Software Testing Services Archives

An Analysis of the Effects of the Agile Model in Software Testing

Posted on January 30, 2023 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Software professionals are under pressure to discover and measure quality aspects including usability, testability, maintainability, and dependability as well as engineering methods that assist the creation of high-quality products with these advantageous characteristics. Like other engineering objects, the software development process has to be designed. In other words, it has to be developed, put into practise, assessed, and maintained. The finest technical and management techniques must be incorporated in a methodical manner throughout the software development process, just as in other engineering disciplines.

Agile development approaches are becoming more popular among companies that are under pressure to provide apps of a better calibre in order to remain competitive. Agile and other iterative techniques are actually taking over as the industry norm for creating applications. Agile’s ideal goal is to accelerate the delivery of the greatest amount of business value possible by putting an emphasis on people and ongoing development. Although the agile technique is typically thought of as primarily relevant to development teams, the entire organisation must adapt.

Agile development confronts businesses with two significant challenges: being flexible enough to keep up with the iterative nature of the agile approach, and providing quality and stability to applications much earlier in the development process in order to align with the business.

The fundamentals of agile testing

The fundamental tenets of agile testing are as follows:

1. Working software is the main gauge of success in this Agile testing strategy.
2. Self-organizing teams have the highest chance of success.
3. Our first aim is to consistently and promptly deliver high-quality software.
4. Daily activity gathering is required of software engineers throughout the project.
5. Increasing agility through steady technology advancement and superior design.
6. Agile testing, which offers continuous input, makes ensuring that the final product lives up to the business’s expectations.
7. The Agile Test approach requires us to carry out the testing process as we implement it, which cuts down on the amount of time needed for development.
8. The Agile testing methodology should focus on maintaining a constant development speed.
9. Regularly reflect on ways to improve your effectiveness.
10. Self-organizing teams provide the finest architectures, requirements, and designs.
11. The team evaluates and modifies its behaviour to improve efficiency at each meeting.
12. The most effective and efficient way to share knowledge within the development team is through face-to-face conversations.

Process of Testing Software

Software testing is a technique for confirming and validating the software; it ensures that the software/applications are executed without errors or problems. An agile model created to satisfy all technical and commercial requirements. When applied, this model may be constructed with the same qualities and will function as intended. Software testing finds program/software bugs, mistakes, and faults. The software testing procedure must include fixing these faults, mistakes, and defects. When programme updates are made, the software should be tested once again and then once more after that, until all flaws have been discovered and corrected. The testing process and the condition of the software under test are monitored and reported on during test operations.

Important flaws are checked during test planning by going over the requirements and design papers. The testing team fixes these flaws but is unable to raise the software’s quality. Prior to testing, all enhancements should be implemented into the system, therefore they should all be recorded during the coding phase of software development. If software architects and designers acquire all the improvements within a certain time limit, they will have created a good model. The design of the software or application can be improved by testing before coding.

Pros and Cons of the Agile Model

Agile methodologies are now extensively used in the software industry, however they might not necessarily be appropriate for all products. The agile paradigm has the following benefits and drawbacks.

The following shows the benefits and drawbacks of the agile model:

Pros

Is an extremely practical method for developing software.
Encourages collaboration and cross-training.
Functionality can be quickly built and proven.
Minimum resource requirements.
Adaptable to both changing and fixed needs
Provides early, imperfect answers.
Effective model for continuously changing surroundings.
Few rules, simple to use documentation.
Allows development and delivery to occur concurrently within a larger, planned environment.
Requires little to no planning
Simple to handle
Provides developers with flexibility

Cons
Ineffective for managing complicated dependencies.
A greater risk of extensibility, maintenance, and sustainability
Without an overarching strategy, an agile leader, and an agile PM practise, it will not succeed.
The scope, functionality to be supplied, and modifications to fulfil deadlines are determined by strict delivery management.
Relies significantly on client contact; as a result, if the consumer is unclear, the team may be led astray.
Since little documentation is produced, there is a great deal of individual dependence.
The absence of documentation may make it difficult for new team members to learn technology.

Commercial Agile Testing Methodology

Agile testing is currently widely utilised in industries since it entails close customer participation and short week cycles. Due to all these qualities, the project moves very quickly. The shortcomings of the V-Model and the Waterfall Model are eliminated, making it the optimum technique.

For projects with shifting needs and unclear project scope, it is the optimum model. Customers are more confident and satisfied with the finished product as a result of the regular customer participation at every stage, which also reduces the likelihood of future defects. Since there is client engagement throughout every cycle, the final product that is given at the conclusion of each cycle meets the criteria.

Agile testing also lowers project costs since workable products are supplied in increments after each cycle, reducing the likelihood of future defects. Additionally, this process improves communication and team trust in QA.

Due to its benefits, lower delivery costs, and other qualities in the modern industry, Agile is now a new and one of the methodologies that takes the longest to adopt.

Distinguish between Agile Testing and Waterfall Testing

The Development Life Cycle activities take place in phases that are sequential in a Waterfall Development approach. As a result, testing is a distinct phase that begins only after the development phase is over.

The key distinctions between Agile Testing and Waterfall Testing are as follows:

Sr. No.	Agile Testing	Waterfall Testing
1.	Testing takes place concurrently with development and is not a distinct step.	Testing is a different stage. Only when development is complete can testing at all levels and levels begin.
2.	Developers and testers collaborate.	Testing is a different stage. Only when development is complete can testing at all levels and levels begin.
3.	The creation of requirements involves testers. This aids in establishing the acceptance criteria and linking requirements to behaviours in the real-world scenario. Along with the criteria, logical Acceptance Test Cases would also be prepared.	It’s possible that testers are not involved in the requirements phase.
4.	Acceptance after each iteration, testing is carried out, and client feedback is gathered.	Acceptance Only the last stages of the project is tested.
5.	Regression testing may be used whenever new functions or logic are published because each loop finishes its own testing.	Regression Testing can only be put into practise once development is finished.
6.	There are no wait times between coding and testing.	Regular gaps of time between coding and testing
7.	Testing that is on-going and involves many test levels.	Test levels cannot overlap since testing is a timed activity.

Conclusions

The agile method has been in use for a while. It has proven essential in many of the intricate projects that both small and large businesses are now working on. The most creative businesses of today and future will keep pushing the boundaries of agile methods. For them, the ability to develop, plan, and carry out initiatives successfully in a fast-paced, dynamic environment will be the difference between just existing and thriving. Making the proper judgments throughout project execution as well as planning is a key component of agility.

Testing methods, skills, techniques, and equipment may need to shift in order to handle that sort of change. The mechanics of test execution are one area of software testing that does not change merely because the project team is utilising an agile strategy to build software, although certain testers may need to significantly alter their testing methodology if they are to be useful on an agile software project. Agile testers must decide what work to complete next, how to complete it, how to make it relevant to the client, and how to exercise the application in various ways to enhance their understanding of how things operate and potential risk areas.

How To Choose The Best Test Management Service

Posted on July 9, 2019 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

How to choose the best test management service? Have you been baffled by this question?
Testing has been and always will be an important part of any development and creation process.
It is the only way to validate what we created is what we wanted or not. But since most of the software development is now moving to agile managing testing effectively becomes an uphill task.
Coming back to the first question, So what is the very possible way out of this?
There are many test management service providers in the market today. And they can provide you with end to end testing solutions for your business. With the testing work outsourced your team can focus on delivering with better velocity in every sprint.
There are several other advantages as well if you decide to use the help of a test management service provider. Let me now give you an insight into the advantages of using a test management service.

Independent and Impartial Validation:

One thumb rule in testing is that testing is best performed by an independent team located away from the development team for the best results. BY outsourcing your testing tasks you stick to this thumb rule. It also ensures that your testing results are impartial and accurate.

Professional Approach

In product teams focused on development, most of the time testing takes a back seat.
More often than not the processes are bypassed and rules are bent to meet the deadlines.
Consequences? Quality goes for a toss. This problem can be easily by entrusting your testing activities to a competent test management service provider.

Greater Bandwidth For Product Development

In an agile environment that has become the industry norm, the onus is on delivering standalone usable functionality after every iteration.
It is always a race against time for the developers who are not only expected to do a unit testing of their code but also a peer testing for another team member’s code.
By giving this testing task to an independent validating team the developers will get a greater bandwidth for developing their modules and also reduce the pressure for them.

Better Reporting And Tracking

The main idea behind the testing process is not only to find issues but also reporting the defects to the correct teams and tracking them to closure.

A good test management service provider would help with timely and accurate tracking of the issues and bugs.
They would also be able to provide you with the right kind of metrics and statistics which will clearly indicate the quality of your product.
Yes, we now know why it is important to avail of the services of a test management company. But do not make the mistake of selecting just any test management service provider.
You could be taking a huge risk by doing that. Testing is a very important aspect of product success.
You need to be double sure about whom you want to entrust this big responsibility. The testing is one aspect that can make or break your product.
But please don’t panic. In this section, we list some very important points which will help decide the best test management service for your business.

Efficiency

Yes, as simple as it may seem, the efficiency of the testing process is the first and foremost criteria to be considered when choosing a test management service.
By efficiency, we mean not only finding the bugs but also issues that could critically impact the software or product.
They should also be able to think out of the box and suggest changes and enhancements in the product based on its actual use.
Ideally, they would think and use the product as an end customer would do.

Industry Experience

When you decide to outsource some of your work, make sure they are capable enough to handle the work.
Choose a test management company that has an industry standing of at least 5 years or more. Also, take time to look at the profiles of their clients to understand the kind of projects they would have handled.

Focused Testing Approach

For the testing to be more effective and result oriented, it needs to be planned out well.
The best test management service provider would have a focused approach to testing which is more focused on testing the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) features.
At the same time, it will also make sure the complete product is tested effectively with all the possible data flows and integration points.

Experience And Skill

The success of the testing effort is based on the skill, experience, and expertise of the testers. The more skilled your testers are in the product and domain, the better would be the testing performed.
If you are using automation tools, then expertise in automation is also needed.
Now, when you decide to select a test management service, you need to make sure that they have the right set of people who have ample knowledge and expertise in testing products or software which may be similar to your requirement.
For example, if you are developing a mobile app, then you need to make sure the service provider has testers with exposure to mobile app testing.

Hardware Requirements

In some cases, your product or software may require some extra hardware or have some specific user requirements.
Make sure these are communicated well to the service provider at the onset to make sure they can provide the right kind of testing services.
Let us again take the example of a mobile app. While testing a mobile app, one would need to make sure that the app has a responsive design. And to test that they would need access to multiple mobile devices with different screen sizes and resolutions.

Also Read: Top 10 Mobile App Testing Companies in India

On the same lines if your mobile app needs an internet connection to talk to certain backend servers and systems, then the service provider should be able to test this internet connectivity in Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G and hot spot connections for getting accurate results.
Hence the best test management service provider should be able to handle the specific hardware and other requirements needed for complete testing of the product.

Use of Latest Tools And Technologies

The best testing service provider would have access to the latest tools and technologies in the market which would include both free and open source products.
This would ensure that the testing is done with quality and also will be in line with the latest market trends. Some service providers would have only one or two tools and would try to test every product with that.
This is not the right practice. Every product should be tested with tools that are best suited for it based on the development language, platform and also based on where it will be deployed or used.
While selecting the best test management service makes sure they are using the right tools and technologies to test your product.

Speed To Market

One of the main reasons, for selecting a third party for doing the testing, is to save time. Hence it is important the service provider can help you speed up your process and reach the market or clients faster.
In today’s fast-paced world, it is not only important to create value or products which are needed by the clients but getting them to the market first is also the key.
With new products hitting the market almost daily, your speed to market becomes a paramount criterion for product success. Choose a test management service, which can help you improve your speed to market.

Real-Time Connectivity

There are times when your product and software may be to be tested out of different regions to understand how it performs.
This is also a good reason for choosing a test management service provider.

Instead of just mocking the locations on the systems and devices, the provider should be able to provide you with real-time connectivity with people and testers as per your needs across the globe.

Budget

Last but not least the money involved. Understand that when you decide to outsource the work, there is a cost involved. Quality comes with a price.
If someone is providing you this quality dirt cheap, then there are 99% chances they are not genuine or will mess up with your work.
Don’t go for very pricey providers which may not work out for you. Choose the apt one which fits in all the above points along with your pockets too.
Taking the services of the experts in every phase of manufacturing and production is the way things are being developed and produced.
With many specialized teams and companies available it can be quite a challenge to select the one that fits you the best.
The points above would help you choose the best test management service provider for your business. Best of luck.

10 Things To Evaluate Before Hiring a Software Testing Company

Posted on August 16, 2018 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Today, almost software working draft includes software testing. There are various software testing company that outsource the software testing work.

Outsourcing is generally defined as a business method of hiring another company that performs various testing tasks.
They are meant to provide services that are either usually executed or had previously been done by the company’s own workers. The trend of outsourcing testing services is very famous in the information technology world.
Aspects To Consider Before Outsourcing Testing Services
Consequently, the reliability to outsource your software to another software testing company can increase significant value to your end product.
However, if you are unable to select the right company, it may also cause troubles that will make you outguess your choice.
Moreover, the mid-spread between satisfaction and frustration lies in your due persistence. However, there are a few steps you should follow before you settle on a final decision; here are 10 things you should evaluate.
1. Team Location
Where is your team located? Since there is a considerable difference between dealing with outsources software testing companies and the team that’s based in abroad, therefore the question of team location is one of the most important to think about.
Generally, the idea of outsourcing software testing can be beneficial sometimes as you can get a high quality of work at a reasonable cost.
Despite that, offshore testing often has a larger risk due to the cultural differences, language issues and a conceptual barrier to effective communication.
Therefore, a consistent can only come about when your teammates can reach software testing company personnel in a timely fashion with the help of best means of communication.
On the other hand, if you choose to work within the same country; all these issues will be resolved certainly. But if you are working with outsource testing companies, make sure that they are able to bypass these barriers.
2. Flexibility
Flexibility is an essential operational element for any software testing companies. Offshore testing demands a degree of flexibility to ensure that the timeframe fluctuations are met.
The elasticity of testing should be decided by studying modifiability, new aptitude, strength, and ease to exit.
Therefore, having a proper knowledge of how the company sets ups and manages teams are important along with the method of adjustment to your company. Look for a company that is flexible enough to provide support for quick and lean progress environment.
3. True Cost
Once you have accessed the organization on another parameter, determining the true cost of working with them is very important.
You never know that working with an outsource company might seem to come with a cut-price tag but when you add all hidden expenses, it can cost your company a heavy amount. Therefore, your priority is to engage with such an outsourcing company that facilitates you with on-time delivery, maximum return on investment, high efficient work and all-inclusive value addition.
4. Responsiveness
The management of responsiveness emerges in various conditions when you deal with a software testing company.

For instance, how much time does it takes to gather the squad that will work with you? Or else, how much time does it take for the company to answer your queries? Try to engage with a company that has the experience, promptness and is proven best for its best delivery immediate results.
The company you choose should have the ability to understand all needs to respond to your queries, in the matter of assembling the team or delivering results
5. Engagement Models
One of the most important evaluation steps in outsource software testing is the engagements modes.
There are two types of outsourcing or externalization such as total outsourcing and incremental outsourcing that you can go with. But above all, you need to understand the model of business and its strategies.
Let’s look at these two types of outsourcing.

Incremental Externalization: The entire task is divided into smaller parts, thus outsourcing each part to the service providers. In this case, you have the option to select numerous service providers. However, it is important for the client to give a great weight on the offshore provider for the work to be done correctly.
Total Externalization: On the other hand, the entire risk is given to a single service provider in this model. As the supplier takes the risk here, it is a cost-efficient But, it needs a very thorough and detailed planning.

6. Service Level Agreement
SLA or service level agreement is a contract that is signed between the client and the service provider.
This agreement defines the output assumed from the service provider. Therefore, signing this agreement is crucial in order to make sure there is 100% alignment of goals between the service provider and the client.
The service level agreement should be related to the engagement model and types of testing. Some key points to have in your SLA are:

Reporting & project management time
Product quality measures
Knowledge transfer
Process Compliance
Understanding core business

7. Communication
Bad Communication is considered as a major barrier between vendors and clients. These barriers create a barricade in the work to be done. Therefore, it is crucial to building an excellent communication channel between the two parties.
8. Intellectual Property Protection
Intellectual property protection is considered the most important aspect while outsourcing.
One of the disputes for an outsourcing company is to protect the businesses’ intellectual property.
To protect the personal data provided by the client should be the first priority of the vendor. Moreover, it should not be used for any other purpose apart from the planned business.
9. Change Management
During the process of testing, there may be frequent requirement changes from the client.
Thus, the QA testing cycle should be handled properly. In addition In order to get over these time, efforts and additional expenses; one should maintain a strong change management system.
10. Quality Improvement
One of the key tasks of outsourcing is to accomplish a considerable quality improvement and its ultimate goal is to bring about an overall improvement of the end product.

Therefore, the process of the testing cycle should be tried to improve continually.
In general, companies go for outsourcing whose core task is other than software testing. Software testing is considered the most important process in almost every software project.
The main goal of offshore software testing company is to get the best quality at a reasonable price and at the same time let the company focus on its key business areas.
Moreover, as there are numerous software testing company available in the market today to provide these service, you need to have a thoughtful consideration before selecting them.
Therefore, try to match your requirements with vendor’s profile so that you can select the best software testing company for testing.

12 Reasons To Invest in Software Testing!

Posted on August 10, 2018 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

When an organization considers testing, there are a plenty of restrictions that ring a bell, to begin with, including timelines, accessible resources, tools and obviously the financial plan.

It is required for a company to consider the quality and cost of the software at the same time while giving an application on time to the client.
For an organization – it is a sort of investment for future advantages for building goodwill in the business. It gives a considerable measure of effect on sales and in addition sponsors the cost of software too.
The testing manager has data about the whole situation and it is useful for the organization in getting more revenue of investment with quality software.
However, primarily company needs to think about the perspectives behind investing in the Software Testing Company.
Here are the reasons why and how this investment is going to be beneficial for a company.
1. You can Find Errors during Production
Finding basic imperfections, post-deployment in a live domain shows that the testing completed hasn’t checked the task necessities effectively. This outcome in your Operations (Ops) group spending a substantial part of their budget and time working around or fixing the defects.
Applying hotfixes to a live situation is a high-risk arrangement which can make further issues. The prior testing is associated with the venture, i.e. from the requirements stage, the sooner deformities are found and the less expensive they are to resolve.
2. Resolve Defects Before it Launches to the Market
As said before, testing is required to guarantee that the application or product plays out the way it is supposed to be. Different sorts of Testing processes assist you in obtaining the required outcomes.

Also Read : How to Select An Test Automation Services Provider For Your Software

Reliability tests run high-level loads for a more drawn out time, Fail-over Tests check repetition mechanisms, and Stress Tests measure the load that the framework or application can take. Such tests resolve the dangers that may impede the product in a real-world situation.
Identifying defects when it is too late is absolutely not suitable as delaying of testing is like denying it. Defects not recognized at an early phase, effect delivery timelines and several times are left unfixed as the cost of settling them is too high.
Hence, testing aids in exploiting the application to uncover the defects, as it is fundamental for developing the application to be launched on the market successfully.
3. System Performance Deteriorates after Launch
New features appended to your system or adjustments to the internal system can have a deleterious impact on the customer’s experience and system performance. To alleviate this risk, testing must be an essential component of your testing strategy.
4. Improve the Robustness
It is critical for companies to guarantee that the applications stay strong even in the most perilous times – cyber-attacks, network issues, or virtual threats. A testing process like Performance Testing with multiple tests and mechanisms guarantees the robustness of the product to maintain in the marketplace and work flawlessly.

5. Testing Investment is under the Industry Average
As per the World Quality report 2016, organizations spend 35% to 40% of development funds on testing projects. So, if you see that you are investing limited in testing than comparable companies, you must apparently think to invest more.
6. Bugs will be Found by Clients
It’s never pleasant for others to detect faults in your project, though it is even critical when those who observe faults are clients who have paid for your product. When your clients are discovering many bugs, you must contemplate investing more in testing, as bugs do not show entirely on your employees, company, or product.
7. Challenge to assure Test Coverage in each Redundancy
Manual testing for new features alongside the regression testing of existing functionality is a tiresome endeavor, that increments as new features are included at every redundancy. Teams usually strive to align every test activity in small iterations depending only on manual testing.
This results in inadequate test coverage and bad product quality.
8. Inspect Different Technology Stacks
Software development is getting complicated, which has prompted the use of different technology stacks. This is important for guaranteeing the presumed execution and expectations. Performance testing recognizes the frail links in the technology stack that has been utilized for the product development.
9. The Undertaking doesn’t Pass Quality Round
We’ve all been in that meeting where the judgment should be made – ‘to do’ or ‘not to do’. Pressures can be high and the enterprise can be under serious stress to launch it to the public. This is no time to convey bad news to the clueless partners.
The way to deal with this circumstance isn’t to be in it in any case. Thus, properly planned test methodology and reporting procedure will notify the key partners of testing advancement and issues all through the venture and will stay away from the last-minute shocks.
10. Improve Scalability
With the difficulties in the digital domain, companies need to establish applications that are scalable and can get updated progressively. The testing process called performance testing uncovers the conceivable vulnerabilities inside an application and recognizes where it must be fortified to acknowledge updates and revisions to get more versatile.
11. Your Testers Keep Desisting
Are your testers panicking before every launch plan? Do they ask for you to increase launch time by maybe a couple weeks? Testers express that they don’t have enough time to test and have questions in regards to the feature of programming.

Also Read : Software Testing: Meeting The Customer Expectation

Happy workers tend to yield better work, especially when they have adequate resources and time to finish their undertaking. In case that your testers keep desisting since they are exhausted and their time is extended too thin, you ought to put more in testing.
12. Distinguish Problems linked to Database

Load or Stress tests not just allow teams to manage the behavior of the application, It will also help in evaluating he capability of the existing server of your company.
Wrapping up
Investing in the software testing company is clearly predominant these days for the success of companies that can choose either licensed or open source testing means for guaranteeing the best administration and operation of their product. Thus, in order to decrease bugs, secure the best speed, recognize DB problems, and build a responsive and robust website or application or product, it is important to place clear testing goals before invest in the testing company.

15 Points To Consider While Hiring a Software Testing Company

Posted on July 2, 2018 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Why do we test something? Well to see if the ‘something’ in question is up to the mark or not. The same applies for software which before launching in the market is necessary to test. This is in order to ensure its functioning, accuracy and simplicity of the system.

Software developing companies hire software testing companies like any other outsourcing service as they are experts in ensuring that a software system runs flawlessly and measures up to all the essential quality criteria put into place. But what is the criteria, based on which we hire a software testing company?
We shall discuss this in the following sections. But first let us understand, what is software testing?
Software Testing:-
It is an investigation which is conducted to provide information about the quality of the software. It is done to assure that the software is working as expected.
There are two ways of doing software testing:-
Black box software testing done by professional testers qualified for the job.
White box software testing done by non-technical end-users.
Software Testing Company:-
It is an organization that conducts software testing for different companies or business entities.
So now, in the following section, we will discuss the points that should be considered while hiring a software testing company.
1. Experience:-
It is one of the most important aspects that should be considered while hiring a software testing company. you should check whether the company has any experience in software testing or not. To do so, you can check or read their portfolio and by going through their past experiences. Some parameters on which you can rate the company’s experience are Parameters of coding, usability, the performance delivered, design and marketing, load balancing capabilities etc.
2. Qualification:-
However qualification plays a vital role in selecting the software testing company, but it is not necessary that a more qualified outsourcing company will give you the better result. The things that matter is the innovative ideas, the capability of the team and of course the qualification as well. So, before hiring a company the criteria of qualification is also need to be considered. You should give your project to the company who have a team of well-qualified professionals.
3. Coding Standards & Framework:-
Before hiring a software testing company you should assure that the company and the team should have a sound knowledge of programming language and tools related to software testing. The company having the more structured framework and an organized coding system will have the better code maintainability compared to others.
4. The Extent of Service:-
It is another important point that needs to be considered before hiring a software testing company. It is very important to see the extension or the scope of the services rendered by the company as it will help you in the long run. You should assure that the company is providing you with all the steps of software development lifecycle.
5. Team Location:-
It is another important question that comes to the mind while selecting a software testing company. The question is whether you should choose an offshore company or a company in the same country?
The overseas company can provide you the high-quality service but at the same time, there can be an issue of communication barriers, language issue, cultural differences etc. So, if you are choosing an international company, make sure that they are able to beat these barriers.
6. Service Level Agreement:-
It is an agreement or a contract signed between both the parties i.e. the service provider and the client. the SLAs defines the output expected from the service provider. It is very important to define the SLAs between both the parties to ensure 100% alignment of goals settled between both the parties.
Some key points that your SLA must have are:-

Knowledge transfer
core business know-how
Process compliance
Timelines of reporting and project management
Quality measures etc.

7. Flexibility and Scalability:-
There should be flexibility in the services provided by the software testing company or an outsourcing company. It should be decided by examining the factors such as modifiability, ease of exit, robustness, new capability etc. Outsourcing contracts demand a degree of mouldability to ensure that the timescale fluctuations are met.
8. Quality Improvement:-
It is one of the primary objective of the client to achieve a remarkable quality improvement through outsourcing a software testing company. As the agreement comes to an end, the working method and process tried to improve continually. Eventually, the target should be the overall improvement of the end product.
9. Intellectual Property Protection:-
It is one of the important aspects to be taken care while outsourcing the services. IP refers to the creation of mind like inventions, designs, artistic work, and symbol etc. used in commerce. It is one of the biggest challenges to protect the IP of business when it is outsourced.
10. Security:-
When you hire a software testing company, security is the most important aspect that needs to take care. The software must be having the information about the company that should not be disclosed to everyone. So, a business should choose the company which provides security to the software.
11. Testing Infrastructure:-
It refers to the tools and techniques that are required for software testing. Before hiring a software testing company you should make sure the service provider must have all the required infrastructure to support your software or product. The testing infrastructure includes software, hardware, operating system, backend database systems, testing tools, platforms etc.
12. Management Style:-
Management plays an important role in software testing. So before hiring a software testing company, you should make sure that the managerial style of your company is compatible with the service provider. It is important that both should have a same managerial language which will help them work together.

13. Responsibility and Accountability:-
Responsibility and accountability should go together. The software testing company you are hiring must be responsible and should be one who can take the accountability also. You would love to work with the company who is ready to take the responsibility and the accountability as well.
14. Cost of Working:-
After accessing the company on the above-mentioned parameters, you should decide the true cost of working with them. You should choose the outsourcing company which provides you the maximum ROI in terms of quality, overall value addition, and timely delivery.
15. Documentation Standards:-
Before hiring a software testing company, you should make sure that the company should have all the required documentation standard you need. Some of the documents are; test plans, scripts, test plans, test scenarios and test results etc. You should make sure that the company you are hiring should be well documented and you have easy access to the documents.
Final Thought
Today, software testing is the need of almost every software project or company. For conducting a software test we need to hire or outsource a software testing company who fulfill all the above-mentioned parameters or aspects. The main motive of outsourcing a software testing company is to get the quality work at a reasonable cost. Another reason for outsourcing the company is that the organization hiring the software testing company can focus on its core business area.

Software Testing: What Future Holds?

Posted on February 27, 2018 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

We wonder why it took us so long to write on this topic, maybe we wanted some time to let our theories brew. As the year’s progress, software testing industry is seeing greener pastures. This rapid development in the industry has kept everyone on a hook, especially the testers, expecting them to continuously upgrade their skills.

Software testing plays an important role In the Software Development life cycle (SDLC) which helps improve the quality and performance of the systems. With the growing importance, many big software companies tend to start their testing activities right from the start of the development activities.

Many experts believe that by 2020, software testing will not just be limited to delivering the software without bugs, but will be a huge focus and demand for high-quality products. That’s because software testing is rapidly becoming a standard, rather than a more advanced approach for software development teams.

Below we list some of the top trends in this field for an exception 2018 experience for your tests.

1. Open Source Tools

Most of the software companies use and accept the open source tools to meet their testing requirements. There are several tools available in the market today, but we can see advanced versions of it ready to be used soon in the near future. Also, many of the tools like Selenium will jump in the world of AI (Artificial Intelligence) automating most of your testing needs.

2. BigData Testing

Companies today are sitting on top of a huge data repository and all these needs a very strong strategy around the BigData testing. Though BigData testing is difficult than any other testing, the advantages it offers cannot be ignored. The industry has faced many challenges- lack of resources, time and tools, but it has also found its way out of these challenges.

Also Read : All You Need To Know About Software Performance Testing

3. Performance Engineering

The success of software depends upon the performance, reliability, and scalability of the system with user experience as a prime factor. Any software system is incomplete without an interactive user interface. Increased demand for user experience shifts the focus of performance testing to performance engineering.

4. DevOps Integration

DevOps is a concept where the various teams/departments of an IT Organization work seamlessly in collaboration and integration for a project. Since testing plays a very crucial role in SDLC, they are a key person in the business and the overall quality engineering aspects. DevOps is, therefore, a propelling business towards the deployment speed.

5. SDET Professionals

SDET stands for Software Development Engineer in Test (or Software Design Engineer in Test). The concept was proposed by Microsoft and many organizations demand these professionals. The roles of SDET professionals are different from those of our regular testers. It is said that by 2020, almost all the testers will have to wear the SDET hat to enhance their skills in the testing industry.

Conclusion:

With the growing needs and changing requirements, software testing professionals need to improve their skills simultaneously. It is not only a challenge for the testing team, but also for the entire development team for addressing the advancements and technological updated. But we are sure the testing industry will knock down these challenges too with their innovations and research.

6 Factors You Should Consider When Choosing a Software Testing Services Company

Posted on October 17, 2016 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

There are a variety of quality assurance companies cropping up around the world. You have plenty of available options to test your mobile app or other software. So, you might be naturally confused to make a choice for your project. Here are a few tips to help you out.

Specialization

First of all, see if the software testing services company you are looking at is a specialized team of testers with both experienced and skilled testers. There are lots of companies which do testing as a make-shift business. Their developers might double up as testers. Which is not an ideal scenario.

You can look at the client list and see if the agency has worked with businesses similar to yours. A specialized QA company will have a bankable clientele who can vouch for them. So, if possible, try to contact couple of their previous clients.

Such companies would also incorporate a variety of testing options with both manual and automation methods

Read Also : 4 Smart Ideas to Get the Best from Your Software Testing Service Team

Testing Platform

It is quite important that you understand which testing platform quality assurance recruitment agencies employ. Some agencies vary their testing platforms according to your application requirements. There are also a number of services that make use of cloud environment to ensure secure and easily accessible testing environment.

Early Release Testing Options

In certain cases, testers get used to the software they test so much that they do not see a number of defects any longer. In such cases, beta testing or other early release testing options on the web would ensure that your consumers get the best software. Employing beta users to report on bugs is also a low-cost method of testing for testing services companies

Communication

Whichever business you are working in, communication is significantly important. Clear, on-time communication means they get a clear idea of your test objectives. One easy way to identify such companies is by looking at their clientele. If they have numerous long-term clients, they are clearly good at communication. Also, they are definitely providing good testing service.

Recommended Read : 10 Must-have Tools for Software Testing Services

Business Aspects

What are the types of business models your vendor offers and does any of them suit your work requirements? Also, see if the company capable of managing sudden and dynamic technology changes. If they require team resizing, can your QA company handle it efficiently?

And above all, check if their management style suits your working style. If they are a company with CMMI Level 5 certification, and your company is not, there is a high probability of frequent communication issues.

Information Security

Your business software or app might have unique features that make it special. So, you should be protected against the leakage of protected data with proper documents. There should be essential non-disclosure agreements signed-off between you and the software testing services company.

Having highly secure premises are an added advantage as it will provide additional security to your valuable data.

3 Key Fears of Software Testing Professionals

Posted on July 20, 2016 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Fears and phobia are very common among humans. It could be something very common as the fear of animals and creatures or things bizarre like the fear of socializing and death. The same is applicable for any profession. Each profession comes with its own set of fears and insecurities.

A common one across all professions is the fear of being fired from your job! It could happen with anybody at any point. Another one is that of someone overtaking you or outshining you in your job.

As for software testing services, there are similar situations every tester faces. There are even severe cases where software testers have been kept awake all night due to their inbuilt fears. Here are a few of the common fears every software testing professional faces:

Read Also: 4 Smart Ideas to Get the Best from Your Software Testing Service Team

Outsourcing – In today’s world, it is possible to work from any place on Earth. In fact, working remotely is not just possible, but it is very common. That is why we have so many freelancers around. As such, outsourcing is a really feasible option for the companies.

The growing competition between companies to perform better and gain profit is so much that every firm now believes in cost effective methods to get the job done. They prefer minimum resources with minimum effort to get a large outcome. The return on investment or ROI is a major concern.

With off shore services turning out to be more cost effective, more companies are now considering this option for their testing services rather than maintaining an in house testing team. In such a scenario, job security becomes a major concern for software testers. By outsourcing the software testing services, the companies could easily cut down on their employee count. If the situation worsens, it would turn out to be a nightmare for the testers.

Failing Expectations – Failing to meet up to the expectations is something every professional dreads. This is much more in case you are a new tester. If you are fresh and new to your job and yet to get a hang of things in the corporate world, you may not be able to work as diligently and efficiently in looking out for bugs as your senior might be. One thing to remember here is that you need time to gain experience. In the same way, a fresher in testing needs time to improve the quality of testing.

Even experienced testers seem to face this problem. There are times when they are stuck in a situation unable to find a single bug. When someone else finds the bug, they start blaming themselves for failing. This is a common scenario and one should not let this affect them for a longer period.

Read Also: 10 Must-have Tools for Software Testing Services

Redundant Bugs – Repetitive situations are tricky. You might get so involved in it that you miss out the finer details and get sucked in to the same familiar things over and over again. Your mind could also straggle unnecessarily. You get bored and lose interest in what you are working on.

Performing redundant tasks makes it monotonous for a tester. As such, critical issues could get missed out. One tends to focus less and wander off from the task at hand. This affects the productivity and efficiency, and could be a problem if it continues. A tester knows this well and fears that this could happen to him.

So, here were the three main fears that are common for every professional in the software testing services. Surely most you could relate to these situations and do understand the feelings well. Find out your deep dark fears as a software tester and fight against them to conquer them.

4 Smart Ideas to Get the Best from Your Software Testing Service Team

Posted on July 13, 2016 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

As you might know, a business analyst, a toolsmith, a few technical investigators and probably a manager usually constitute a software testing service team.

Let’s take the technical investigating team as an example. It’s quite natural that one of the guys in the team may be interested in mobile, another one in API’s.
A clever manager can easily understand the situation and is able to assign the right task to the right person. This will probably raise some questions.
Can he do this all the time? Suppose there is heavy workload and an experienced mobile professional goes on leave, or imagine a situation if the team members feel that they are “pigeonholed”.
What all things an efficient manager can do? Let’s have a look

Discovering your “Testing Types”

When it comes to fix the testing team, we usually seek suggestions from our team members. Like a casual conversation, we ask “Should we keep a proportion for testers per programmer?”
Obviously, several opinions may arise. Some members suggest you’ve to provide only one tester to ten developers, as it‘s economic. Some say “No, if you want to ensure quality performance of apps, better keep a ratio of one tester per programmer”, and the conversation goes on like that.
Finally, the discussion settles with Agile testing ratio for the likes of many. We get maybe a couple of testers, perhaps zero, for every small group of programmers.
Having more than one slot allows you to deal an organizational problem much easier. For instance, for a couple of years back, when we had two open spaces, we choose a person who knows the basics of technical skills and another guy with a proficient knowledge of testing. More than that we attempt to get whatever number alternate viewpoints and perspectives as could reasonably be expected.
Many testers like to specialize; interestingly, some have genuine technical slashes and assume the role of a toolsmith making code that is beneficial for any production platform. Some others spend their time finding out about estimation, problem solving, and how individuals think and work, as they are interested in the origins of testing in philosophy and social science. In addition to this there are specialists in the business field and experts as well in making projects successful. So, everyone possesses special talents and it’s a challenge to fit them into teams.
One strategy you can do in this circumstance is to concentrate on your strengths.
Suppose you have to include a toolsmith in a small development team. The toolsmith can assist developers in programming automated checks in tune with the new features. The toolsmith is stubbing tests and creating the framework, while the new features are being developed.
You May Also Like : Mobile Software Testing Guide for First Time App Developers

Blending skills

A decent long haul tactic may look similar to that, with some ability change blended in for both the tester and developer.
When we work with fresh teams it is really difficult to devise strategies in creating beneficial codes.
Pairing quite often makes a difference. With front-end designers, we stroll through javascript and discuss how information is being purified by cutting off driving or trailing white space (or not) before being passed to the database.

Being engaged in Javascript for some time is a decent approach to stay aware of the new libraries that are turning out what appears like consistently. It likewise taught us how to depict issues in a way that would help them detect the code error quickly.
It’s obvious that most developers won’t transform into specialists and most testers likely won’t get to the point of writing production code. Unless you have a pleasant long professional career, there sufficiently isn’t time in the day. But, there is nothing wrong with making things a bit better.

Learn, train and grow

A few teams have swung similarly as they can run and wound up with not very many, if any committed testers on their team.
It’s difficult to pick a spot to begin fixing testers on teams when you have much a greater number of teams than testers. You could attempt to have that exhausted tester jump between teams, dependably on the losing end of the stream of work, and attempt to work each aspect as it requires. On the other hand, you could begin from the flip side of the condition.
We are bringing you one of the experiences shared by a tester while he was an employee of a software testing company which had many development teams.
The company had a handful of developers and just two testers to go around. He was the one and the other guy was very junior. They worked in tandem and did the features as they came.
They got too many tasks daily, so sometimes they neglected one or two tasks. In fact, his plan was to slowly sow testing thoughts in the development team during lunch breaks and learns, showing issues and clarifying how he discovered them, and for the most part looking at testing.
Therefore, the quality of the code enhanced before they saw it and they could test less, and have less back and forth, while as yet keeping up trust in the work.
Everything went there like “tester as a trainer” model. Everyone is basically a developer at pivotal, however a few people are testing experts and share their expertise. Testers mingled with teams and train them via games and pairing on testing problems.
As a result, the developers have turned out to be all the more in fact, technically competent and they could also improve testing.
Read Also: 10 Must-have Tools for Software Testing Services

Manage terrible fits

This way of sorting out teams is intense; it requires individuals that are devoted to change all around, and willing to manage change over long periods of time. That won’t work for everybody, and some may be a terrible fit in spite of being great individuals. Here are a couple of tactics to consider.

The Shuffle: Suppose a tester doesn’t fit into the requirements of one team, possibly they will work out with another. Assume, your team is looking for someone who can help you with test- driven development (TDD), unfortunately he is unable to pick it up even after a couple of weeks. He might fit for another team which is not that focused on automation tests. A person without much technical knowledge can contribute to that team. Perhaps they can even work on such rusty technical skills when required.

Entire team testing: The well-known saying ‘anybody can test’ is valid, yet you better ensure you have the right team members. Getting sorted out is essential, even when there is no test team.Usuallly product managers are experts in finding the right clients, the right business area and are capable to identify work progress and business related issues. For instance, if you need to identify problems with core part of the products, sales people are your best choice, as they demo those products regularly.
Testability: This is the way we discuss how simple, or hard your product is to test. Do you have great logging? Do you have reliable methods for individuals to test their product without a client interface? Is it simple to make sense of how to get around and utilize the product? Making it simpler to get data about your product will help testers identify their quality.

The size of our software testing service team reduced, as we have a small team of developers and only so several slots for testing professionals. Fitting the professionals in the right group, or making sense of how to develop an expertise set will reward you in the long run.

6 Reasons iPad App Testing Services Should be Done on a Real Device

Posted on July 11, 2016 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

With the rise in use of iPads, iPad app testing services has also become crucial for companies and brands. When developing iPad applications, it’s important to perform extensive usability testing across as many different situations or conditions as possible.

Though mobile app development would include both emulators and real devices, there are certain reasons why testing on real devices usually result in better testing outcomes than using emulators.

Common Practices

Best practices would indicate that actual development should use emulators (and a few reference real handsets), while sanity and regression testing should be done on real handsets. While simulators are an inexpensive option for testing the app and it can be downloaded for free, they are suitable only at the starting stages of iPad application development. It is ideal to choose real devices for the later usability and performance testing phases.

It may be expensive to test apps on real devices as you have to buy them. However, using a mouse and keyboard on the simulator is totally different from using a finger on the mobile devices.

You May Also Like : Mobile Software Testing Guide for First Time App Developers

When Should You Introduce Real Devices

It has to be decided by individual organizations as to when real devices should be introduced, what the ideal number of devices are for covering market needs, and how those devices can be best managed.

Reliable results – It is highly recommended to use real devices for testing apps because it gives the real environment in which the app is working and also makes sure that the app delivered would be of high quality. Real handsets can always give you error-free results (no false positives or false negatives).
Better user experience – Investing in the latest versions of devices, though expensive, can deliver a better user experience. By taking into account the CPU, memory, screen size, etc, the tester can understand what actually the user will be going through.
Performance testing – By using emulators, you will not be able to test situations such as receiving a text message or phone call while using the app. With real iOS devices, you can test sign-up, login, handle data, connection speed and error messages, thus realizing performance lags.
Display/resolution variance – Display or appearance of the app may be different on an emulator as opposed to a real device. It is crucial to check app’s brightness, changes in resolution as well as dark and light situations. It’s also very hard to simulate light and dark situations on an emulator.
Device configurations – By using emulators, the whole process is dependent on the hardware. With actual devices, things can be tested directly. For the same reason, at least one real device should be used during all phases of development to assess the processing speed of the app. The emulators are not updated to reflect new devices available in the market.
Network – When it comes to network configuration, simulators usually run on the PC, connect to LAN and access the internet via corporate firewall. Here, simulators cannot be used to slow network where devices experience network issues.

Read Also : Top Automation Tools for iOS App Testing Services

The major option for testing real occurring events like incoming calls, SMS and battery consumption and the charger’s overall performance can be only done on an actual device.

Reliable companies that offer iPad app testing services maintain quality assurance by following a healthy mixture of real device and simulator testing. Before releasing your application in App/Play Store, or to devices, it’s worth testing on the device at least once.

https://www.planittesting.com/nz/insights/2015/why-use-real-devices-for-mobile-application-testin

https://testingmobileapps.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/emulator-simulator-real-device-testing

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/basics-mobile-web-testing-real-devices-using-selenium-goldshteyn

http://blog.congruentsoft.com/how-to-test-mobile-applications-emulators-or-real-devices

http://www.hiddenbrains.com/articles/advantages-of-using-actual-devices-for-mobile-app-testing.html