In the digital business environment, it becomes more important for application leaders to build teams, processes, and toolsets as well as invest in customer experience and engagement solutions than before. Quality software delivery requires continuous and automated practices that take place in every stage of the software development process.

Below are the best practices to optimize software testing in a DevOps environment:

Bridge the Gap Between Quality Assurance (QA) and Developers

Software should not be released without being checked for quality assurance. Unfortunately, it is usually the least priotized when embarking on a DevOps transformation initiative. Many organization leaders though that continuous integration and delivery mean quality assurance automation. But, release readiness is a business decision instead of a technical one and good tests results must not be confused with release readiness. To bridge the gap between QA and software development, testers must be included as part of the integrated delivery team.

Embrace Continuous Testing Practices

To have a successful agile and DevOps initiatives, organizations must include active efforts to make their testing practices as a continuous affair. They need to embrace core continuous testing practices such as budget allocation, skills improvement, continuous testing implementation, end-to-end functional testing automation, and testers integration into cross-functional teams.

Know When to Automate Testing

Determining the ideal level of test automation that teams must strive for during the DevOps transition can be challenging. However, the frequent release of software means a significant increase in the testing volume. This is where automated testing makes sense. But, this does not mean automating all aspects of the software testing process. By hiring DevOps consulting services, teams are able to establish a test automation strategy that maximizes resource and eradicates the need for testers to perform repetitive test runs manually.

Embrace Practices and Tools for Every DevOps Stage

It is important for leaders to address the main problem areas first. This way, teams will adopt tools and practices over time while the processes mature and the needs of the business evolve. By identifying the major constraint in their processes, leaders will be able to choose the quality tools that will help in addressing the issue. But, technology investments mean upfront capital expense, workforce training, and maintenance costs. That is why application leaders that procure quality tools for their DevOps toolchains must align their business objectives to their selection criteria. This will make sure their investment results in business outcomes.