Independent Software Testing Saves More than Time, Money and Resources
Software testing is a key element of quality management. It ensures that software is free of bugs and meets its performance targets. That, in turn, enhances user and customer satisfaction, and reduces overall maintenance costs.
However, traditional in-house manual testing methods are time-consuming and subject to human error, which means they may not deliver the most accurate results. Manual testing also ties up resources that could be better deployed for new product development or increased innovation.
More Benefits
As a result, many software houses are turning to independent software testing firms as a supplement or alternative to in-house testing.
Experience indicates that this can lead to significant cost and resource savings, as well as delivering higher quality software. However, there are also additional benefits that are based on the high levels of automation used by independent testers.
Improved Consistency
Testing consistency is one of the important benefits. Automation tools can be used to run repetitive tests throughout the development cycle. With each new release or modification of code, automation tools can be used to apply a pre-defined set of tests — and repeat the tests across all relevant operating systems and hardware configurations.
The same testing parameters are applied consistently at each stage and all results are accurately recorded, with no risk of human error. This ensures consistency throughout the development cycle – an important consideration for teams using the DevOps cycle of continuous short-term development, testing and delivery.
Greater Testing Scope
Automation tools in the hands of independent experts can be used to carry out a wider range of tests that would be impractical using manual methods. For example, the tools can be used to assess many different aspects of software performance, including usability, ease of navigation, functionality, security and compliance with any relevant regulations. And, they can test those parameters under different operating conditions to ensure that there are no weaknesses within a program.
The automation tools can repeat the same range of tests at each stage of the cycle or focus on specific aspects of performance that need improvement.
Increased Testing Scale
In-house teams may involve customers and users in their testing programs, but can only work with limited numbers. This may not predict software behavior under different network conditions or heavy demand. With automated tools, independent testers can simulate scale by creating thousands of virtual users interacting over different types of network.
Faster Delivery, Greater Reliability
Because automation enables fast, high-volume processing of many different test categories, development teams can reduce overall cycle times and speed time to market, confident that the software will perform reliably and meet users’ expectations.
Find Out More
If you would like to know more about our independent software testing services, please check out the articles and infographics on our website.