Why is DevOps Testing integral to Digital Transformation Strategies?

History has proved that companies and brands that have not been able to mature with technology upgrade have fallen behind in the race and have become obsolete. Technology and new age digital technologies have the capability to generate disruptive ideas and create phenomenal success out of minimal investments. While technology matures aggressively, testing these technology platforms rigorously is getting cumbersome and challenging. Breakthrough software testing ideas such as DevOps testing (now popularly referred to as DevTestOps) and Agile Testing have given way to Continuous Testing and Continuous Delivery.

Let’s look at some recent examples of companies that have brought out a ‘360 degree’ spin in the idea of success by massively leveraging technology and digital transformation strategies. A case in point is Airbnb, a start-up that has today evolved as the biggest hotel chain without owning even a single property. Another is Uber (originally a software tool) that leverages the digital technologies and responsive application platforms to emerge as the leading taxi hiring chain without owning a single vehicle/taxi.

These are some select few instances to consider, but they quite effectively reinforce the growing dominance of digital technologies and how these can be leveraged to build successful enterprises.

What is Digital Transformation?

Broadly, Digital Transformation implies how digital technologies such as Social Media, Mobility Services, Big Data and Analytics, and Cloud technology can be leveraged for overall business transformation. It has been endorsed as an empowering experience for businesses, as it helps them pace up their business ideas and reach out effectively to their customers – external as well as internal.

Transforming customer experience is at the core of Digital Transformation and every idea and development focuses on enhancing it.

What is the relevance of DevOps Testing for Digital Transformation?

Consistent experimentation and upgrade is the key to growth, which also means that there is a growing and constant need to test these platforms for sustainability, experience, and quality assurance. DevOps provides this much needed approach to build a process that supports continuous delivery and continuous testing. It’s an approach that encourages seamless collaboration between development and operations to deliver a software/application.

DevOps is all about progressing continuously and building the capability to deliver at any point of time. It cuts through the conventional cycle of delivering a software or an application. With DevOps, each and every team member, irrespective of their role, becomes responsible for delivering a quality software.

The intrinsic nature of DevOps reinforces the aspect of Quality Assurance and Testing. Quality Assurance and Testing collaborates with development teams to continuously test and integrate additional test codes within the system. In this context, Test Automation plays a critical role, as it eliminates any scope for human error.

Considering that with the DevOps approach QA doesn’t come at the end, the development process gets more collaborative and faster. DevOps is known for delivering software and applications faster to the market and with assured quality standards. This establishes its importance in the digital landscape, where enterprises need responsive and robust platforms but at super speed!

Critically, these applications are in constant need for upgrade and enhancements to ensure customer satisfaction. For instance, every application that you download and use needs a constant update for compliance with regulatory guidelines, enhancing experience, building security and much more. DevOps enables this and makes the process smooth and quick.

This takes us to the next successive point – Digital Testing.

What is Digital Testing and why is it so critical?

Digital is disruptive. So, it is inevitable to build testing processes and approaches that ensure that the disruptive technology sustains in the marketplace. Digital testing ensures that your applications and software are robust and responsive on the new age digital platforms/technologies. The idea is to not just use digital technologies to remain competitive, but also make the process faster and seamless.

Digital Technologies such as Social Media, Mobility, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Machine Learning and Smart Devices will not just enable change, but also bring about Digital Transformation for enterprises of all shapes and sizes. But this transformation is happening at a pace that is uncontainable for many.

Digital Testing covers various aspects that are integral to a consumer’s experience. For instance, testing is driven by customer expectations, where the performance and functional aspects are tested to ensure robustness and market-readiness of an application. Consequently, this helps enterprises and brands to understand customer expectations and leverage them to eventually offer better services.

It helps enterprises to bring their innovative and customer-centric ideas to life. Digital Transformation and Digital Technologies are posing diverse challenges for Quality Assurance and Testing.

How can DevOps support Quality Assurance and Testing for Digital Transformation?

• DevOps brings speed to the release cycle, which brings competitive advantage.

When development cycle gets shorter, the frequency of releases increases, which makes the overall software development and testing cycles a lot quicker. DevOps enables the teams to release the code or project at any given point of time. So, there is always scope for continuous development and deployment.

This in turn brings competitive advantage, as you can reach the market faster, and at the same time ensure quality.

• DevOps helps identify defects/bugs faster, making the process cost-effective.

One of the key reasons why testing and development approaches have been revolutionized is to identify defects much earlier in the development cycle. DevOps helps to make the development process more collaborative, responsive to change in the production environment, and identify any possible defects faster in the lifecycle.

Most importantly, the testing and development cycle gets more iterative and shorter. So, the teams don’t have to wait till the end of the development cycle to test and identify bugs. Development and Operations teams that traditionally worked separately, now work in tandem to reach the common delivery goals.

• Every business needs innovation, DevOps fosters the culture of experimentation

Why are businesses that embrace the risks and rewards of Digital technologies much more agile and successful when compared with enterprises that are choked by legacy and redundant systems? The core reason is obvious. There is a serious dearth of experimentation and connection to the real-time changes in the business ecosystem.

DevOps helps foster an environment that boosts experimentation and innovation. There is a constant need to try, test, and take risks. Experimentation and Innovation is the need of the hour for enterprises of all sizes.

Software testing and Quality Assurance is the core of every innovation happening today. If you mess with it, you are bound to fail in the marketplace that is flooded with wavering risks and breaches. Whether it is a driverless car from Google, a drone delivering an Amazon product, or a Bot checking your baggage at the airport security, DevOps approach will continue to ensure resilience for enabling Digital Transformation.

At Cigniti, we regulate efforts and ensure faster time to market with DevOps Testing. Our experts work with diverse businesses to help them deliver improved deployment quality and greater operational efficiency with the DevOps approach.

Connect with us and build resilience towards the burgeoning challenges posed by Digital Transformation.