Test Case Management is Not Just for Big Companies

It is often a popular view that test case management is only for large corporates and enterprises that have the manpower and resources to dedicate for quality analyses. Small businesses and startups, that need testing of their products the most, are often overlooked even by those who create test management tools. This is indeed unfortunate, because small and medium business are usually the ones which need these tools the most.
So what if you are a startup company with only five employees doing the work of ten? Just imagine the amount of pressure there would be on these five employees, who have to be twice as productive as compared to their counterparts in larger organizations. It is these five employees who have something to prove. They have a personal stake in their startup, and want to outperform others. However, the conditions in which they are working, are exactly the kinds that foster slip ups. Human error is often unforeseeable, but there is no reason why your finished product should be rife with errors.
This is where a test management tool will help you. If you have been wondering how to get quality in your product, and how to ensure that you churn out only the best keeping in mind your limited resources, read on.

Why a Test Management Software is a Good Decision?

For small and medium businesses, that usually do not have enough resources and capital for a dedicated quality assurance and testing team, a test management software is like a godsend. When you can't hire dedicated testers, would you simply forego this important process altogether?
In most start ups and small businesses, every thing is built iteratively because there is simply no other way to do things. As a small business owner, you have a huge responsibility to keep your business alive. Your processes should be itemized and clean - any clutter and you are headed for disaster. Therefore, you have to think differently than most others. You do not have the luxury of time on your hands. Falter once, and competition will have outrun you by several million miles. So what do you do now?
Traditional Approach to Test Case Management
Traditionally, small businesses, which have been hesitant in investing into quality testing procedures and staff, have been approaching quality assurance linearly. They would first describe the value proposition of their product and follow that up with test cases to cover their propositions. Then, they would delineate the components of their products and again follow each component with a test case. Next, they would list all the capabilities of their systems and again follow it up with test cases. Finally, these test cases will be executed, and the product would have been tested. After going through this procedure, can you confidently say that you are ready to launch your product?

What Do You Do Now?

No, the fat lady hasn't begun singing yet, and it is not time yet to open the bubbly. Your software still may have some risk centers that you, in your zeal, may have forgotten to cover. Here may still be bugs in your system that you overlooked. You could spend some more time considering every possible bug, finding it and eliminating it, or you may make a small investment.
It is not uncommon for programmers to find themselves in a lurch where they realize they are not trained for thinking about quality testing, especially in a startup. Since a startup is usually low in funding and capital, they do not hire people with a lot of experience in quality testing. So what do you do now? Do you feel good that you tried your best and release buggy software anyway? No, you do not. This is the time when you invest in a test case management tool and run a quality check on whatever you have created.

Benefits

Test management tools in small companies improve the management of quality because test management software improves maintainability of tests. It also improves traceability of problems, which can then be rectified more easily, and finally, it is very cost effective - at least more cost effective than hiring a bunch of people to do your testing for you.
So next time you think testing is only for the corporate giants, stop and think again. Perhaps you need to rethink your testing strategy too.

So what now? What do you suggest?

If you are a small or midsize organization struggling seek for low cost but effective Test Case Management tool or Bug Tracking System, try to look for companies which provide these QA tools for free trial that is because you want to make sure you're pretty familiar with the software and want to purchase it after tasted it. You can find several companies which either supply Test Management Software on a cloud which is software as a service aka SaaS or local installed on your servers. It is not about this is better than this but depends on your organization's needs.

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