Today, the impact of digital solutions is felt much stronger than 10-15 years ago. Digitization improves the quality of life, expands business prospects and promotes the development of technology. The most important factors of such development are the correct, uninterrupted and stable operation of the software. And all this can be achieved through software testing.
Testing is an ongoing process, and its life cycle runs along with the software development life cycle.
Why is it carried out
Software testing is a very important area, without which it would be impossible to launch a single website, mobile application, game, etc. Here are just the most striking examples of errors that testers can identify:
- The user on the site must enter the answer to the question in the line. After entering the data, he presses the “enter” button to continue working. But instead of going to the correct page, it is thrown to the main page of the site, and the written answer is not saved.
- A computer user has installed a rpg game. After passing a couple of minutes, he notices that the player begins to behave inappropriately, does not respond to commands, performs the opposite actions. As a result, the task turns out to be failed, and the screen is decorated with the famous inscription Game Over.
- The third example is the purchase of goods in an online store. The client, making a purchase, sends the product to the basket. When you click the “Pay” button, you are redirected to the main page of the portal, and not to the “online checkout” page.
Testing is a direction that allows you to identify such errors, problems and bugs on the way to mass replication of the program. An expert in the testing world looks for gaps in the code that cause problems and cause the program to work differently than the development engineer intended.
Reducing the cost of fixing bugs
To begin with, the operation of a faulty product is expensive. And the longer the malfunction remains unnoticed, the more money you will spend on its elimination. Software Quality Assurance specialists will help you avoid such errors immediately, and their services will cost you less than dealing with a defective product.
The irreparable damage that a software failure can cause due to untested testing is evidenced by reports from international companies. For example, according to a report from a major QA company in 2017, businesses lost $1.7 trillion in assets, impacting 3.7 million people worldwide. Yes, and in the news feed, frightening news about software failures that almost brought down all the business processes of large companies constantly flicker. Thus, timely software testing allows you to avoid the cost of correcting errors at the later stages of development.
Brand reputation
Testing software isn’t just about saving money in the long run. The reputation of the brand depends on the quality of the product. Simply put, strong quality assurance processes help users understand that you are doing everything possible to ensure that the released product is of high quality and meets the specified requirements. If users are not satisfied with your company’s products, this will lead to a deterioration in business reputation. It will also have a negative impact on subsequent software products.
Reliability and quality of software are important in all sectors of the economy. But especially in security-related sectors, these characteristics of the software you develop can be the key to your company’s success. Compliance with software industry standards is often a prerequisite for the development of a product with mission-critical functionality.
A full cycle of software testing allows you to ensure the safe and stable operation of software and devices, on the serviceability of which the company’s reputation and financial well-being depend. Having successfully passed through various levels of testing, the final product will work in accordance with the customer’s expectations. At each stage, testers not only identify errors, but also help prevent them in the future.
Prevention of targeted malware attacks
During a malware attack, companies have to temporarily shut down hardware, mobile apps, or websites to protect users and protect sensitive data. Every minute of downtime, the company loses money and customers. Regular checks of software for resistance to attacks will help to avoid this.
Quality assurance in software development and its benefits
Product testing and quality assurance are two distinct processes in software development. While product testing focuses on technical aspects, quality assurance takes a more comprehensive approach to evaluate the entire product.
Quality assurance involves a complex and systematic process to ensure that the IT product meets specified parameters. It also includes the evaluation of development and testing cycles, which encompasses various methods, tools, and processes. Overall, quality assurance services aim to improve the overall quality of the product and ensure that it meets user expectations.
Quality assurance focuses more on a proactive approach than on eliminating negative consequences. This process affects the entire development cycle. Quality Assurance is focused on the end user to ensure the reliability of the IT product, from requirements gathering through to maintenance. In addition, QA experts help prevent errors in the development process and monitor the entire software maintenance process.
Conclusion
Thus, software testing helps to improve the efficiency, stability, usability and security of your IT product. It is also necessary to measure the performance of a software solution.Software testing:
- ensures that the released product meets the expectations of both development customers and end users;
- allows you to optimize business processes (reduce the cost of software maintenance and error correction);
- increases the reliability of the product;
- helps create an excellent user experience.
Finally, a stable IT product will attract more users, which in turn will increase your company’s business reputation, reach and sales.
For any IT company that develops and markets its product, testing is an important and valuable stage in the software development life cycle. If the testing process is ignored by companies, both the product itself and the development company’s business as a whole can suffer, as software bugs can be costly or even dangerous.
Over the past decade, the IT industry has been intensively conducting research in the field of developing testing methods that can improve the efficiency of software product life cycle management processes.
