, what one needs is a load testing which would then unearth the pesky bug, bringing it to the surface.

Developers have to think of other issues on priority as well. For example, code quality issues can be there when code reviews are studied or learnt. There are also re-factoring needs along with technological as well as technical deficiencies to deal with. Such issues pose to be a challenge for product evolution in days to come, say experts. Such issues or defects ideally would be recorded in the user’s backlog. This then can be sorted out when the planning process is done well.

Most would say it isn’t the job of a tester or the developer to check for bugs or to fix it, however, they have to be due diligent at all times, in order to inform the teams of such occurrences happening over and over again. They should also possibly tell of the impacts such bugs have on the consumers, along with perfect steps that should be taken on bug reporting.

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

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

Understanding of Improvements in Software Testing Process

The major purpose of software testing process is to find bugs and hence it is considered to be a part of software development life-cycle. There are also a number of other factors of equal importance that have considerable contributions in terms of completing testing performance. Software should comply with all the technical as well as business requirements. Thus, validating and verifying software with more improved understanding of the performance testing is indeed essential in order to ensure that it properly works without any issues.

Steps to improve Software Analysis Method

The following measures are sure to help your company improve software testing procedure.

• The first thing you must consider is to have complete or thorough understanding of projects that your software testing team members are handling. It will be good if testers are able to attend meetings, discussions or conferences concerning their project.
• Make sure that your team members are ready for changes. Although there is a test plan for every project, it can be changed at any point of time to follow the cutting edge technologies and novel evaluating methods.
• You are recommended to think well before implementing any alterations into your plan to avert making blunders.
• Try not to shunt within your team of software testing. Assign your project managers throughout the duration of the full project execution.
• First important step is to recognize the platform on which the entire application will be running.
• Examine current requisites of the management activity for checking whether all functional as well as business requirements are being tracked in the control system of file-level version including Team foundation Server (TFS), Visual Source Safe (VSS) and many more.
• QA team must be involved in every test phase starting from requirement gathering to the software development life-cycle.
• Keep record of every possible scenario before writing of test cases is started for adding them to the test planning.
• Written test cases must be reviewed by a QA team specialist.
• Generate periodically or weekly test reports for clear understanding of software testing like effort variance, bug find rate, residual defect density, test case effectiveness, schedule variance, etc.
• Make separate QA environment to replicate the production environment.
• After every release, a retrospective or post release meeting must be conducted for the testing and development team to participate and discuss about the good and bad points concerning the projects.

Ways to Improve Agile Development Methodology

Improving test skills of your testers is equally important as improving the test process. With the following measures you can enhance the software analysis procedure.

• Make sure that your testers have in-depth knowledge of the application process they are handling.
• Try to provide friendly vibes between test and development team for the elimination of personal reasons related to inadequate bug fixing.
• Accept the fact that no tester can provide 100% bug free applications.
• Knowledge of application does not mean anything without your testers' domain knowledge.
• Provide your testers with the ability to take part in different working seminars and training programs.

These days, many near-shore development organizations use outdated agile testing practices. As a result, end users get poor software or applications with lots of bugs along with insufficient user interface. That is why it is truly important to improve both testing process and testing skills. The overall software test procedure is actually a constant improvement process. To enhance the procedure the effort of either a single person or the test team is not only responsible. The combined effort of the development team as well as management must understand the value of improving the test method while identifying several areas that need changes for better performance.

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

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

Top 6 solutions to avoid software testing failures

During the application of some product under some environment, if there are certain defects then wrong results will be produced by the system which leads to testing failures. While the software is being designed and built, a programer makes some mistakes. There are some defects which may not lead to failures as they stay inactive and are hardly noticed. However, problems will be bound to crop up at some point or the other which makes it extremely essential to ensure that the testing procedure is carried out with utmost care and precision. While embarking on the evaluation procedure there can be many problems to be overcome- whether or not the budget will be overrun, etc. To avoid software testing failures as much as is possible, you can adopt some preventive measures. Here are the top 6 measures that you can follow.

Defining project success as well as the method to measure it- It is very essential to keep in focus the clear objectives and goals of the project or software. While doing that, you should be taking some basic factors into consideration-

• Time- Some or rather most of the projects run on a tight schedule with fast and hard deadlines; this fact should be made very specifically clear to everybody involved with the process in the first place. Interim deadlines should be set up; rewards may be given for meeting them.
• Cost- The planned as well as actual cost should be tracked properly. You should also decide that in case there is some work outside the original planned scope, there should be some means to reject or approve the cost.

Defining functionality- To determine the kind of testing needs to be carried out the kind of work that must be accomplished by the system needs to be described. For that read all text requirements, review the screen mockups as well as provide feedback along with clarification. This may be time-consuming and iterative but cutting it short is not a very good solution as that will also mean cutting short or decreasing the probability of success of the project.

Identifying correct team members- There are various roles in each phase of any project, so when choosing your team members for the testing process make sure that they are fully qualified for a particular step and that they know which segment of the process they are in charge of. Assign individual roles for each and make sure that they stick to it.

Testing- Whether a system is working or not according to the design is the main objective for determination in evaluation processes. The evaluation method should be such that it gives you quantifiable results; so choose accordingly. Some test plans created define all “use case” while some other test plans created by companies just test against some particular required document.

Deciding on the method of communication- This process is such that there is need for perfect communication with the team members at all stages so that maximum positive result is yielded without the wasting of time as well as money. So it is essential to be on the same page and be up to date. Decide on the method for communication as well as the frequency.

Putting off pressures and celebrating interim successes- Testers often face inappropriate external pressures from stakeholders and managers which force them to cut corners and ultimately compromise on the quality of the product that reaches to the consumer. However, this might lead to bad reputation as well as harm of goodwill of the company in the market. It is not harmful to remind of the pressing deadlines but sometimes it would be beneficial if few pressures are taken off the shoulders of the testers. It would not be harmful to encourage by celebrating interim successes; rather it would boost the morale and make them work better, faster as well as more efficiently.

So try to identify, understand as well as avoid a few common testing problems so that the process becomes smooth-flowing. Not only will it make everything easy, but it will eliminate chances of cost escalating as well as delay in project delivery.

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

Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing

With the ever increasing innovations in the world of automated testing tools, a large number of organizations make the best possible choice, attempting to make the tools suitable for functioning in their environment. This article outlines the major challenges that are most often seen in organizations that struggle to make effectual automated testing a reality. The earlier these challenges are detected, the better prepared a company will be for the purpose of dealing with them.

Top Ten Challenges of Automated Testing and Solution Strategies

These challenging issues are presented from the least to the highest effect on the overall test automation system.

1. Purchasing the wrong tool

Solutions

• Take time before defining the tool requirements in terms of applications, people skills, technology, process and organization.
• Involve potential users in order to define evaluation criteria as well as tool requirements.
• Build an evaluation scorecard for comparing the tools' performance against a set of common criteria.
• Perform a POC (proof of concept) as opposed to an assessment.

2. Incompetent test team organization

Solutions

• In the testing team involve a test scriptor who is comfortable to work with code and capable of taking the basic testing which has been developed by a testing analyst.
• The person should also have the knowledge of converting it into an automated script.
• With basic scripting concepts initially start simply to add complexity later.

3. Lack of support management

Solutions

• Communicate that it takes planning and time to build a steady foundation of the right tools, processes and people.
• Present the challenges along with the benefits while making the case to management for acquiring testing tools.
• Reinforce management for carrying a good amount of influence in the way people are going to accept automated testing tools.
• Keep the management informed about tool progress and other related issues that arise.

4. Incomplete test type coverage

Solutions

• When evaluating tools, prioritize what types of evaluation are the most challenging to your success. Then evaluate the candidate tools on those criteria.
• Understand the tools as well as their tradeoffs. In order to get higher levels of type coverage of test, you may need to utilize a multiple tool solution. For example, you may need to combine the playback or capture tool along with a load test tool for the purpose of covering your performance test cases.
• Remind people that 100% test type coverage cannot be possible. However, after having 80% of the automation tests, you can manually deal with the rest.

5. Incompetent tool training

Solutions

• In the tool proposal include money for the purpose of training at least a core section of people.
• Choose the most applicable topics for training to match people.
• Organize tool training performed by a vendor at your location to use your own application as exercise.
• For 3 or 4 weeks, get a skilled consultant who is experienced in tool training.

6. Lack of acceptance and tool ownership

Solutions

• You are recommended not to cut the tool training. Training never guarantees success, but you may be at risk of technological abandonment without it.
• In your organization, include someone for the job of a tool smith. This person will be the resident expert on the testing tools.
• It takes the management to emphasize on the tool effort and usage is an essential part required for the testing process.

7. Lack of a basic understanding of test process or what to test

Solutions

Create a list of evaluation criteria for functionality that you are looking forward to considering while using the automated testing tool. These criteria include:

• Repeatability of tests
• Risk or complexity of applications
• Ease of automation
• Simplicity of operation
• Level of documentation of the functional requirements.
• Analyze your existing set of test scripts and cases to see which ones are most applicable.
• Examine your latest testing procedure and find out where it needs to be adjusted for applying automated testing tools.
• Try and make changes in the latest ways you execute tests.
• Involve professionals who will be using the tool for the purpose of helping in designing the automated testing method.

8. Lack of management processes of configuration

Solutions

• Consider the people as well as processes that are required to manage the test scripts or automated testing.
• Look for tools which accommodate changes gracefully to the user interface.
• Trace automated test scripts as part of the configuration set of an application.
• Include the potential automation test SCM person in evaluating testing tools and their respective offerings of test management.

9. Lack of tool interoperability and compatibility

Solutions

• Select tools having cross-platform capability as much as possible.
• Consider writing bridging scripts, as well as shell scripts possibly in non-proprietary scripting languages like Tcl.
• Critically evaluate whether the ability of performing cross-platform testing is a strong requirement.

10. Lack of tool accessibility

Solutions

• If obtaining a quality technical fit is an issue, find information regarding lesser-known testing tools by networking with other testers.
• Try and find tools that is going to work between platforms.
• Use free or low priced tools in order to investigate the possibilities of building your own testing tools.

It is important to understand that even the organizations that have developed core competencies in dealing with test automation also struggle with these challenges at times. Although, herein the challenges are only focused, there are a number of benefits that can be accomplished from test automation. Tools are a part of an efficient test approach, but not the overall approach. A workable process executed by motivated and trained staff is needed in a controlled environment. Successful software automation tests are possible if the basic issues are managed and addressed.

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

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

Major Challenges in Agile Testing & The Role of Automation

The Agile testing approach emphasizes on agility and speed. The development process runs concurrently along with the evaluation process. Testers have to work often as well as fast since the development model is time-boxed. The testing of the code has to be done very frequently, in fact in some cases almost daily. This makes Agile testing quite challenging, more so in comparison to evaluation of traditional development methods. If not handled properly there is a risk involved of Agile testing becoming uncontrolled, chaotic and unstructured. But when automation and agile testing are implemented together, it is possible to overcome those challenges.

Inadequate test coverage

This can be hugely problematic; with Agile, there is an increase in volumes of tests. Due to that, often for every user story, too little results of tests are written down which leads to lack of visibility into codes changed all of a sudden. Sometimes developers change codes that are beyond the scopes of released features which are done for many reasons. To tackle this challenge tests should be linked to user stories which will provide insights into test coverage.

Short deadlines
It is not always very easy to take care of deadlines; there are times when we have very little time for testing at a cycle's end. Long evenings along with proper documentation will help in that case. However, it may be challenging since testers are required by Agile to work by deadlines each day. So make everything work, the automation of most tasks must be done well.

Codes broken accidentally because of frequent builds
If daily builds are performed, there always remains a risk of breaking the existing code. When sole reliance is on manual testings, full regression of the existing code every day is not practical. So the best bet is to use automated evaluation tools for recoding and running of tests automatically. This will ensure the testing of more stable features without new code breaking into them.

Detection of defects
It is very important to detect defects early on during the development cycle; being late will need more money and time for the fixing process. In fact, if the defects could not be found till the production, it will prove to be a bigger problem altogether. Implementing peer reviews along with using of static analysis tools for scanning of code for identification of defects early on, can help in this respect.

Ignoring traditional evaluation techniques
As the movement of agile testing is faster, the coping of the flowing development stream is very challenging for testers. So it is best to adopt a streamlined as well as proper approach. For that you should not be just dependent on documents but you should constantly keep interactions with stakeholders, developers, end users and clients.

Detection as well as fixing of bugs
The main aim of this testing is detection and getting rid of major bugs during the very initial stages. It is very expensive to fix bugs during the later stages of development cycle. In fact, despite identifying the bugs, fixing within the specific time-frame may be extremely challenging. This can be resolved by running static analysis tools over source codes. Automated tools can also be used for detection of hidden bugs.

Bad API Testing
The best coding skills are not necessarily inherited by testers. These days, the APIs are revealed by most software so that it can be easily used by other developers for integration along with other uses. If this area sees any mistakes the application or software's popularity will be seriously crippled. Using API testing tools that are automated will give Agile testers an edge to tackle API evaluation.

According to the points discussed here, agile approach needs to be dealt with accuracy as well as speed. Manual testing is not a process that can be relied upon solely. Efficient automation will make the testing processes better and faster. Thus automation has to be implemented during all levels so that you can ensure all angles. Independent software testing companies can help immensely in this regard.

We provide QA testing services. If you would like to hire automation testers, please reach out to us at Mindfire Solutions.

What should you choose - Manual testing or automated?

During the development process, we have to be sure that it is the right application being developed and after the process we have to test it the correct way to ensure positive returns on the testing investment. Evaluation techniques like behavioral, static and structural are adopted to find out some bugs but for the test suite there is a major decision that has to be taken- manual or automation. There are some tests which are perfectly suited for automation and manually they are not feasible at all. However, some tests are most effective if done manually. So, it is essential to check the pros and cons of both the types of evaluation to determine which is most productive or efficient.

Automated testing

This process uses automated tools for the running of tests, repeating predefined actions which compare the expected as well as actual outcomes of developing programs. In case the outcomes and expectations align, the project is likely to be bug free. If there is no alignment then some issue calls for address. The code must be looked at, altered and tests must be run continuously so that the expected and actual outcomes align. This kind of evaluation is excellent for large projects, in case of lots of system users or during filling out of forms.

It takes some time to set up the tests but after automating there is nothing to worry about. The tests can be reused and there is no need to fill out repeated information for constant changing of codes. Automatically, everything is done for you.

Though expensive in short terms, in long-term it is very cost-effective; more work is done in shorter time-period. In fact, defects are found faster as well so that the team can react far faster which saves both money as well as time.

Test automation solves the problem of filling out same forms repeatedly which can be very frustrating. While setting up the test coding, considerable thought is needed which involves your technical minds.

Automated tests have results which can be viewed by everybody, unlike that of manual testing. This allows better team collaboration, ultimately leading to better final products.

However, purchasing tools related to this is expensive which makes it imperative to use ones giving full or as full as possible coverage. In fact, the development of evaluation processes takes a lot of time; they have to be run as well. Most bugs in the system are detected by the tests. But despite that there are certain limitations. Some changes related to visual considerations such as font size or image color can be determined only through manual testing.

Manual testing
In this kind of evaluation process tests are run manually by software developers and actual outcomes are compared with program expectations so that software defects can be found. It is perfect for small projects. In fact companies that are short on financial resources can resort to this as well.

This kind of evaluation lowers the short-term costs. Issues that are likely to be faced by real users are discovered. Since they are done manually, the results are far removed from the robotic automation of automated tests. One of the most remarkable benefits of going manual is that it is very flexible. If you think that changing something will change the project’s course, then you will have no problems in accommodating that.

However, some actions will be very difficult to be done manually. The result might be prone to oversights and mistakes. In this case automated testing are better equipped. Also they can be very boring and repetitive- just filling out same things and forms over and over again, this results in not staying too engaged in the process, making room for mistakes. In case of automated testing anything can be added to the program, so that the tests are re-run instantly. But for manuals this is certainly not the case. For changes in software, tests have to be run by hand again, losing valuable time.

Both the kinds of testing have their own unique sets of cons and pros. To decide on which is the best, you should let your common sense to guide in your decision. But preferably both the kinds should walk hand in hand so that you can reap the benefits of both at the same time, making the entire testing smooth and error-free, delivering the best product.

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

We provide software testing services. If you would like to hire software testers from us or would just like to speak to one of our expert software testers, please reach out to us at Mindfire Solutions.

Data-driven test automation is the best mobile application testing strategy

Using software for execution of tests as well as determining whether the predicted outcome and actual outcome are same or not on basis of those tests is known as test automation. Automation phases in software appears during the testing as well as implementation phase. Automated testing helps organizations accomplish the goal of adequately tested software as fast and thoroughly as possible. The coverage is also increased and the need for testing manually is reduced. Through this type of evaluation, minor defects which remain unexposed by manual testing are discovered. In fact, there are plenty of other advantages associated with this kind of evaluation, making it absolutely indispensable in the world of software. This is especially so for testing of mobile applications since it is a much more complicated process with the number of varying platforms along with operating systems of tablets, smartphones, etc.

Automated tests need proper execution environment; in this case it is an automation or testing framework which is an overall system for the automation of tests. The framework or support or work platform for the evaluations constitutes a set of concepts, practices as well as assumptions. The framework is application independent and can be easily expanded, maintained and perpetuated. Testing frameworks are of different types- modular, keyword driven, hybrid and data driven.

For data driven testing, data files supply the test's output and input values. Separate files store the expected output and input results. Although, the file is generally in tabular formats, it can be a CVS file, Excel file, DAO object, ODBC source, ADO object, etc. In such a framework variables are used for output verification values along with input values. All coded information related to navigating through evaluation status logs and application, reading of data files, etc are there in evaluation scripts. The test case remains encapsulated in information files and scripts remain a means for data delivery or a “driver”. Just the test information is contained in the data files of this type of evaluation.

Data-driven testing framework has a number of advantages like-

• The scripts can be created even during the ongoing development of applications.
• You can greatly reduce unnecessary duplication as well as redundancy of automated test scripts creation because records and files are used for verification of data along with input and also because of the modular type design.
• When there arises changes in the functionality, all you need to do is revise the script of the specific “Business Function”.
• Details as well as information like expected results, outputs or inputs are stored in form of text records which can be managed very conveniently.
• Errors can be handled better which results in more robust testing scripts. This is mainly because during the calling of scripts the functions return with “FALSE” or “TRUE” values, the entire thing is not aborted. Just creating a nice “recovery” program results in the execution of test scripts without needing any attendance.

Data-driven frameworks have certain disadvantages as well. For the automation tool, you need to be an expert on the scripting language; for each test case, many data-files are needed. In fact, evaluation plan information has to be re-entered by test engineer in varying data-files and on top of that the test plan has to be properly managed as well. However, the advantages of data-driven test automation outnumbers the disadvantages. With this type of testing, new test cases can be easily added just by adding new entry into information source. Also different sets of information help cover many aspects of the features of applications, thus increasing the test coverage. One script can test application functionality which makes this automation framework the best mobile application testing strategy.

You can hire software testing companies who can help you create and execute the perfect mobile app testing strategy.

We provide mobile app development as well as software testing services. If you would like to speak to expert mobile app developers from our team about the ways in which we go about doing app testing, please feel free to contact us. We will be glad to get back to you.

What Does It Really Cost to Fix a Software Defect?

While there is no denying the point that the advancements in software technology have brought about several benefits for the business enterprises all over, it is also true that certain defects in software are really hard to handle.

The later the defects are identified, the more difficult and expensive it becomes to handle them. This was said by none other than a software engineer called Barry Boehm back in 1976. He also drew a curve representing the consecutive phases of the waterfall software development lifecycle on the horizontal line. The vertical scale, on the other hand, denoted the relative cost of fixing the particular defect in a specific phase versus the cost involved in fixing the same defect in a different phase. With time, this curve was modified to make room for a second exponential relation.

Finding the Cost of Fixing a Defect

There are certain problems that arise when it comes to the fixing of a software defect. Out of these, deciding upon the cost of fixing the trouble happens to be the most important one. The actual cost involved in finding solution to a problem is often the least understood factor too. Now, the cost usually depends upon the development lifecycle as well as the development process that one chooses apart from the risk that the enterprise is ready to take. Estimation of the cost can be done by means of the following technique:

Considering that all the people working in a system test are completely dedicated to identifying and fixing defects, the number of fixes are to be taken into account. Next, the number of people including that of developers, testers and everybody else along with the duration of system test are to be considered. The process of calculation goes like this:

Average cost of fixing defects= Number of days* number of people* cost per person-day/ Number of defects that have been fixed

It is worth remembering in this regard that it is not the defects but the ones that are fixed that matters while also leading to the right calculation.

How Much Does It Cost?

The attitude taken towards fixing software defects often varies depending upon respective managers. Again, there is some confusion about when to find solution to which defect. Now, the cost of finding solution to the defects is influenced by the organizational culture and its implications. Here is a brief overview:

Routine Culture

In a routine culture, quality is considered valuable by the management but there is neither money nor the time to devote on improving the same. The problems are fixed only after quite a severe one has occurred. The easy defects are identified while the difficult ones are left out. As such, the cost of fixing a problem is the lowest of all.

Steering Culture

In a steering culture, the management realizes that quality is but a systematic issue and automatically, the task of managing is executed better. Problems are openly discussed as well as resolved in an orderly manner. The defects are found earlier than the system test leading to the creation of several bad fixes. Eventually, the cost of solving the problem is the highest among all.

Variable Culture

In a variable culture, the management usually does not consider quality to be a management issue. Personal efforts in solving problems are often preferred over a systematic approach, as a result of which, it is found that the employees identify more defects compared to what they could fix. Accordingly the average cost of fixing a defect is higher than that of a routine culture and lower than that of a steering culture.

Ways of Preventing Defects

Preventing the defects from arising in the very first place is essential for the simple reason that fixing them requires considerable effort, time and money. Early defect detection has a number of advantages. Following a list of some of the prominent ways in which the software defects can be checked:

• Analyzing the software requirements well beforehand is a significant way of preventing troubles. The specific customer needs are to be analyzed and then transformed into product specifications with expertise. Interactive sessions with the customers is helpful in this regard.
• Reviews, both self-reviews and peer reviews, work wonders in uncovering defects instead of finding them out later. Self-review, in particular, allows reduction of problems related to implementation of algorithms, incorrect logic and missing conditions. Many software organizations are making this a part of their best practices of coding.
• Documentation and defect logging leads to better management of the troubles as well as the depletion trends and costs. A defect logging tool allows correction of the problem, identification of the phase and so on.
• Analyzing the root cause can be done via applying local expertise and targeting the systematic errors. This largely helps in saving time and costs involved in fixing the troubles.

Having considered the above discussion, implementation of the defect prevention procedures into the application software testing process is the most difficult of all tasks. If carried out successfully, it can actually prevent the troubles from arising and pave the way for smooth operation of the enterprises.

We provide software testing services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified software testers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.