In the previous blog we saw how things could go wrong with a test strategy and derange the whole QA process, and send teams into confusion. Here we shall look at other mishaps that could possibly derail the Quality Assurance process.

Communication and Documentation

Documentation is an essential part of Quality Assurance. Faulty documentation can lead to miscommunication, resulting in misunderstanding testable requirements. The approach taken by the team towards their testable requirements must be documented as well, to avoid possible quality mishaps along the QA process.

Test-driven developments (TDD) are another crucial area where documentation plays a pivotal role. Here test policy, coverage, and test cases are written prior to development, helping steer the developers. Failing to follow through on proper documentation in TDD could result in adverse scenarios.

However, these are test automation tools to help teams out with documentation and outlining testable requirements. Even among the tests, teams should have clarity on which test cases to prioritize for automation and/or regression.

Configuration Drift

Lack of documentation is the root of many aproblems. The configuration of environments involved in developing a solution must be identical at all times, or at least close to being the same. Be it testing, production, or staging.

Configuration drift is an unavoidable phenomenon when teams modify the configuration of one of the environments and miss out on recording the changes to replicate them in the others. This way, one of the environments among the cluster experiences a drift in their configuration affecting delivery quality and searing through the budget when trying to fix it.

Configuration drift can be taken care if with regular and precise documentation. Utilizing containers for the SDLC would also take care of configuration drifts. Destruction and restoration of servers as a part of every deployment cycle is another way to go. Doing so ensures that the Infrastructure as Code matches the required server configurations.

Measuring Software Quality

Quality could mean service quality, IT quality, data quality, code quality, experience quality and so on. Closing down on the metrics that need to be tracked can be quite challenging. The ambiguity of quality does not help either.

Metrics must be identified across each phase of the whole SDLC to ensure that teams deliver on the expected quality. Key performance indices (KPI) must be chalked out to track and improve development and testing operations. Failing to do so would adversely affect the overall quality of the solution.

Code Level Security

Thanks to the penetration of the internet anyone can access and work with open-source codes. Open-source codes are essentially codes are available for use free of cost and are easy to use. Or so they say.

Open-source codes bring with them a couple of issues.

  • They are a harbinger of security breaches. Since a developer would not know the code as well as their own, they might miss out on loopholes. Even worse, these may not show up in testing either.
  • Open-source does not always mean free. There are sections called controlled open-source codes which needs to be licensed. Teams often look past this assuming it is free of cost and end up in lawsuits.
  • These codes do not have a vendor. Hence, they are not regularly updated, have no support, and don’t even come with training manuals - rendering teams helpless trying to understand the code better. This brings up complications when trying to identify a bug, or in case customization is needed.

Code level issues must be fixed immediately lest they make it to build and result in the collapse of the software. Introducing the culture of DevSecOps would be recommended. Security tools that can alert the teams on licensing flaws and code loopholes for security breaches making sure the code that goes in for build is devoid of any errors.

Legacy Projects

Quality is not just a parameter for client deliveries. It is also important to have and work with quality systems and solutions internally within organizations as well. Legacy applications or projects are always taken with a pinch of salt, depriving teams of time and resources while trying to maintain and update them.

Assuring quality of in-house legacy applications can be major project to take on. The customizations added to the legacy code over time does not making testing legacy any smoother. What’s more? Legacy applications often lack documentation of the modifications.

Introducing APIs to access the legacy applications or splitting the application into microservices would be the way to go to eliminate the headache of having to test legacy projects.

Here’s what you should do

Instead of going around trying to find quality loopholes within your solutions, services, or systems – using up precious employee time and effort, it is wise for businesses to outsource it.

Partner up with a solutioning and service enterprise to promise your clients and employees a seamless working experience. Connect with QA experts at info@nalashaa.com to establish a well-documented QA process.