Why Technology Startups Should Not Ignore Software Testing
According to Statista, in 2012, testing and quality assurance consumed 18% of IT companies’ budget that has now reached to 39% and will be 40% in 2019. Established companies have started realizing the importance of software testing. However, there is a dire need for technology startups to follow the same. Technology startups are often acting in conditions of uncertainties and lack of funds. However, there is a huge reason for startups to opt for software testing, and the reason is ‘Quality’. While a few bugs early in the software’s development phase might not seem that big a deal, but software defects are known to be costly post its product release. In fact, IBM states that the cost of errors increases dramatically as your software solution progresses through the development cycle. It’s about 30 times more expensive to fix a bug after release than during the initial stages.
Limitations of a Technology Startup 1. Time: It is a constant pressure to release a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) fast in order to start getting returns, it would rather seem a good idea to let the user/ market identify the bugs and fix them later. Also, testing takes a lot of time as there is a need to rework on the same piece of code every time you make any change. However, more time is involved in finding and correcting bugs post the production stage.
2. Resources: Every coin has two sides, and it is the same with startups. They come with the excitement of learning something new and a burden of wearing multiple hats. There is no special department for software testing services, the development teams are performing the necessary tests, and therefore it is possible that they might overlook some bugs.
3. Budget: Budget constraints is a harsh reality of startups, and this is the reason, software testing is overlooked. Additional headcount means extra expenses. However, the cost involved with finding bugs post the production stage is way higher than finding them during the development stage.
4. Thought Leadership: Often technology startups lack the strategic planning of QA activities. Which tools to use, how many resources should be involved and how much time will it cost is often overlooked by startups. This makes it difficult for technology startups to release a foolproof application.
Major Goals and Objectives of Software Testing • • • • •
Finding defects in the software to allow a smooth process Evaluating the level of a product’s quality and informing the stakeholders Ensuring that the final results match the business specifications and user requirements Increasing profit potential Gaining customer’s loyalty by offering a quality product
Testing that Shouldn’t Be Ignored Exploratory Testing: For a new application, exploratory testing is exceptionally important for laying a foundation of quality. Exploratory testing is an ad-hoc process where the tester manually goes through the software in an endeavor to find bugs.
Regression Testing Testing is not a one-off process, every time a change is made to the code, there is a regression test to make sure it has not broken previously functioning features.
Performance Testing Providing fast performance is the best way to establish a loyal user and vice versa. Application load time is an important factor that helps in keeping your users happy. Performance testing ensures that the applications loads quickly and can handle expected traffic.
Conclusion TestingXperts provide startups with unique plans according to their needs and in their budgets. Our core-flex models help in dealing with the inconsistent resource requirements of our startup clients. Connect with us to have a unique plan for software testing services just for your startup.