What Is The Impact Of DevOps On QA Testing?

Since its early days, DevOps has profoundly impacted software quality assurance (QA) testing. After all, DevOps is about increasing software development, deployment speed, and quality. Some organizations are unsure of its impacts on their QA processes.

We will now look at how DevOps has impacted QA testing. We will also discuss what you can do to ensure your QA processes are up to the challenge.

DevOps and QA Testing

Before diving into the technical details, let’s quickly learn what DevOps and QA Testing are.

What is DevOps?

DevOps integrates developmental and operational functionalities of software development within a unified cycle. It streamlines the software development and maintenance process.

Organizations and development teams globally are benefiting from DevOps adoption. DevOps implementation surpassed $7 billion in total value globally in 2021. Industry analysts have forecasted the value to exceed $30 billion by 2028.

What Is QA Testing?

Quality assurance (QA) testing is a series of activities to ensure quality standards. It evaluates the software quality against a predetermined set of criteria. QA testing involves planning, analysis, design, execution, and reporting.

Integrating DevOps with QA Testing

DevOps primarily aims to shorten the development life cycle. It also frequently delivers new features and updates to provide customer value quickly. From the early days of DevOps, it was clear that DevOps and QA testing had to go hand-in-hand. After all, the goal of DevOps is to increase software quality and speed, while QA is all about quality.

Reviewing the typical DevOps cycle will help us identify the possible integration areas.

How Does the DevOps Cycle Work?

Traditionally, software developers made batch releases for new software versions and developments. However, DevOps made the process more continuous and smooth. The following activities occur sequentially in an ideal DevOps cycle:

1. Code writing: Developers and programmers write code for the software.
2. Preparing QA environment: Developers build the binaries to deploy within the QA environment.
3. Running test cases: The development team builds and executes a few test cases. Then they build the stable version.
4. Launching: The team deploys the final version into the production environment.

QA Changes for DevOps Testing

Integration of QA with DevOps testing will impact the following areas:

• Evaluating code: You can use automatic code review software to evaluate the new code. This will help you detect potential problem areas early.
• Requesting test: You can request a full or partial code test. The testers can do it through manual and automatic assessment.
• Executing test: You can use Selenium or other automatic testing tools to perform the test. Manual testers also test the UI, UX, and software functions.
• Reporting results: Developers may use dedicated test management tools like Kualitee. These tools report both automatic and manual tests together.

To implement QA testing, you must monitor the software more proactively than before.

Benefits of DevOps on QA Testing

Now we will check out some of the benefits your team can achieve through this integration.

• Stronger team collaboration: The development and QA teams can collaborate more effectively. It will help create a supportive atmosphere within the organization.
• Quicker product deployment: You can bring the final product to the market faster.
• Frequent releases: You can release regular versions and implement frequent updates continuously.
• More stability: Your final products will be more stable through better QA standards.
• Automation benefits: You can enjoy several benefits from automation. For example, you will achieve long-term cost reductions and faster bug detection.

Challenges of Implementing DevOps for QA Testing

The successful implementation of DevOps on QA testing depends on using automation tools. While there are many advantages of DevOps on QA, you will also face a few challenges, such as:

• Code compatibility: Primarily you may find it difficult to ensure code compatibility.
• Implementation: Automation experts may find your business process confusing. The same can happen for your business process users.
• Scarcity of scripts: You won’t find many user-friendly automation scripts. Your manual testers can use those smoothly.

Successful DevOps QA Testing Implementation Tips

To successfully implement the DevOps method on QA testing, try the following tips:

• Make sure you correctly identify the test case for your final build.
• Ensure good coordination between the development and QA teams.
• Standardize the testing features and environment for future use and documentation.
• Make sure to do all the testing deployment and customize the codes as required.
• Use cross-platform testing tools and methods.
• Combine various automation methods.
• Prepare detailed documentation so everyone on the team knows what to expect.
• Execute many tests side by side to reduce your product development time substantially.

Wrap-Up

As you can see, DevOps has profoundly impacted QA testing to make it more robust and simplified. When done correctly, DevOps can help your team release better software faster. But, it's essential to consider the impact of your QA processes before making the switch. The discussed tips will help you successfully integrate DevOps into your QA processes.

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