No matter what type of application you and your team are building, testing is a critical step in the software development life cycle (SDLC) that can not be overlooked. In this article, I’ll answer frequently asked questions about software testing, why software testing matters and suggest best practices to help ensure your application is ready to delight customers by the time it is deployed.

Why Do We Need Testing?

Software testing involves evaluating an application to see if it meets the requirements and functions it was built for. The process includes identifying defects, errors and bugs, along with flaws in user experience. Software testing is so critical because finding and fixing these bugs and issues in the development process means the end product reaching customers works properly and reliably and delivers a high-quality user experience. Additionally, testing during the development process makes bugs easier and less expensive to fix as opposed to making fixes after an application has been deployed.

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Which of the following best describes how you currently monitor and manage systems across your hybrid cloud environment?(Required)

Multiple separate tools for different environments

Multiple separate tools for different monitoring and management functions

Single consolidated dashboard

Custom built monitoring and management solution

No full monitoring and management solution

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How valuable would it be for your monitoring and management solution to incorporate predictive analytics to help you identify and address system issues that are critical and not waste time or effort working through all the data and “noise” that is not critical?(Required)

Extremely valuable

Moderately valuable

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How do you most typically address potential system issues BEFORE they impact your operations?(Required)

Automated workflows and playbooks to remediate potential issues as soon as they are detected

An orchestrated response process that leverages automation, AI, and human expertise to rapidly respond to potential issues

Advanced monitoring tools such as predictive analytics and anomaly detection to proactively identify and address potential issues

Respond to issues as they arise, using manual processes and troubleshooting techniques

A combination of automated remediation, orchestrated response, and/or proactive monitoring to address potential system issues

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What methods does your organization use to control and monitor cloud/IT spending?(Required)

Centralized procurement processes

Pre-approved budget thresholds

Automated cost monitoring tools

Department-level spending controls

Regular cost audits and reviews

Cloud cost optimization platform

Approval workflows for resource provisioning

Native financial operations tools provided by the cloud provider

No formal controls in place

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Which methods do you rely on most to detect security vulnerabilities in your systems?(Required)

Automated scanning tools

Manual assessments

Vendor notifications

Threat modeling (for early detection)

None of these

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What are the TWO most common ways you prioritize vulnerabilities to address within your environment?(Required)

Based on potential impact

Based on exploitability

Regulatory compliance requirements

Based on CVSS scores

Risk-based analysis of multiple factors

First-in-first-out approach

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Automated updates and patches

Manually review and apply updates and patches on a regular schedule

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Apply updates and patches on an as-needed basis.

Outsourced update and patch management

No defined process

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Overview of Testing Types

Let’s quickly define the common types of software testing:

● Unit Testing: This process evaluates individual components of software to ensure they are working properly.
● System Testing: This involves ensuring an entire application or system meets requirements and functions as it should, end to end.
● Integration Testing: This looks at whether or not different modules of an application or system work properly together.
● Regression Testing: This process revisits previously tested components of software to make sure they work correctly after a change has been made.
● Acceptance Testing: This process determines whether an application meets the needs of end users and is ready to be deployed.
● Usability Testing: This process assesses how user-friendly a customer will find the product.

Creating the Plan

Any solid software testing plan is going to incorporate multiple testing approaches, including manual, automated, user experience, exploratory and non-functional testing. You’ll start by defining the scope for what parts of your application, integrations and functionality you need to test for. Then, you can decide what type of testing methods are needed for each and document these to ensure consistency.

You’ll want to combine code coverage and test coverage to ensure the code for your application is tested thoroughly. The type of tests you prioritize will vary based on different products, and your testing strategy will certainly evolve and grow over time.

Measuring Your Strategy for Thoroughness and Effectiveness

To ensure your testing strategy is thorough and effective, you will need to make sure to test for code, device coverage and all aspects of user experience. The bottom line for the program should be delivering value to the business by making sure the application works as intended for users. To be effective, testing should take place before an application reaches end users, so issues and bugs can be identified and fixed before deployment. To be thorough, testing strategies must be balanced, end-to-end, and look at functionality, usability, accessibility and more.

Effective software testing can be measured in a few ways, including:

● Code Coverage: The percentage of code that is tested.
● Test Case Effectiveness: The percentage of test cases that found defects or bugs.
● Time to Detect and Fix Defects: The time it takes to find and fix issues in an application.
● Defect Density: The number of defects found per unit of code.

Improving Your Testing Approach

Your software testing program should be evolving and improving over time and can improve by:
● Including test-driven development
● Leveraging a shift-left approach
● Using automation where possible
● Benchmarking QA for current projects versus previous ones
● Conducting a cost-benefit analysis

Testing Best Practices

While the below list is not exhaustive, here are some top best practices to keep in mind as you build out a software testing practice at your organization:
● Incorporate the voice and feedback of your customer into product design
● Make accessibility a priority
● Test throughout the entire SDLC, including in pre-production, after changes are made to code, and in-sprint testing
● Maintain a matrix for the different devices using your application
● Prioritize high-quality user experience
● Automate repetitive tests where possible
● Review and adjust testing processes regularly, as needed
● Track and report results to analyze trends and identify areas for improvement
● Balance between leveraging different testing types

Your organization’s software testing strategy directly impacts the quality of the end application you deliver to your customers. Poor usability, accessibility, and reliability of an application can frustrate users and send them to competitors, while high-quality user experiences and application performance can boost adoption and keep customers happy and loyal to your brand. With so much competition, taking the time to build out, adjust and prioritize software testing is critical for modern businesses.