Released: Thursday, June 18, 2015
Nowadays, software applications are so closely intertwined with modern business models that demand for their development is increasing exponentially. Challenges exist, particularly for teams that are geographically dispersed. Nearly 60 percent of agile testing teams are geographically dispersed. Trying to utilize and manage geographically dispersed resources to the full poses a problem for standard and agile testing methods, which have traditionally assumed development and test teams to be located in a single room or campus.
As a result, firms face problems with communication — or rather lack of it. This alone has the disruptive ability to throw off schedules and inject costs and inefficiencies into testing projects, especially for agile models wherein testing and development teams work side by side. When the development team starts with design, the testing team works on test strategies and test cases. This iterative approach continues until the code is ready to be implemented.
Also with dispersed teams, the security and reliability of data transfer becomes more complex. Deploying a leased line or VPN to a developing country, where the infrastructure still catching up, can be an expensive option.
Meantime, changing customer demands make rapid service delivery all the more critical. And with that ever-increasing demand, software firms have an escalating pressure to deliver software that’s effective straight out of the box, with minimal defects, and all in double quick time as well. The halcyon days of the waterfall methodology are long past, and even the Agile Manifesto is over a decade old.
Collaboration and communication are vital, as the speed of business can’t afford to wait on an outdated software development process.
