How Testing can embrace the changing Business Climate

Published 17th December 2008

The dramatic developments to the global economy have led to changes in consumer spending habits. This has implications for businesses around the world, so they need to adapt to ensure they put themselves in the best possible position. Taking advantage of such a climate to streamline processes and therefore become more cost efficient is one way. Increasing revenue is another. Both of these can be achieved – or certainly greatly boosted – by changes within your organization’s IT.

Enterprise IT is an area that undergoes continual changes and continual review. To be on pace with the demands, IT should be on toes, equipped with all the solutions- bespoke or pre-built. Either of these solutions should be properly integrated into the existing systems of an organization, lest disruption to the business, resulting in significant increase in costs to resolve the issues as systems may fail or have compromised performance. Additionally, correcting defects after a system has gone live is more expensive – there needs to be much more intensive remedial work.

Thorough testing designed specifically for the solution could mitigate the risk of problems. Testing can ensure more defects are picked up earlier and corrected at a more cost efficient stage of the system’s development or its implementation. But testing must be properly managed as this could also result in a drain on resources. For example, when testing seems to be taking too long it is often thought best to increase the headcount of testers. This costs more and may not be the best solution. Restructuring the test team to get maximum efficiency from each member, focusing on the area they should, will improve output. Better management of tasks and responsibilities with deliverables set to schedules can reduce release times and result in reduced costs and less headcount.

Testing of a system’s performance and suitability often occurs later in the project lifecycle, as a final check point, a common occurrence across all aspects of system development and implementation. As business success becomes increasingly precarious, more emphasis should be placed on getting it right first time as redeveloping or reworking can cost much more. If the project looks set to go live late, it would be worthwhile calculating the cost of missing the date against the cost of finding defects after the launch of the project or system. If possible, calculating the cost of damage to the brand should also be factored in.

In the instances where getting to market is of paramount importance, the testing could be amended accordingly.

Reducing costs, increasing revenue and market share are of paramount importance in business. And to gain this, organizations within every industry rely increasingly on IT. One example of where IT is of paramount importance is, online retail; revenue for this is estimated to exceed $200 billion in 2008. Fully functioning systems that use cutting edge technology to give the best user experience possible with a superior-performing site can aid organizations in becoming market leader. Added to it are the channels such as mobile or Web 2.0 that paves the way to increase revenue as they allow entry into different markets and access to new customers. To make new channels a success, the investment required must be fully appreciated.

Adapting the business to accommodate changes may be necessary – if new technologies are employed with insufficient processes and principles to support them, the result may be disastrous. Hence, any changes in technology and any new solutions need to be sufficiently tested to ensure their effectiveness. New techniques may need to be employed, the right skills must be sourced and new equipment may need to be purchased; Faraday cages for wireless testing, for example. A full testing solution should be tailored specifically to the solution. Upon its release, revenue targets are more likely to be hit as everything will function as it should, thus satisfying the business needs.

To read the complete Industry Comment, visit: http://www.applabs.com/html/ResponsetoChangingBusinessClimate_648.html