Test Management Tools

In the software development workflow, testing is a no brainer. In overview, here, you put your codes to the test run, which determines whether your product has met the project requirements and detects any defects or discrepancies, otherwise known as bugs in computer engineering.  While testing in indispensable, it isn’t the end of all. What follows is the need for proper test management. 

Because testing isn’t just about detecting bugs

You’ve got to be on the lookout for bugs and regressions, but simultaneously, you also need to manage other essentials like auditing the test coverage, its execution, and outcome. You need to compare test outcomes and figure out what’s going wrong if the results tell you that you have a new bug. In all such cases, you need the helping hand of a test management tool. 

What is test management?

Look at a test management tool like the CI tool equivalent, just for testings. Instead of controlling builds, you will now be monitoring a testing process with the management tool. It will have all the information regarding the planning and conduction of all testing activities as well as reporting for quality checks. You can decide with the help of test management tools which tests you’d like to keep for manual work and which ones you should automate and reduce unnecessary load. The management tools will also ensure that your software is performing the way it was supposed to, something that is achieved with close monitoring of all testing processes. It will integrate all test resources and report to you any bug detection while also keeping a copy of the report for all outcomes for future reference.         

Overall boosts your productivity

Test management is integral to maximizing the efficiency of your testing. With build version tracking, release transparency, team coordination, etc. taking place simultaneously, you’d need an efficient tool to keep track of all your testings. For distributed teams, this is particularly essential, along with standardizations in the workflow. A test management tool helps achieve that by keeping well-managed lists of all tested and non-tested products, and keeping all project artifacts under one roof so that they are accessible by all stakeholders. They will not only save test results but will also help in documentation of test strategy, creation of defects, planning of executions, liking of stories, among others.   

Your test management is of no good without robust reporting

And it’s quite right. You are probably testing hundreds of codes every day, and your teammates are retesting them tomorrow to check for defects. What good would it be if you cannot even have a comprehensive list which cites all test results? How do you or your teammate understand if the program is performing better than yesterday if you don’t have something to compare it with?  So, your test management tool should come with robust reporting where you can get a complete overview of the testing lifecycle and details of all developer activities. A dashboard and graph are indispensable. There should also be clearly highlighted areas for common test attributes such as cases passed, or skipped, number of automated tests, tests in the queue, etc. 

Automation and integrations will save your day

The whole point of more advanced tools is to make life easier. So, why annually do all testing when you can automate certain cases and reduce the burden on the testing engineers. When you opt for a test management tool, it is desirable functionality that they manage test scripts, schedule tests locally and on remote hosts, while also storing the automation results within its database. Apart from automation, your test management tool needs to be capable of integrating the Continuous Integration tool, bug tracking tool, support desk system, and API support for other custom integrations.

Bonus points for mobile and other support

Not every time will the engineers be at their office desks. They may be at the client location or in some other country altogether, say for a project. Such times necessitate the availability of mobile support for test management tools, just like most other software tools do. The full set of features must be available on both Android and iOS platforms (preferably) so that they can work on the go from their mobile devices without a hitch. Needless to say, your test management vendor’s offering should also involve good customer support. User guides, online forums, FAQs, live chat, etc. are needed so that your team can perform testing operations without any delay, should a problem arise.