Software Testing: Challenges & Solutions

Quality assurance has become the cornerstone of software development and deployment. And it can be attained only through rigorous software testing. From performance optimization to fixing security loopholes, ensuring client satisfaction to upgrading quality - the benefits of software testing are undeniable.

With advancements in technologies, software testing trends are rapidly evolving. It can be overwhelming for the QA teams to follow the best practices and maintain accuracy in testing. This blog will outline several challenges faced by the professionals at any software testing company and also highlight the solutions.

Top 4 Challenges of Software Testing and their Solutions

#1 Inadequate Testing Tools

Tools play a crucial role in QA software testing. The testing team needs to find a balance between quality and quantity when it comes to testing software. Outdated testing tools fail to provide a balance between the two. Usually, such tools turn out to be inadequate in automating tests at a large scale and also limit concurrent test sessions. As a result, the test execution process becomes slow.

Very often, automation testers seek to find a solution to such an issue by developing new frameworks or utilities. And this gives rise to two other problems:

• Resources get diverted from actual testing to improving tools
• In turn, time-sensitive projects deeply suffer

Solution

The experts of software quality assurance services recommend parallel app testing as it can significantly reduce the total testing time. The developers can perform unit tests, Continuous Integration (CI), etc. without waiting for a compatibility test to complete. Limited device concurrency or sequential testing cannot deliver the same efficiency.

#2 Test Data Management

The Continuous Testing Report of 2020 finds that about 44% of the QA team’s testing time is spent on Test Data Management (TDM) activities. This underlines the significance of test data management in increasing overall efficiency. Several challenges are associated with it including the following:

• Limited access to the production system
• Extracting test data available across multiple databases
• Maintaining multiple dataset versions for various tests

Solution

To streamline the entire process, it’s crucial to revise the test data management practices. Introducing automation in the test data generation process and using various TDM tools can turn out to be effective. Also, synthetic data creation can be an ideal option to comply with data privacy regulations.

Further, QA testing providers should also focus on creating comprehensive documentation right from the beginning. It will serve as a baseline throughout the project lifecycle.

#3 A Wide Array of Testing Environment

These days, applications are accessed from a wide range of browsers, devices, and platforms. Therefore, developers seek to build robust applications that can seamlessly perform across all the combinations. However, with lots of devices rolling out, it’s challenging to test the robustness of the applications on every device.

Initially, testing on simulators and emulators was a common practice but they could not ensure the software performance in a real-user environment. Real-time bugs can be detected and fixed when software is tested on specific devices. However, setting up on-premise device labs may not be feasible for a small or medium-sized company.

Solution

These days, the experts at any premier software testing company rely on cloud-based testing platforms. A real device cloud allows professionals to select from a wide array of browsers and devices for testing applications. Cloud also offers integration with the latest automation tools and frameworks to facilitate exhaustive software testing in real environments.

#4 Improper Analysis of the Test Results

This is perhaps the worst possible challenge in software testing. Failing to analyze the results properly will never resolve performance glitches. It will direct resources and time in the wrong direction without any gain.

Solution

It’s crucial to set priorities and understand the business logic behind the software. Seasoned engineers with keen insights into the product architecture and workflows should monitor the entire process.

Diligent software quality assurance experts implement their knowledge of the application architecture, networking concepts, data structure, OS concepts, server-side and client-side performance concepts, and OSI (Open System Interconnection) model to efficiently analyze the test results.

Closing Thoughts

In today’s competitive digital landscape where enhancing user experience is the ultimate aim, software testing is of paramount importance. No wonder that businesses seek to engage professional software quality assurance services to maintain their reputation and increase demand in the market. The respective solutions to the most critical challenges mentioned above will help testers to streamline their activities and offer the best possible solutions to the clients.

James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality