Six Pillars to Design a Proper Software Testing Plan

At Software Testing Bureau we have been fortunate to talk about automation and quality in technological development for years. After two decades of working for such causes, we notice that in the region it is increasingly common to receive from our clients questions similar to this one: How can I make my company more efficient so that IT projects are profitable and have fewer problems during the process?

In this blog, we would like to share our experience and the answers that have worked for us.

The evolution of technology has permeated the operations of companies, regardless of their size or revenue. Unfortunately, the speed with which the digital transformation of the business has been confronted reveals the need to implement agile methodologies and a more strategic management of quality assurance.

In order to achieve greater profitability and better operational results, the software test plan and the way it is managed is becoming a key element to be addressed.

A lack of vision about the impact that professional test management can have, has a direct impact on ROI, competitiveness and the generation of business opportunities.

Let’s look at some of the factors that lead to a poor test plan design strategy.

1. Testing performed late in the development process, preventing the detection of important defects at the beginning of projects.
2. Partial or very limited testing due to lack of resources.
3. Testing performed by the same resource that is developing, resulting in low priority to allocate time to test execution and false assumptions of good performance.
4. Excessive test plans that conflict with the required agility.
5. A lot of time spent performing manual and repetitive tests that create wear and tear and a high margin of error.
6. Automating tests with tools that require programming, since this requires a high investment in specialized resources that are usually expensive to maintain. Knowledge is concentrated in the tool, making efficiency difficult.
7. Few, unstable and inconsistent regression tests.

These situations are common to the vast majority of organizations operating under traditional IT management models that are inadequate for the agility required today.

What are the 6 pillars for developing a quality strategy based on an effective test case plan?

In our experience, these are the six most important factors that organizations must consider in order to execute a testing project that delivers value to the business:

1. Dedicated testing teams that are independent of the development team.
2. Focus on business risk coverage rather than number of test cases.
3. Early involvement of the QA leader in defining the requirements, test base/objects, and validations needed early in development.
4. Identify new or existing test cases that impact “key business milestones” that change frequently and therefore need to be automated.
5. Perform test automation with zero-code technologies that democratize their use and facilitate access to functional or non-technical profiles.
6. Automated, systematic, and documented regression testing that makes it easy to identify defects with clear and actionable evidence.

Losing sight of these pillars will have a direct impact on business results in the short or medium term. What are some of the problems of poorly executed testing?

• Delays in production release
• Repeated failures due to short-scope tests or tests that do not validate key project milestones
• Repetition in project and requirements definition
• Digital solutions that become business problems due to poor user experience, security vulnerabilities
• Loss of time and resources in performing certain manual tests that impact the profitability of projects.
• Failures in the system can lead to lost opportunities for customer conversion.
• User distrust
• Deterioration of company reputation.

At Software Testing Bureau, we empower business through software testing. We help companies achieve profitability from their technology projects with testing services and STELA, the zero code automation tool.