How QA Teams are Coping with the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a body blow to the global economy, with scores of businesses ending up on the losing side. As governments scrambled to contain the spread of the pandemic through massive and prolonged lockdowns, most sectors of the economy took a hit, leading to job cuts, revenue losses, and the shredding of reputations. The pandemic has destroyed the livelihoods of millions of business enterprises trying to come to terms with a hitherto unseen situation. The blow came as a double whammy for everyone as the world was coping with a prolonged recessionary trend in the pre-pandemic era. However, with signs of the pandemic fading in many parts of the world, albeit unevenly, global economic growth is expected to be 4.9 percent in 2022 (Source: imf.org).

The economic rebound, though robust, is expected to be uneven across countries and sectors. So, on one hand, we have seen companies across domains going out of business. Many managed to sustain themselves and sail through the crisis by implementing the Work From Home (WFH) model. Even companies that had zero tolerance for the WFH model earlier were forced to fall in line. The concept of remote and distributed working ensured employees and management could operate businesses using virtual workplaces. This is mainly true for IT and ITES companies or those with IT interfaces, such as e-retail or e-commerce.

In fact, software development and testing, which used to be done mainly in a co-located setup buzzing with activity, have moved online. With the onset of the pandemic, developers and testers providing QA services have been working from their respective homes while coordinating using cloud platforms. In this blog, we shall discuss how software quality assurance fits into the new remote working model, and the tools QA testing providers are using to achieve excellence at work

How do software quality assurance services manage work during the pandemic?

During the global pandemic, the QA teams offering software quality assurance services have started working remotely and in a distributed manner. Separated by time and distance, business enterprises have created new remote working standards to ensure continuous testing and the release of quality software products. Given that the QA teams are working from home, it is a challenge to provide the end-users with flawless experiences like the ones they were used to earlier.

On-demand online lab facilities: In the absence of an on-premise lab, QA services started leveraging on-demand distributed testing virtual solutions to deliver quality software applications 24/7. By setting up such a facility, clients or users are able to view the functioning in real-time of web or mobile applications by interacting with the developers/testers virtually. Thus, notwithstanding the physical distances separating them and the constraints imposed by lockdowns, both developers or testers and clients are able to interact on a real-time basis while identifying and fixing errors in the build.

Remote logins: Further, companies with on-premise labs and an elaborate infrastructure for testing have found a way to continue functioning during the pandemic. They issued lock licenses and devices for their QA testing services. Consequently, the QA team members are able to log into the devices and tools (Appium Studio, SeeTest Studio, among others) and execute testing locally from their homes.

Security assurance: For business enterprises using SaaS, the process is quite simple to execute. The testers would arrange for a site-to-site VPN system and then test from their homes with full security, similar to what they were used to when working from a physical office space.

Ease of work: QA teams working remotely and utilizing tools such as browser labs, SeeTest mobile devices, and others are able to access real browsers and devices. And to ensure the security of such systems, they have established VPNs. Moreover, with the introduction of these devices, sharing and collaboration among QA team members have become fast and efficient. With the SaaS option, business enterprises have set up their own browser and device labs hosted in global data centers. Testers working for such enterprises are able to choose from a host of cloud-based browsers and devices tailored to their specific requirements.

Onboarding: Most business enterprises working remotely during the pandemic have established a seamless onboarding mechanism where remote testers can be hired based on the surge in demand.

Tracking: QA teams of any quality assurance company need to explore new approaches to plan, manage, and track their work on a day-to-day basis. This involves identifying opportunities and removing factors that impede the efficient delivery of remote teams.

Conclusion

With remote working becoming the new normal and the pandemic not showing any signs of abatement, any software testing company needs to adapt to the new working environment. The challenges of moving to a remote working setup need to be addressed using SaaS-based testing tools or platforms. The ultimate objective is to provide the highest level of quality, security, and efficiency for a build by accessing the relevant devices and tools.

Michael works for Cigniti Technologies, which is the world's first Independent Software Testing Company to be appraised at CMMI-SVC Level 5, and an ISO 9001:2008 & ISO 27001:2013 certified organization.