Running software testing projects is far more difficult than people outside of the software testing arena seem to realize. It is not uncommon for senior management, project management and development teams to adversely pressurize the test team to cut corners in order to meet delivery deadlines. Yes, everyone wants to release a quality product, on time and on budget. Believe it or not even the software testing team want to hit the delivery date, with a product that is on budget. Pushing the software testing team to cut corners is not the answer though. It is easy to see that everyone involved with a development project wants to achieve the same goal and the same successful release, it is just that the test team are more cautious than most. And for good reason; Software testing is difficult! There is no set process that ensures a successful testing project and there are no software testing tools which guarantee a successful release. Yet despite these clearly obvious facts senior managers, project managers and development teams always seem to think it is the software test team that can perform some magical act to bring a project back on schedule when project deliver schedules start to slip. Well they can't! At least they can't if they continue to act professionally, accurately and effectively. The test team are, without question, the last check point prior to a company potentially releasing a product that destroys the companies reputation. That is no small responsibility to take on. So why is it that it always falls on the software test team to bring in the schedule when projects start slipping? We'll, that isn't a difficult one to answer although there are a couple of reasons, one of which might surprise you. Firstly as testing commonly falls at the end of the development cycle the software testing component is the only area left where it is even possible to make up time. Secondly, and possibly more interestingly, those who have little knowledge of complexities of software testing (for example project mangers) think that a little less testing will only have a little impact on the quality of the product. How wrong that assumption can be!Releases of products with serious defects usually happen because the software test team are forced to cut corners. The imprecise nature of software testing, and the pressure to cut corners, means it is very difficult to confidently target the test areas such that you minimize the risk of releasing with serious defects left uncovered. The very fact that we leave some areas of our testing incomplete means we have no idea about what we are leaving uncovered. Software testing tools can help but as in many walks of life it all comes down to a trade offs between quality and time, but with software testing the consequences of getting the trades offs wrong can be disastrous.
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