The strategic value of software testing activities
Quality Assurance: it takes method. And more.
In the age of digital transformation, software applications are the strategic “backbone” of any company, in any industry.
Any examples?
A telecommunications company’s customer care or a tour operator’s ticketing service. A bank’s onboarding procedure or a manufacturing company’s procurement procedure, all the way to a healthcare facility’s specialized machinery control. And the list could go on and on.
“In the modern competitive scenario, every service delivered must constantly meet high levels of quality. The effectiveness of a software in supporting a business process can therefore not be verified directly ‘in the field’: usability, reliability, robustness and compliance with the set objectives cannot have margins for error and therefore must be ascertained in advance,” comments Andrea Varamo, head of Intesi Group’s Solutions division specializing in services and consulting in software development, service management and testing activities for every business context.
To this end, Quality Assurance activity based on meticulous testing is essential to identify and eliminate upstream any bugs that could compromise performance, security as well as the experience of users inside and outside the organization.
The risks of damage to image and business would be high. Companies such as banking institutions, insurance companies, or multi-utilities are well aware of this, which is why they have long considered such testing essential to the time-to-market of operational services and programs.
“Internalizing software testing is a possible option, but not always the best one. Relying on an external partner with specific expertise in test management ensures more accurate and reliable test results, reduced costs, ability to scale resources according to project needs while allowing internal teams to focus on other priorities”, says Varamo.
An external specialist consultancy provides expert resources and proven methodologies, ensuring an objective and neutral point of view.
This is precisely one of Intesi Group Solutions’ fields of action: the experts in its Test Factory start by listening to the client’s needs and analyzing its business requirements and then quickly proceed to the targeted design of the Test Plan and its implementation.
The execution phase involves a wide variety of tests-functional, integration, performance, stress tests, which are also carried out using innovative techniques through authoritative, high-performance tools and technologies or otherwise consistent with specific client needs.
Bug resolution is ascertained by re-executing the system, followed by a detailed Test Report.
“In addition to our deep experience in quality management and software testing,” specifies Andrea Giacalone, Test Manager of Intesi Group, “the strength of the process is our proprietary methodology that transforms Software Testing into a systematic and highly efficient process geared toward maximizing the effectiveness of Quality Assurance”.
At the heart of this approach is a centralized and organized Test Library that not only ensures optimal test reuse for future software releases but also becomes the lifeblood for validating new solutions. With each test run, an incremental Knowledge Base is automatically fed, improving test accuracy and effectiveness with each new iteration and increasingly reducing testing cycles, project time and associated costs.
“In a nutshell, it’s a highly optimized process and, above all, geared toward continuous improvement, thanks in part to the adoption of Best Practices in the world of software testing derived from the ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) standard-that ensure additional benefits including efficiency gains, error reduction, higher quality of work and better resource management“. Varamo adds.
Not only that. To the Customer, Intesi Group guarantees the continuous training of its professionals specialized in testing activities, who are thus always up-to-date on tools, technologies and certifications.
With the additional value, finally, of being a reality with an all-Italian DNA: in today’s geopolitical scenario, the choice of a partner such as Intesi Group that operates through professionals located only within national borders is a greater protection against the “leaks” that could open in organizations also active from countries where, often, threats to information and industrial secrets, to the privacy of companies and citizens and, more generally, to the technological sovereignty of the country find their origin.