In modern times, the accepted practice that underpins the continued growth of software development is the integration of Agile and Devops.
However, what is less recognized is the role QA plays in enhancing the flow of innovation and production within the two models. Quality assurance testing is the common link that ensures continuity of purpose through the entire product journey from inspiration to end-user experience.
When software companies engage QA experts, they are gaining a dedicated team that can understand and improve their product as it flows through the iteration and change of the Agile phase, on into the deployment and continual assessment in the DevOps phase.
Rather than figuring out the differences between DevOps vs Agile, it is important to look at how these methodologies complement each other. Agile and DevOps get their strength and efficiency by empowering every member of an enterprise to take responsibility for the final user experience. Having a professional QA team can further enhance this process of bringing the two methodologies closer, thereby enhancing the overall performance of the software.
Devops vs Agile- What's the Difference?
Agile and DevOps are different sides of the same coin. In fact, DevOps directly grew out of the Agile movement, which rose to prominence in the early part of 2000. Both approaches work to remove the barriers between teams and responsibilities - barriers that can unnecessarily divide the flow of software development and production into unrelated silos.
DevOps and Agile are two distinct methodologies, however.
Agile focuses on an inclusive, iterative approach to software development that incorporates QA testing and the interests of business stakeholders into a continual cycle of coding, testing and review. It is built to accommodate change and divides a project up into small, highly efficient sprints that prioritize continual testing and rapid release.
DevOps, on the other hand, succeeds by bringing together two traditionally separate practices: development and operations. Whereas, the Ops side of things was once solely responsible for ensuring that a production site runs properly, operations now works closely with the development team to create continuous integration and continuous delivery.
Essentially, Agile produces better products through continual iteration and evolution; while DevOps creates a working relationship between that process and the final product delivery.
Combining the two approaches results in the following development flow:
With the most efficient approach, the QA team rides this looped development and delivery cycle from beginning to end.
What Can You Accomplish By Integrating Agile and Devops
By integrating Agile and Devops, testers can benefit from the following advantages:
- It helps to streamline processes and improve product offerings.
- It adds more value, and reduces the number of risks with each release.
- It reduces the number of bugs, and helps fixing them faster.
- It allows for increased visibility and better collaboration.
- It gives better user satisfaction, as the software products are of better quality.
QA in Agile and DevOps
The QA team plays a vital role in Agile and DevOps processes. The very need for both approaches is tied directly to increased testing speeds and the rapid deployment of products that meet high customer experience standards.
Both approaches recognize the fundamental importance of ensuring quality standards throughout the development and production lifecycle of an application. As such, testing is constant to ensure that changes to code do not adversely affect the product's overall functionality. Even better: incorporating QA experts introduces a flexible, parallel structure to the development phase that means bug fixes are implemented sooner, the process is readily scalable and software testing remains a priority throughout the product life cycle.
On the DevOps side of things, close collaboration with QA interests enables better source code management, system administration and a process-driven approach to continuous delivery.
Outsourcing this QA functionality further enhances the collaboration by introducing time, resource and talent efficiencies.
Maximizing Agile and DevOps Through Outsourced QA
Outsourced QA suits the Agile and DevOps approaches because it maximizes resources. Engaging a QA professional allows you to quickly ramp up operations through key phases of the release cycle-and to do so with experts who bring value and leadership to the team.
Key benefits include:
-
Domain Expertise
Adding industry experts to your strategy ensures that products are developed and deployed with attention to the latest trends and technologies and the highest standards of security and compliance.
-
Time Management
Outsourcing to an overseas location allows teams to push the speed and efficiencies of Agile and DevOps approaches to their maximum. By embracing distant time zones, teams can establish 24-hour work cycles that promote overnight testing and continual progress.
-
A Large Engineering Core
Expert QA teams do not arrive solo. Instead, your enterprise gains access to entire departments of trained professionals engaged in research and development-and not just bug oversight.
-
Maximized Resources
It is more efficient to onboard and retain offshore testing teams than to engage with their U.S. competitors. An offshore QA approach can produce resource savings that can halve the total QA spend.
-
Leadership
Outsourced QA professionals are your partners in the development and execution of your entire test suite. They can aid your DevOps in managing advanced infrastructure and in monitoring and securing systems from vulnerabilities.
-
Continuity
A large QA partner can provide assistance throughout both the Agile and DevOps processes, maintaining continuity and quality standards throughout the product lifecycle.
Agile and DevOps methodologies do not have to be combined in order to be effective. But when a QA service can bridge the two, Agile and DevOps enable and improve each other in turn.
Devops vs Agile-Taking Responsibility for Quality
As we have explored, Agile and DevOps provide development and delivery efficiencies by promoting a culture of “we are all in this together.” By sharing the responsibility for the end-user experience across each team within the enterprise and drawing on their collaborative skill sets, we produce better products faster.
An expert QA team can provide a practical, functional bridge between the two new-generation approaches and ensure product quality from inspiration right through to delivery.
QASource engineers are experts in deploying DevOps strategies within an Agile environment. With the experience and knowledge to seamlessly integrate with your development and IT teams, they can show you how to streamline your software production. Contact us today for a free quote, or call +1.925.271.5555 to get started.
