Discussions around software development typically involve budgets, team models and infrastructure management, with areas such as software testing not getting as much of a limelight. Usually part of any software development team, software testers are responsible for ensuring the final product is workable, has secure access points, and meets the expectations of users – but their impact goes well beyond that.
Through consistent application testing and evaluation, your software testers can pave the way towards user centricity, oftentimes even through collaboration with customer-focused surveys and reviews. They can be the driving force behind identifying gaps and security loopholes within applications, going beyond regular bug reports and test case builds. Compliance is another key factor, and your software testers will be indispensable here, especially if your business needs to adhere to specific regulations depending on the industry or region you operate in.
In this article, we shed light on the roles and responsibilities of a software tester, the benefits of outsourcing your software testing operations, as well as how to source, hire and choose the right software testers for your business’s unique requirements. So read on to know more!
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In essence, software testers are tasked with the role of evaluating the functionality of applications that are built, and ensuring they are in acceptable working condition. This core responsibility can be broken down into the following tasks:
All the above tasks can be done both manually and with the help of automation tools. Many repetitive tests are typically automated, especially as these need to be carried out prior to every software patch or release. This can help software testers free up precious time, and instead focus on more strategic or analytical matters that can benefit from their attention.
If you already have a software development team (be it in-house or via another software outsourcing company), appending a specialised testing team can afford your software development project a fresh perspective on not just testing processes and strategies, but for your entire application as a whole. New areas of improvement may be observed, or a fresh set of ideas may be proposed on how to improve productivity through automating specific tasks.
This also doesn’t need to be permanent; specialist software testers can consult periodically, to give their take on what is working, and what needs changing. Alternatively, a dedicated software testing team can also be sourced to order, if that’s all your software development project needs to evaluate what existing developers and designers are building.
If your software or application needs to adhere to any industrial or regional regulations, hiring software testers that are qualified to adhere to these regulations is a worthwhile investment. Data privacy and security is one of the biggest components of many regulations that are targeted towards software, mobile apps and websites, with cookies following at a close second. As a result, your application will need to meet compliance standards in order to function online, as well as across certain markets and industries – else risk facing hefty fines in the event of non-compliance, and even possibly lose out to the competition.
Software testers who are highly competent at what they do go the extra mile, by establishing reporting streams that help them analyse the overall performance of the application that their team is building. This may even go as far as monitoring the results from surveys that are otherwise more oriented towards customer success, such as CSAT.
Other sources of customer feedback include reviews, which software testing teams, in addition to customer success teams, monitor in order to identify any trends in terms of user preferences, and what may require fixing from a product standpoint.
For hiring software testers that can meet your business’s product as well as compliance requirements, start with a job criteria that clearly lists what candidates need to be eligible for, including any compliance-related qualifications, if applicable to your use case. If you are partnered with a software outsourcing company, they will do most of the work to build job listings, advertise and conduct preliminary screenings, so you can directly interview eligible candidates for making the final hiring decision.
With software development and testing teams now typically distributed as part of remote work environments, communicating your business’s overarching goals become all the more imperative. On top of that, your team members get the perspective they need to realise how these are impacted by the applications they are building, thereby enabling everyone to be mutually aligned in order to deliver growth.
Alternatively, any misconceptions and miscommunications need to be ‘nipped in the bud’; as soon as these are identified, managers and/or product owners need to be at the fore of clarifying what is necessary to relevant team members, so all tasks, actions and subsequent outcomes are calibrated towards your business’s key goals.
As with any other team member in your software development team, your software testers require periodic evaluation based on their KPIs. However, managers also need to evaluate soft skills such as quality of communication and the ability to take initiatives, during routine tasks and other activities. Evaluating soft skills is particularly important during the early stages of a team member’s tenure, so any errors can be corrected from the get-go, while also expecting assimilation with other members at the same time.
With software outsourcing companies now also functioning as dedicated software testing companies, businesses now have the ability to hire only software testers, while combining other subject matter experts from multiple partner agencies. This ‘mix and match’ approach can prove to be highly advantageous, as companies now have the autonomy to hire only the most relevant, with geographical constraints never being an issue (thanks to the nature of remote work in the field of software outsourcing).
In addition to manually running tests for software and other applications that are being built, software testers today are also responsible for automating many repetitive tasks, as well as building accurate test cases for parts of, or an entire application. Hiring the right candidates is what this all begins with, and your software outsourcing agency (if you are already partnered with one) can do all the initial screening and sourcing – leaving you to interview and call the final decision on who should be hired.