Report: Continuous Testing holds the promise of smoother software delivery

Delivering increasingly innovative software solutions drive business strategies, but this also brings increased risk of failures. These risks must be minimized. It is time for QA and testing processes to adapt to this new environment and help deliver solutions at the speed of business.

58% of respondents said they deploy daily or even more frequently. On average, respondents said they spend as much as 47% of their time building, managing, maintaining, and decommissioning test environments.

Lean approaches such as Agile and DevOps can speed up the process, but the IT landscape is growing more complex with the integration of front-office and consumer-facing apps with back-office core systems.

All of which means producing software requires QA and testing to reduce business risk and software failure costs. Waiting to test near the end of the software process is not feasible.

The answer is Continuous Testing, which reduces both risk and cost. Originally proposed as a way to shorten development cycle, Continuous Testing executes automated tests as part of the software development process, so the team can get feedback immediately.

Many companies recognize this as a priority but have not yet achieved it. According to the Continuous Report 2019 from Capgemini Research Institute, companies are struggling to find the solution to the current testing bottlenecks. For example, many are still working to introduce automation into the process:

• Just 25 percent of test data is generated using test data tools
• 24 percent of performance test cases are executed using test automation tools
• 24 percent of end-to-end business scenarios are executed with test automation tools.

Continuous Testing is a foundation for a strong, agile software development plan that supports business goals. Implementing it requires integrated and inter-disciplinary teams, as well as evolving workflows and organizational charts. There is no room for silos. Every team member needs a holistic understanding of the entire process to be successful.

You can start small and build a QA and testing process that fits your business.

Learn more on how to implement Continuous Testing and the challenges faced by your peers in the industry.