Why Software Testing Is Important

Manufacturers typically designate a group to do a product test before the market release of a new product. For instance, a soda company develops a new flavor. Before it is mass-produced and shipped into stores, the company does a focus group discussion first, where a random group of people do a taste test and then give their opinions on the new flavored drink.

Similarly, testing should be a standard operating procedure for software development companies before they turn over the product to their clients. The tests will help the engineers and developers detect flaws or “bugs” in their work and resolve them before deployment. They have two methods to test their software: manual and automated.

Manual testing requires a group of people to try out the product. Ideally, this group should consist of trained IT professionals and the intended product users. If it’s a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, the people doing the tests will have to use it in the same way a customer service professional will use it: create a new entry and input pertinent data in the corresponding boxes.

A batch of new entries will have to be created to see if the CRM software can properly save those entries, and if it survives the repetitive tasks. Manual testing, however, is extremely time-consuming. Some companies prefer automated testing instead. With automated testing, the engineers and developers use a separate program specifically designed to do the testing.