We recently had the pleasure of sponsoring the QA Global Summit, where we heard from QA leaders on the sharp edge of the industry.
Speaking on topics spanning the rise of automation, to testing in the Metaverse, the speakers talked about the journey QA has been on, what the landscape looks like today and where it’s heading tomorrow.
Since we had a ton of QA pros all in one place, we took the opportunity to get their thoughts on what their biggest challenges are today and what they want for the future.
So let’s dig into the data.
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Release timelines
Frequency of release is crucial to understanding the processes and pressures placed on a software development team. Whether you’re using Agile or Waterfall, release frequency paints a picture of the overall efficiency of the operation.
Of the people we surveyed, the largest portion release 1-2 times per month (33%). The second largest cohort release at 1-3 times per week.
With one of the key challenges of testing being improving release speed and frequency, according to QA professionals, sourcing solutions that can support fast releases while maintaining quality is a must.
As many of our participants stated in their ‘one wish for the future’, getting QA involved at an early stage in the SDLC is the key to unlocking efficiency.
What tools are you using?
Unsurprisingly, the tool most frequently used is Jira (85%), followed by GitHub (52%) and TestRail (27%).
With the majority of projects centralized in three main tools, driving efficiency relies on consolidating the tools you do use. Global App Testing integrates with the most popular tools used by dev teams, allowing you to test more frequently throughout the SDLC.
What’s your biggest challenge?
Technology moves fast, and so does the software that props it up.
QA therefore has an increasingly important role in not only mitigating risk, but driving revenue. Shifting the mindset away from testing being an ‘annoying expenditure’ towards ‘quality being at the center of business progress’ is happening across the world.
Downward pressure from the need to drive efficiencies internally, push release frequency and ultimately deliver a quality product is compounded by external pressures - such as user’s heightening expectations, and increasing device fragmentation.
But how does that all filter down into the day to day challenges QA professionals face?
Too much time is spent on manual testing (55%)
That ‘top part’ of the tech stack is essential, but very difficult to automate. DevOps teams often find manual testing to be laborious and time consuming. When you can automate your manual tests, like you can through Global App Testing’s On Demand platform, your SDLC benefits.
QA is under resourced (44%)
While QA teams are all too aware of the business benefits of accurate testing, often the wider business takes more convincing to invest. This feeds into the wider picture of moving the business’ mentality away from QA being a ‘nice to have’ to being a ‘growth driver.’
When asked about their ‘one wish for the future,’ many of our respondents said having more hands and more QA experience in the team would really help them scale their QA and deliver on objectives.
Bugs often escape into production (28%)
Being able to find bugs is one thing. Being able to resolve them fast is another.
In an effective testing strategy, bugs must be caught early. When DevOps teams test throughout their SDLC, it’s much easier to stop them in their tracks, before they become a bigger problem down the line.
Slow release cycles (25%)
The objective of DevOps, Agile and CI/CD is to adapt and drive efficiency, so it makes sense that a key challenge is to improve the speed and frequency of release.
There are testing tools out there designed to support fast, high-quality releases - and make the goal of 100% efficiency more attainable.
To test faster and more efficiently, give our platform a spin around the block for two weeks on us.
What’s the main objective of your QA?
The results here were close.
It’s promising that the main objective is to improve user and customer experience and retention (22%).
Ministry of Testing take this idea a step further, suggesting that consumer feedback is an essential part of modern testing practices:
“Either collecting customer feedback or collecting data directly or indirectly from the customer, allows teams to best determine how the customer is responding to a feature. This can determine the course of development for any project or company focused on serving the customer and the bottom line.”
The highlights from QA Global Summit
Over the two days, there were a couple of stand out talks that caught our attention.
Firstly, Jonathon Wright spoke about testing in the metaverse - and the challenges of testing new tech when you’re bridging the gap between virtual and real worlds.
Here’s a quick summary of what his talk was all about.
“The matrix of digital experiences (DX) from companies like Facebook and Microsoft introduce fully immersive digital workforce collaborations within Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) worlds.
“How do you test new technologies like NFTs containing digital artefacts that span across Blockchain/Oracles/Crypto wallets of testing merchandise rendered onto your 3D avatar representation of your digital twin self on your daily-standup on Microsoft Teams Mesh.”
The second was from Wix’s QA Manager, Yevheniia Hlovatska, who spoke about her first hand experiences working in QA.
The course of QA never runs totally smoothly, and it’s hearing how people overcame obstacles, changed their approaches and achieved success that inspires us to challenge our ways of working. Anyone who champions QA like Yevheniia is a friend of ours!
Looking for a solution to help solve your QA challenges and nail your objectives? Our testing platform helps QA and engineering teams drive efficiency throughout their SDLC by increasing speed of release and quality of product. Try it out for two weeks free.