How to apply the right QA strategies to address the needs of your project

Quality assurance and software testing is an essential part of any successful project, be it software, hardware, or any type of product development. You must adhere to the quality standards set by the market or industry, and, in some cases, by the government to successfully launch your product. That is why it is critical to have QA strategies in place to ensure that your products and services meet customer expectations, functions properly, and can withstand even the most fierce competition in terms of quality. 

Quality assurance strategies involve planning and implementing a specific set of solutions and practices that ensure your product meets the required quality standards. And here, it is important to acknowledge that each business and product type would require a unique QA testing strategy to account for all of its specs. 

Let us take a look at different types of situations QA experts at N-iX encounter in their practice and the various approaches they choose to address the challenges of our clients. Based on these examples, you will gain insights into what QA testing strategies might fit your case and how your product and service can benefit from applying these strategies.

6 benefits of effective QA strategies with a trusted partner

An effective quality assurance strategy will ensure that your product is up to the market’s standards and customer expectations. However, the benefits of a comprehensive quality assurance strategy go much deeper than that. Here’s what you get from an effective QA strategy:

1. Boost your cost-effectiveness: By testing your software from the start of the project, you can improve your cost-effectiveness by identifying bugs and issues early on. Thereby, you can avoid costly repairs in the future. Incorporating testing into the initial stages of development will make the whole process more efficient.
2. Revamp development processes: An expert team will incorporate all essential types of testing into the production cycle to get your product to its consumers as quickly as possible while still guaranteeing top-notch quality.
3. Streamline your QA process: A fine-tuned strategy that fits the needs of your organization will help with maximizing the efficiency of the testing process. Utilizing the most effective industry practices, a reliable technology partner can streamline the testing process and maximize the benefits for you.
4. Gain insight with test visualization: You will gain insight into your testing activities, which will be illustrated with comprehensive reports and a clear understanding of test coverage, as well as recorded test cases.
5. Redefine CI/CD and boost time-to-market: Testing software in multiple stages with automated deployment cycles (CI/CD) can help to speed up the time-to-market and make the entire testing process more effective.
6. Receive end-to-end testing: We offer comprehensive testing services, from determining a test strategy and setting up the testing environment to creating, running, and completing the tests. You will also gain efficient defect management capabilities.

Read more: Quality assurance outsourcing: how to get the most of it 

Different needs, different QA strategies: Which one suits yours?

There's no universal approach to quality assurance: different businesses and products require different QA testing strategies. Depending on the business, the products or service offerings, the goals, the budget, and the timeline of the project, the chosen QA strategy should be tailored to the specific needs of the organization. So, what are the most common quality assurance challenges businesses deal with? Here are some examples from our experience:

• You have a significant regression scope, which increases the production time. Regression scope is the process that allows the QA teams to check all the existing features of the product to see what works right and what doesn’t. You may already have a market-ready product, but it has certain issues related to its performance. If the product is feature-rich, the regression scope would also be quite extensive. In this scenario, you will need a partner who will introduce automated testing to optimize the QA process and improve the quality of an existing product.
• You are starting a new project and are not exactly sure what the final product will look like. Or you may already have a PoC, but the final composition of the product is yet to be defined. That is where you would mostly rely on manual testing. A new or developing product is always subject to changes, so we do not recommend spending resources creating test cases that would become obsolete if the project’s specs change. That is why you need a partner who can conduct both manual and automated testing for your product.
• You have a large product. The larger your product is and the more features it has, the more test cases you’ll need to create and run. Creating test cases requires good QA strategy to cover all project needs with defined approaches. A combination of manual and automated testing will help with creating an all-encompassing strategy. N-iX helps you set up the proper QA testing strategies to test your specific product in the most cost and time-efficient way. 
• You encounter human errors too often. A human cannot run too many test cases manually, and even if a manual tester does that, there’s a huge chance of error at some point. While manual testing has its merits, it can bring a certain degree of unpredictability. Monotonous and repeatable large-scope testing is the reason behind human errors, and thus automation is a reasonable QA testing strategy here. Automated cases will run the same kinds of tests over and over in a matter of minutes without making errors and requiring much of a human capacity.
• The scope of testing increases rapidly. Processing a large scope of tests is nearly impossible for a person or even a team of manual testers. API-based test cases can run thousands and thousands of test cases.

Each partner our team works with comes with a different set of challenges and needs, and we adapt our QA testing strategies accordingly. The core goal, however, remains the same at all times - to create and implement a relevant QA testing strategy that takes into account all of the product’s specs with respect to the client’s budget.

Manual and automated testing: Two vital aspects of your strategy

In the discussion on the uses and benefits of either manual or automated testing, there’s a persistent misconception of one being better than the other. That is not the case. Both testing types serve the same purpose and are applicable in different scenarios. And while there are limitations to both, they are linked and can be used in conjunction to improve the results of testing. There are great use cases for both manual and automated testing:

• Manual testing works better for projects that are prone to frequent changes, such as startups. When there are a lot of changes, automated testing will not be relevant as the test case maintenance would take too much time on every iteration of the product. Additionally, you may need manual testers when human judgment is required. Automated tests lack the human touch, and manual testers will have to look at the product to tell whether it works right. You would also need manual testers when you don’t have any test frameworks in place but need to test the product right now. Creating test cases takes time, and while the automated testing team does that, you will need manual testers to do what they can to ensure the functions work as intended.
• Automated testing allows developers to test their code for errors and functionality. Automated testing can be used to run a suite of tests, ensuring that all components of an application are functioning as expected, from the front-end interface to the back-end databases. Automation provides the ability to replace regular regression processes with the usage of automated scripts. Thus giving manual testers more time to concentrate on other features. That way, both types of testers can function effectively focusing on their specific tasks.
  Automated tests can be used to quickly detect and diagnose any issues, allowing developers to quickly and efficiently resolve them. Automated tests can even be used to monitor the performance of an application over time, alerting developers to any potential issues that may arise.

Ideally, a business should cooperate with a team that consists of both manual and automated testing experts. For instance, manual testers can examine the product while automation experts create the necessary test cases. Alternatively, manual testers can review the work done by automation experts to analyze the product’s performance from the human point of view. Both types of testing have their limitations - manual testers get tired and make mistakes, while the machine cannot perceive all the aspects of the product’s performance as humans do. 

That is exactly why you will require a QA partner who can do both types of testing. N-iX can implement QA strategies that utilize the benefits of both manual and automated testing, giving you confidence in the impeccable quality of your product.

How does a reliable partner create a successful QA strategy?

A trustworthy QA partner approaches the different needs of the clients by taking a well-structured approach. Here, at N-iX,  our first step will be to understand the client's specific needs and requirements and then tailor our quality assurance strategies accordingly. By taking a comprehensive approach, a QA partner like N-iX can provide valuable insights and feedback to the client, helping you improve the product and set up a proper CI/CD pipeline. Here’s how we can help:

Conduct quality assurance consulting 

Many businesses require consulting services on different types of testing as well as the validation of whether they should use particular types of tests at all. Do you need manual testing, automated, or a combination of the two? What technical tools should you use to run tests? What kind of experts would you need throughout the project? A reliable quality assurance partner can answer all of these and other questions

Considering each business has its unique specs, you can never use the same strategy for all types of products. That is exactly why you will require expertise in quality assurance and testing. N-iX can provide you with the technical expertise and industry domain knowledge to set up cost-efficient QA testing strategies. We will make use of the effective practices you may already have, improve them, and add new features that will boost the efficiency of your quality assurance efforts.

Build your testing process from scratch

There are businesses that develop their products without proper quality assurance strategies in place. For instance, you may have been building a rather specific solution with an abundance of features, and your development team tested it throughout the development process. Or you may have had a couple of testers working alongside the development team. After rolling out a fully-functioning product, you realize that bugs and flaws are starting to show one after the other and you spend too much time fixing them. 

These are the clear signs that you need proper quality assurance strategies in place. Experienced quality assurance experts will develop it for you and implement it using the tools that are relevant to your case. At N-iX, we help our clients create custom QA strategies that take into account their needs as well as their budget and timeline. 

Optimize your testing processes

Alternatively, you might have already implemented some QA testing strategies, but the results leave much to be deserved. Quality assurance is one of the most important aspects of successful project delivery and product maintenance, and you are doing the right thing by paying attention to it. However, without a proper QA testing strategy that is precisely tailored to your product, you will continue to encounter problems over and over.

N-iX quality assurance experts will review your current testing practices, identify possible flaws, suggest improvements, and implement them. We will take advantage of what works well already, strengthen your practices, and add new test cases to further improve your testing process. Our team will build the scope of labor, define the implementation timeline and budget, and give you a roadmap for the successful implementation of QA strategies. 

Read more: Finding the right quality assurance consulting company for your project 

Success stories: How N-iX implements successful QA strategies for its clients

Setting up a QA testing strategy for the energy technology leader

Our client, a leading energy technology firm, focuses on the accessibility of clean, reasonable energy. To boost performance, the client needed to improve user experience and expand the scalability of their products to manage an expanding customer base efficiently. The client did not have enough QA experts to ensure the proper performance of the system. Also, they needed to implement a tailored approach to distinguishing issues at the beginning phases of development to guarantee a high caliber of system optimization. 

Our team delivered a set of solutions to the client, including QA services: 

• Implemented from scratch testing as a service;
• Managed the entire testing process, from analyzing the requirements and developing testing documentation to testing process maintenance and execution;
• Provided high-quality testing services for system optimization.

Test automation for Orbus Software

N-iX provided Orbus Software with a dedicated team of QA specialists which enabled the company to improve the testing capabilities for iServer, their core product. As a result, the enterprise reduced the solution’s time-to-market. Moreover, the tech stack of Orbus Software was modernized with the help of N-iX, while the functionality of their software products was extended and automated testing was implemented.

Our experts achieved the following results:

• Reduced the test documentation efforts, which used to take 50% of the QA expert’s sprint time;
• Sped up regression testing which used to take three weeks blocking the development;
• Improved reliability of tests with new web functional testing that covers automated E2P and API/web service tests;
• Created controllable scope and coverage of testing thanks to test design as a code;
• Introduced concurrent Domain-Driven Testing to improve sprint planning.

Why choose N-iX as your quality assurance partner?

N-iX solves complex challenges, improves, and adapts the existing methodologies and tools to the needs of the client. Our team guarantees flexibility toward your requirements and the rational use of resources. We will not recommend things you do not need. Instead, we will evaluate your situation, your needs, and your budget and provide a solution that suits your needs.

• Software testing is an essential aspect of 85% of N-iX long-term projects. We have a successful track record of organizing testing activities that fully fit into the development processes of our customers.
• We have a team of more than 150 QA experts who have experience working with different types of organizations across industry domains.
• We construct comprehensive testing procedures that include such steps as defining and arranging a test plan, setting up a testing environment, developing tests, executing the tests, as well as approving, evaluating, and addressing any flaws.
• N-iX QA experts have extensive knowledge in data analysis, databases, UX design, and other related fields.
• Our DevOps services are comprehensive and include cloud adoption, the development and optimization of CI/CD processes, identifying and solving security issues, firewall-as-a-service, and much more.
• We adhere to international regulations and security standards, such as ISTQB, to ensure compliance.