Some people think a good indication that a piece of work is done is if it's been tested. But by whom, and how? Testing alone doesn’t specifically determine whether you are done—especially when we probably don’t mean the same thing when we all talk about testing. Here are two ways to know when your work is truly done.

Poor quality input will always produce faulty output. Improper validation of data input can affect more than just security; it can also affect your ability to make effective business decisions. Bad data can have impacts on how you make quantitative decisions or create reports, if you can’t trust the data you receive.

In their transition to agile and DevOps, many teams forget they also need to update their measurement and metrics plan. Some measurements and metrics from the traditional waterfall software development lifecycle may remain useful, but many may not provide value—and some may even adversely impact progress toward goals.