QASource Blog

What’s at the intersection of development, QA, and IT operations? DevOps! When we say DevOps, we’re describing the Agile relationship between your dev organization (including QA) and your IT team. DevOps is transforming the software development lifecycle, enabling teams to work faster and in closer collaboration. This relationship was borne out of a need for increased development and testing speed and high-quality products that delight customers and contribute to the rapid growth of the businesses that build them.

Is QA testing necessary for security software? Software QA is absolutely necessary. We are constantly hearing about data breaches occurring seemingly every day, so products and software that can ensure users' safety are in high demand. This surge in demand for security software increases the pressure security product organizations feel as they release new software. Read on to discover how a security company learned that in order to guarantee the safety of users, cybersecurity companies should invest in a QA partner.

Any time a feature is added or improved, an application’s code is in danger. There’s no escaping it, unfortunately: Any time a developer touches an existing piece of code, s/he introduces the possibility of breakage and new defects. This is especially true, and most common, in the areas where new code meets old.

The world of data security is changing rapidly - so rapidly that it can be hard to keep track of all the authentication methods that see wide usage and adoption from product companies. Currently, there are three main categories for security solutions. First, what we know: Your standard alphanumeric passwords and security questions. Second, what we carry: Hand-held items like key cards and ID badges. And third, what we are: Unique bodily identifiers that are nearly impossible to replicate.

We’re all familiar with choosing super-strong passwords and clipping an ID badge on our belt loop before leaving the house. But in general, biometric authentication is still a relatively new category in the security space.

Remember the days when storing sensitive data behind a simple alphanumeric password worked just fine? Those were the days... such simple, innocent days. Every time the latest company data breach makes the news, we’re reminded that those days are over. As hackers and leakers become ever more skilled and brazen, product companies are responding by doubling down on security measures to protect their users, proprietary information, and their reputation in the market.

Today, access control goes far beyond the keyboard. The advent of biometrics - the process of authenticating a person using physical or behavioral characteristics - is expanding the reach of security and increasing its effectiveness.

Back in the day, outsourcing was implemented purely as a cost-cutting measure. Organizations would assess which services were vital enough to be kept in-house, and farm out the rest to outside vendors. The work got done, but often, it just wasn’t up to par with what an onsite team could have accomplished. Reasons for this varied -- poor onboarding, insufficient communication, lack of familiarity with the product -- the list goes on.

It seems there is a fresh news story about a high-profile hacking or customer data breach every week. No organization wants to be the subject of the next reputation-ruining headline, but many business leaders still skip over the topic of security when it comes to interviewing, hiring, and onboarding a new outsourced QA partner. The focus instead often tends to be on cost and speed, all the while assuming that security is covered.

We have some bad news: There is almost no way of creating a completely secure software program. Vile ransomware sneaks in through a variety of different cracks in safety infrastructure, infiltrating machines, and eventually, entire organizations through an email link accidentally clicked.

But if you’re in the software industry, you know this already. So exactly what is a fast-growing product company — under the pressure of breakneck release speeds and a demanding market — supposed to do to guard against ransomware?

It’s no secret that there is a high turnover rate in the tech industry — and that this high attrition occurs in tech companies all over the world. Churn has the potential to result in lower quality products, especially if the turnover occurs in a QA team.

Check out QASource’s latest infographic to find out why a high engineer retention rate is critical for effective and beneficial QA services.

What happens when you can’t accurately measure the cost, effectiveness, and progress of a software testing project? A lot of less-than-ideal things. Projects can balloon in cost, creep in scope, fall in quality, or run on for what seems like forever. Without defined metrics attached to each QA project, they can get out of control -- and this scenario is a nightmare for both the product company and their team and the testing provider and their engineers.