It’s important to note the more collaborative nature that agile encourages for every single member of the team—not just the testers. Sure, testers might have to adopt the most new skills if they hope to make things work at this new pace, but product owners and developers can’t just rest on their laurels.
A long-time freelancer in the tech industry, Josiah Renaudin is now a web content producer and writer for TechWell, StickyMinds, and Better Software magazine. Previously, he wrote for popular video game journalism websites like GameSpot, IGN, and Paste Magazine, where he published reviews, interviews, and long-form features. Josiah has been immersed in games since he was young, but more than anything, he enjoys covering the tech industry at large.
All Stories by Josiah Renaudin
Taking a step back, being honest about your strengths and weaknesses, and then using agile concepts to make yourself better is smarter than simply copying another team's structure. Agile can be your base, but don’t let trends that work for your competitor dictate the core of your software development.
Every single tester should keep an eye on what security vulnerabilities might be plaguing their testing, but speaking in an interview at STARWEST 2016, Jeff Payne, the CEO and founder of Coveros, explained why you need to put a focus on security very early in the process.
There have always been distinct lines that separate developers and testers—and they didn’t often work all that close together. However, shifting everything to the left and being more concerned with testing at every single stage of development has blurred the line between their responsibilities.
Throughout the years, manual testing was just how things were done within standard software teams. Now, with advances in technology, the introduction and spread of agile, and the greater demand for speed, automation tools are almost required to keep up in this fast-paced industry.
Testers need to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills in order to stay relevant. And while everyone on a software team has to adapt in some way in order to keep up, it always seems like testers are under the brightest lights. It’s either evolve or get fully left behind.
One aspect that gets a lot of play in software is the size of your testing team. But whether you’re working at a major corporation with a massive testing team or a start-up that’s just looking to release a small financial app, the size of your company shouldn’t radically alter your testing strategy.