Does software testing have an endpoint in a project?

A new project is gestated, born, and developed. Why is it important that software testing continues even when the required development is finished? Figure it out in this article, in the voices of Alejandra Viglietti and Alejandro Berardinelli. 

By Natalie Rodgers

By now, we have already established the importance of software testing starting as soon as possible, in order to mitigate risks and reduce costs, as part of the coconstruction of quality software. But what happens when the main software development has already been done?

At Abstracta, we are committed to building quality software not only when we are part of a project, but also when we are no longer part of it. What does this mean? We want our work to remain, and its results to last over time. We want to make a difference, leave our mark, and truly help our clients achieve their success. 

How do we ensure this? By establishing the importance of software testing always continuing, and defining together with the client a way to make this possible. 

If software testing work is carried out for a while and then stopped for some reason, pre-established or not, there will come a point when what has been done is no longer enough. When will this happen? It will depend on the changes that are made in the development; the introduction of improvements; the release of new versions; and even on the maintenance itself.

“Whenever modifications are made to systems or data, there is always a risk of introducing errors, so it is important that quality continues to be evaluated beyond the project’s life cycle,” introduced Alejandra Viglietti, Operations Manager at Abstracta. 

“Many times modifications or corrections are introduced based on feedback from users who use it in real environments, and this generates the need for maintenance. Changes in the infrastructure (equipment, for example) can lead to differences in performance that are also detected with doing testing continuously,” She said.

“This is one of the work philosophies that guide us. The idea is not to work on a client’s project and then discard what has been done; we want it to remain. This is part of the value we want to leave the client with, which in the long term generates a higher quality development process,” said Alejandro Berardinelli, QE Lead at Abstracta.

However, not all collaborative projects are maintained indefinitely with clients. This happens because each one has different needs, and it is based on those needs that the type of collaboration modality is defined. In general, we usually aim to become quality partners. So we are able to focus on their context permanently and help them develop the greatest possible success. But there are also limited projects, with specific purposes. And others in which they only need “hands” to execute a strategy that they already have planned. You can read more about the different collaboration modalities in this article.

Beyond the type of modality and duration of a collaboration project, it is crucial that software testing continues. How can testing continue once a project is finished? The answer is simple and pragmatic: through knowledge and information transfer.

“We always document all the processes and definitions carried out, and we always involve the customers in all of this. Thus, we involve them in our methodology, with the explicit intention that they incorporate it and become part of it. We also suggest training if necessary, and we leave recommendations on how to use the different tools in all cases,” Berardinelli explained.

“By getting closely involved with the teams, we also try to be quality evangelists,” Viglietti emphasized. What does this mean? Basically, everyone on the team learns to always be on the lookout for quality, from every possible angle.

Viglietti explained that projects that do not have a predefined time and scope from the beginning can sometimes be terminated for extraneous or unforeseen reasons. Among them, the most common are lack of budget; changes in the client’s structure; acquisitions by other companies; and migrations to new systems that make the current ones obsolete. 

“In any case, all the work done is documented so that the client has a record of it. Training is provided when necessary. And the information is transferred so that it can be continued from the point where we arrived, in case the client has someone to continue with the task.”, she outlined.

So, continuity of software testing is fundamental regardless of any situation that may arise. Therefore, it is essential to keep a detailed record of everything. And that the software testing team in charge has as a priority that the quality remains, regardless of whether or not they continue with the project in the future.

As Viglietti explained, quality is not only the responsibility of the testers but of everyone involved: developers, analysts, PMs, POs, testers, and more. 

“If we manage to do our job well, we know that the people left in charge will have managed to incorporate quality as an important value for their products and/or services and will try to maintain what has been done”, she emphasized. And specified: “In the cases in which we participate in UAT (User Acceptance Test) instances, it is the end-users who generate the critical thinking to continue testing the different systems.”

According to a CISQ report, named “The Cost of Poor Software Quality in the US”, the total cost of poor software quality in the United States was $2.08 trillion (T) in 2020…The underlying cause is primarily unmitigated bugs in software.” Furthermore, according to it, malware and ransomware attacks increased by 358% and 435%, respectively, “and are outpacing the ability of societies to effectively prevent or respond to them.”

At Abstracta, we are convinced that the value of our organization and its transformative possibilities are greater than the specific services we provide. For this reason, we are a quality partner, even though the type of collaboration we are carrying out is not Partnering.

Viglietti concluded: “Our main motivation is to help our clients achieve their goals and objectives. We do not try to remain fixed in one position but we love to collaborate in the gestation of new possibilities. To share with our clients everything we know and then collaborate with other challenges. We believe that there is a lot to do and that quality is less and less negotiable.”

Are you looking for your ideal software testing partner? Abstracta is one of the most trusted software quality engineering company. With offices in US California and Latin America, we are proud to be ranked 1st by Clutch as one of the best software testing companies.

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