Why Agile Testing? Five Reasons to Support

Traditional methods of developing software has its pitfalls that range from software delivered with glitches, slow response, and poor user experience, further affecting the brand value and decrease in profitability of the company. To counter such dire outcomes, agile methodology is used wherein developers and testers instead of working in silos, work in collaboration to sort out glitches as the software development lifecycle progresses. In such a process, synergy amongst teams (called DevOps) is achieved in the form of continuous delivery, as each and every stakeholder works in a real sharing environment leading to better outcomes. 

Increased competition and demanding customers have jolted companies out of their smugness and made them realise that traditional methods of developing software has its share of issues. These include lack of a focused approach, working in silos, less communication, and one-upmanship amongst teams. 

 

Besides, testing of software more often than not is not on the priority list of decision makers due to constraints of time and money. This leads to quality issues with the software, as users with better options on the anvil decide not to choose the product but rather try out its rivals. 

As a result, the business suffers on account of poor user experience, lowering its brand value, cost overruns, and reduced profitability. 

Agile testing seems to be the answer to the above mentioned dire outcomes as it involves various teams to work in unison, identify and fix glitches as they appear, and facilitate continuous delivery. In this scenario, testing and development teams collaborate and bounce off ideas between each other through iterative and incremental methods.

The development phase is sliced into small parts called increments, which are further subjected to iterations – typically a time zone of one to four weeks. During iterations such as designing, coding, developing and testing are conducted, and shared with stakeholders. 

Five Agile Testing benefits

Better quality software: Agile testing services ensure testing and development teams instead of working in silos should work in collaboration. Here testing is made a part of the software development lifecycle, wherein both teams with face to face interactions help address glitches. As the same is shared with all stakeholders including product owners, any issue is promptly taken care of, resulting in faster delivery. 

Quick market delivery: As glitches are identified and addressed, faster thanks to the incremental and iterative processes embedded in the entire software development life cycle, the resultant software is released quickly. This quick market delivery often plays an important role in capturing customers’ attention, thus keeping a quality product ahead in the market vis-a-vis its rivals. 

Flexibility: In the traditional way of software development being risk averse is the norm. Development and testing teams work in silos and often work at cross purposes, where suggestions from a particular team are not given importance if they run counter to the immediate ‘goals’ of the team. Such one-upmanship can lead to unaddressed glitches. This cannot be the thought of in an agile environment as various stakeholders form a common goal rather than a team specific one. If one team slips on delivery the other team makes sure the same is taken care of. 

Better synergy: As opposed to the traditional method, where different teams working in silos resist change, working in an agile test environment can be enriching as well as rewarding. Here, ideas given by any person irrespective of his / her hierarchy in the organisation, is given due importance. This results in better synergy and development of an inter team ethos. 

User satisfaction: As user testing forms an integral part of the entire development lifecycle, any glitch or bug is identified and addressed forthwith resulting in better effectiveness and responsiveness of the software. 

Michael works for Gallop Solutions, which is North America's largest Independent Software Testing Services & company operating since 2003 with offices in Philadelphia & California.