Each IT project has unique subsets and presents its own requirements. All software development projects and testing tools are United by one simple thing: the desire to operate quality tools that enable effective testing activities.
Test management is an integral part of software release management cycle.
This article will focus on how to choose the best test management tool to suit your organisational requirements. But before that, let’s brush the basics.
What Is Test Management?
Test management encompasses the process of managing testing activities. Test management is specifically important to ensure exceptional quality and robust testing of the application or software product.
Test management involves several methods, including organising, controlling, tracking, and ensuring visibility throughout the testing process. It also helps to track that the software testing process is executed as planned.
To ensure extracting high-quality data and data accessibility integrate a reputed DataOps platform within your organisational IT infrastructure.
Test management phases:
The test Management process can be categorised into two fundamental phases: planning and execution.
The planning phase involves:
- Risk analysis
- Test cost and time estimation
- Test planning
- Test organisation
The execution phase encompasses the following components:
- Test monitoring and control
- Issue management and troubleshooting
- Test report and evaluation
Application engineers utilise a specific set of IT management tool in different phases of test management to make the entire process streamlined and smooth.
Best Practices In Test Management
- Reutilise existing testing assets and optimise your time spent.
- Conduct iterative testing and quality analysis
- Use requirement-based testing and testing methodologies
- Ensure effective and efficient coordination of testing resources co-located
- Define and implement flexible testing
- Start the test operations in the early phases of software release management cycle
- Improve coordination with the development team through DevOps practices.
- Inform at the proper time about the correct status
- Automate aggressively but consciously
What is a test management tool in application testing?
Fundamentally, IT test management tools are specifically designed to generate and store test cases and maintain test documentation. In simple words, test management tools help to prevent loss of test and significant consequential damages from valuable time closed.
However, the requirement of test management tools is not just limited to these attributes. Test managers often search for extra features, including using test cases, reperforming tests, accessing the run history, cracking the test coverage, understanding test metrics and following various other best practices.
You should have proper knowledge before choosing an IT management tool because it will not just affect you financially but can bring down the productivity of a team in the long run.
Why Do You Need Test Management Tools?
Selecting test management might sound simple. However, there are several varieties and types of IT management tools available in the market.
Here are some benefits of using test management tools:
- Precise control over software test documentation and enhanced communication between team members. Consequently, you will notice a better synchronisation across various phases of the software development life cycle.
- Improved visibility of test plans, testing strategy and test cases stored in both cloud and the internal servers.
- Minimisation of duplicate efforts due to implementation of a centralised test case repository.
- Testing process standardisation and efficient taxonomy assigned for teams and projects.
- Real-time data insights and better access to information for all relevant stakeholders.
- Both manual and automatic execution of test cases.
- Easy integration of state-of-the-art tools for efficient Task Management, including GitHub, JIRA, and other automated frameworks and CI/CD systems, such as Jenkins or Bamboo.
- Access to quality analysis and metrics, reporting and dashboards that provides insights into coverage, software progression, a test case in visibility, traceability and much more.
What are the features or factors you should look for to select the best and most effective test management tool?
Let’s find out!
What Features Should You Consider For A Test Management Tool?
Easy Installation And Convenient Support
The first and foremost priority should be the ease of installing and using a test management tool. You should not be spending excessive time installing and implementing the tool. Adaptation and utilisation of a test management tool should be seamless.
While every tool requires a fundamental orientation, the implementation part should never be complex.
Clear and descriptive documentation, user-friendly tutorials, intuitive examples or official community support should always be a part of the tool.
Apart from choosing an efficient test management tool, collaborating with a reliable DataOps platform is equally essential.
Supports Test Case Reusability
Several cutting-edge testing tools allow reusability of test cases, test suites and even user scenarios. Therefore, the same test case can be used several times for different test projects.
Test case reusability can considerably minimise the costs and time requirements associated with test case management, enabling your team to focus on bringing innovation and increasing productivity.
Fosters Collaboration
In Agile testing, methodology collaboration plays a pivotal role. And you cannot miss any new opportunities to improve communication between different teams. The fundamental goal of agile teams is to bridge the information and cultural gaps.
Collaborative capability indicates that the test management tool should be accessible to all the relevant stakeholders invested in a particular software release management testing.
Real-time Reporting
The reporter must clearly highlight the current status of a project and also give an overview of the project’s progress. With real-time reporting, you can unlock faster responses from the quality analysis team and create better opportunities for problem resolution.
Conclusion
Focusing on the quality of the tool is specifically important because it dictates the quality of your software. Without a proper tool, you might sacrifice the performance of the security of the software that you present to the end users. This will not just lead to a monetary loss but can also damage your reputation. Use this guide to choose the best tool for your specific organisational requirement.
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