The growing need to digitize and automate business operations for efficiency and effectiveness spells the crucial need for Amazon sellers to implement a test management tool. Big stores have already adopted this technology and have seen optimum results. Many small and medium sellers are starting to do the same.
But with the many options available in the market, it’s easy to fall into the trap of deceptive marketing. So how can you select the best test management tool out there? In this article, we’ll show you the specific parameters to note to get the best tool that addresses your business’ core needs and situation.
However, before you proceed, let me emphasize some points that many sellers ignore when they are hyped.
If you don’t have the necessary budget, there’s no point comparing a full-blown $8000 commercial tool with a $50 per month SaaS tool. It’s essential always to consider your budget first when filtering a tool. When you’re saving or don’t have enough cash, it’s best to try an open-source tool. But if you have extra money to spend, consider going for commercial tools since they are easy to use and come with a responsive support system and intensive training materials.
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After deciding based on budget, it’s time to compute the expenses for the processing of the license. In doing that, you have to identify which method you opt for testing and estimate the duration for test execution. The computations will help you determine which model or approach best fits within your allocated amount, like whether you want to pay as a persistent user, concurrent user, or per registered user. One-time or persistent expenses are usually higher due to capital costs. Since not all vendors support run-time licenses, you need to run a license for a particular software. That also applies when you’re planning to integrate into various machines.
Here are now the top five essential parameters to consider when assessing test management tools once you’re done filtering based on budget.
Point 1: The Tool Should Boost Team Productivity
To keep up with the need for testing on multiple platforms and rapid technological changes, testing teams are faced with rising challenges. That is why it’s important to step up automation since manual testing requires a longer testing time. However, other areas warrant the need for efficiency enhancement of a tool such as insightful reporting, release management, and test data/lab management. Choosing the ideal test management tool can contribute significantly to ensuring that these parameters are satisfied.
From a productivity standpoint, let us now delve deeper into the requirements of an ideal test management tool.
The granularity of Test Information
The test management software should present details and results of the testing process comprehensively. Instead of general information, it should pose details and specifics. In a test case failure, for example, the tool should not only say that the whole test case failed but also show at which stage the test failed. It should also provide updates on changes or corrections to all team members whenever minor changes are implemented. The tool should likewise keep an audit trail of changes for the quick action and easy follow-up, including full versions of the test cases.
Moreover, the test management tool should have the ability to compare the test case results and save all results as a session. Other features of a standard test management tool are linking stories, documenting test strategy, creating defects, and planning test execution. API support and a video upload feature support would be the tip of an iceberg.
Software Releases
Since software releases involve various activities such as coordination and tracking, a standard test management tool used must have a robust release management tracking ability. With this feature, the tool can help avoid conflict among test artifacts by keeping a record of the list of software tested and released. Moreover, the tool should allow the efficient management of all project artifacts into one setting.
It is also vital that the tool ensures the right capture of requirements; thus, there is a need for collaboration among stakeholders. A standard tool allows all the stakeholders to have a single view of the elements. It should likewise have the capacity to track the interconnections between requirements and other development assets.
An ideal test management tool should further share requirements, provide a single shared repository for collaboration, assess the relationship of tests, and diagnose linked defects. Also, the tool should ensure standardization for consistency and quality.
Reporting
Even if your testing team can determine the number of defects but don’t have a clue on how long it takes to address them, then there’s a significant problem. That is why test engineers highly depend on reports of a test management tool to monitor test activities. An ideal tool’s report should include information such as test case to be automated, test case authoring status, test status by suites, test plan progress, and test case failed and passed.
A standard test management tool should comply with the following features:
- Dashboard and graph should provide the number of automated tests executed or about to take off
- Exudes common test attributes such as user workload, and the number of test cases skipped/failed/passed
- Decide on each release’s readiness
- Let’s seller with manual test results view automated test runs
Point 2: Agile Support
The demand for agile in the current market is getting bigger each day and expanding steadily. That is why you should choose test management software that aligns with the agile methodology. Your tool should be able to accommodate Agile’s requirements, including incremental completion and mutability. It should also foster deep collaboration among stakeholders, such as testers and developers.
A test management tool with an Agile capability should do the following:
- Kanban and Scrum
- Reporting schemes such as velocity charts
- Development of stories
- Planning of spring backlog
- Estimate data and projections
When looking at changes in defect rates per iteration, it is important to test run comparison by test management tool for Agile’s sake. For each backlog and iteration, a test management tool should record the product release while in an Agile setting.
Point 3: External Integration
Test engineers can be freed from a significant burden when they leverage automated test case execution. Make sure then to choose the test management software which can integrate easily with automation tools. Consider the tool that schedules and launches test both on the remote host and locally as well as its ability to manage test scripts. It should also be able to keep records of automation test results and support continuous integration.
A test gets launched automatically when the test management tool comes with CI. The factors that trigger the launch are a test case with underlying test automation, source code commits from a developer, and a scheduled task for a particular duration. The continuous integration varies by granularity, detail, time, and direction.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
To make the testing process easy, every QA team should ensure the proper integration of the bug tracking tool. Moreover, an ideal test management software integrates well with bug tracking tools like Mantis, BugZilla, Practitest, and JIRA, including the SDLC app. It, therefore, serves as an added value with complementing functionalities. To centralize the management of the testing process, the tool should also allow users to test case run and link bugs. Lastly, it should ensure that the team members can work effectively on a single issue simultaneously.
Any test management tool should also support the integration of a support desk system. Also known as the ticket system, the support desk software gives users an instant solution. With it, customers can have a detailed overview of all closed and open issues.
Point 4: Support System
It’s easy to fall into the marketing of test management tool companies focusing on glossy websites and appealing layouts. But that’s not what you should prioritize. Make the tool you choose has a responsive support system that would assist you, especially in the initial setup. A help desk support applies to both continuous and repeated businesses.
An ideal test management software should come with features such as product documentation information, live chat, raising help desk tickets, phone call, knowledge base, and online user guides with FAQs. These are imperative functionalities, especially for newbies.
Some test management tools also address customer queries via live video conference. If these are not applicable, then the proponent can go for recorded videos or demos.
These are the top five parameters you should consider when choosing the best test management tool or test execution management software. Go ahead and scout for one.
