5 reasons why Agile testing and software development go hand in hand

Over the years, an increasing number of software companies are adopting the agile methodology, not just in development but in testing as well. The reasons for this include higher returns and a reduced time to market. So, what is agile testing and how can your business benefit from it?

What is Agile Testing?

Agile testing is the practice of testing a software based on the agile methodology of software development. Here, testing is considered to be an integral part of the software development process instead of a standalone phase. Development and testing go hand in hand and are carried out in iterations with frequent checkpoints to ensure the product is in tune with the current customer expectations.

How can your business benefit from agile testing?

1. Early identification of defects: Testing is started as soon as the code is in a decent shape. This helps in early detection of defects. Typically, about 47% of defects can be traced to requirements and another 28% to design and the cost of fixing these defects increases with time. The process of instant feedback in agile testing ensures no time is wasted in fixing the defect, reigning in Cost of Quality.
2. High quality of products: Since development and testing go hand in hand, testing is not compromised due to lack of time as often happens in the waterfall model. Agile testing finds a defect every 6 minutes compared to 10hrs of traditional testing. Businesses that went agile have reported a 63% increase in quality and a 70% lower defect rate.
3. Easily adapt to changes: With agility, it is possible to quickly respond to changes in requirements or in customer expectations driven by a changing business scenario. Since work is done in small increments over small period of time, it can absorb changes and ensure the functionality developed is relevant and what the customer needs at that point of time. This implies greater customer satisfaction.
4. Lower Risk: Developing software in increments makes it possible to release a beta version of the product to get a feel of the market, instead of a big bang release. Customer feedback can help in adding beneficial features in successive iterations resulting in a wholesome product. Also, at the beta stage, if the market does not seem to respond favourably to the product, then a business can even go for cancelling the project before it has invested too much money, time and effort into it.
5. Easy to manage: Agile teams are typically small in size and hence are easy to manage. A small team implies fewer resourcing challenges. All stakeholders know the roles they play and have clear and right expectations from each other. Small teams working on small iterations make it easy to plan the work, set practical deadlines, monitor risks and measure ROI.

In a sector like IT which is gripped by constant change and diminishing timelines, using the Agile development model can lead to a 37% reduction in time-to-market with a 26% median cost reduction.

Don’t miss the chance to listen to Raghuram Krovvidy, VP – Global Delivery at Cigniti Technologies speak on the topic “Speed@Quality Reinvents Testing” on December 5 @ 15:30 at the 14^th Annual International STC 2014 in Bangalore.