Disclaimer: This is a user generated content submitted by a member of the WriteUpCafe Community. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of WriteUpCafe. If you have any complaints regarding this post kindly report it to us.

Remember the famous Morris Worm incident when a graduate student at Cornell University Robert Morris accidentally created a malware program? Which started as a harmless experiment went out of control due to a mistake in the code. The error costed damage of $100 million.

Another infamous case of software bug in recent times was that of that of Boeing 737 Max. The aircraft was grounded worldwide in 2019 after two crashes, one in Ethiopia and the other in Indonesia. The two tragic incidents claimed a total of 346 lives. Apart from this human tragedy, Boeing got a huge blow to its business. The main reason for these two tragic incidents was attributed to error in the aircraft’s software system which involved the flight control computer along with wiring and engines.

These are just some instances of software bugs and what they can cause to software companies. In addition to creating a loss of millions of dollars, they can also damage the company's reputation. Thus, it is evident that testing cannot be put as an afterthought. Modern methodologies such as Agile and DevOps practices emphasizes on testing early and often to avoid such mishaps. To keep up with this frequency of testing without causing delay in product release, test management tools become imperative to keep up with the speed of Agile development.

A test management tool is a centralized repository for managing all testing activities and assets. It promotes Shift Left testing which enables bug identification and resolution at an early stage, saving millions of dollars for the company, had it been identified in the production environment. There are quite a few test management tools in the market. While selecting one, the main question that agile team needs to ask is NOT which is the best test management tool? But you should be asking which is the test management tool that is best and right for my team and organization?

Selecting a tool that is a wrong fit is a disastrous proposition and hence you need to be extra cautious while selecting the test management tool for your company.

Here are some common disadvantages of test management tools and how to overcome them

  1. Unrealistic expectations

The biggest obstacle for the success of anything new is setting unrealistic expectations, and it holds true for test management tools too. If you’re introducing it in your organization for the first time, you need to understand that people should be trained, overcome the initial technical hiccups, and estimate the total time before you can see the actual benefits. Having unrealistic expectations can only create hurdles to the success of the test management tool. 

Solution: Proper planning is important. When you’re introducing the tool to your employees for the first time, consider time, cost, and overall efforts to make employees familiar with the usage of the tool before you can see the success. 

  • Confusion when everyone tries to manage the test management tools

When everyone in the system tries to manage the test management tools, it can lead to confusion. There will not be any control on who is using the tool, who has access to it, how is login configured, what projects to include for testing, what are the specific settings for each project, what all custom fields to configure for test assets, what all custom dashboards to have, who will get notifications, what event should be notified, etc. All these can add up to more time needed to complete the tasks, which indirectly will hit your revenue generation. 

Solution: The best solution to avoid this chaos is to have an Admin in place. An Admin can create user access and assign roles. The projects and other settings can be configured and managed by Admin only. This small step can help you streamline the process and let the tool work seamlessly.

  • Complex UI

Test management tools are meant to increase the productivity of testers and optimize testing. However, some tools have complex UI with unintuitive navigation flow.  Because test management tool is a repository for all your testing data and assets, they tend to gather huge volume of data. On top of this, if tool does not offer proper layout for visualizing the data, then the tool becomes quite cumbersome and complex to use.

Test management tool are bundled with lot of features such as managing test cases, linking requirements with test assets, capturing test executions, integrating with other tools, project configurations, setting up the custom workflows, many reports, exploratory testing, and many more. If a test management tool is not designed intuitively then it leads to overwhelming experience for the users.

Solution: Choose an intuitive tool that is simple and easy to use. Most of the tools these days provide a free trial period. Try them and see which one works best for your company before you make a purchasing decision.   

  • Too much data

Traditional test management tools such as Micro Focus Quality Center (HP QC) and IBM Rational – dump data onto users to decode. But most organizations love meaningful data that are ready with analysis because no one has the time to go through the huge volume of data for hours and then come to a conclusion to take some actions. 

Solution: Choose a tool that provides Quality Analytics with actionable insights. A tool that is smart enough to show data that makes sense and adds some value.

  •  Compliance

Whichever test management tool you determine to use, it needs to be compliant with your company policy and the industry you operate in. For example, if you’re in the healthcare business, you need to ensure the tool you’re using is compliant to FDA guidelines. Similarly, if you’re in the fintech industry, your test management tool should be complaint to all the latest regulations and the law of the land.

Solution: Determine the compliance of the tool before investing in it. Test management tools can be useful and save you time and cost if done right. So be mindful when you choose a test management tool. Ensure it offers quality analytics with actionable data, is compliant with your system, and has a simple UI when you pick the test management tool for your company, and you will not regret your decision. 

Login

Welcome to WriteUpCafe Community

Join our community to engage with fellow bloggers and increase the visibility of your blog.
Join WriteUpCafe