With the primary focus on ‘speed’, testing often has to suffer due to insufficient time and inadequate coverage. Shift Left testing recommends reversing the testing approach and involving system/software testing earlier in the lifecycle.

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Shift-leftTesting for Continuous Delivery of Quality and Value at Speed
Shift-left Testing for Continuous
Delivery of Quality and Value
at Speed

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Shift-leftTesting for Continuous Delivery of Quality and Value at Speed
James Marcus Bach, Founder and CEO of Satisfice, Inc. and trainer and consultant, says, “Testing is the process of comparing the
invisible to the ambiguous, so as to avoid the unthinkable happening to the anonymous.”
The recently released World Quality Report paints a rather positive picture of the state of testing and QA. As the need for both
Quality AND value at speed becomes imminent, software testing is gaining higher prominence for organizations trying to
accelerate digital transformation.
The report says, “Expectations of QA have been steadily increasing. There is an upward trend in almost every case for the
objectives that include the need to support business growth and the importance of ensuring end-user satisfaction. Both of
these indicate that QA is no longer seen as a backroom discipline, divorced from the rest of the organization. If you hear fewer
soundbites about QA and more about digital transformation, it’s not because QA has ceased to be relevant, but because the
contribution of QA is implicit in the success of the digital transformation. QA has been steadily evolving – from an independent
function to an integrated function, and now to an inclusive function. Also, the role of QA practitioner is transforming from
testing and finding defects, to ensuring that other engineering team members inculcate quality in their way of working. They
need to do this by enabling them and by removing any impediments on their way to achieving quality objectives. QA is not only
shifting left but also moving right.”

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Shift-leftTesting for Continuous Delivery of Quality and Value at Speed
Objectives of QA and testing
Major business stakeholders have identified the following objectives of Quality Assurance and Testing in their organization:
1. Business assurance: Contribute to business growth and business outcomes
2. Custodian of quality: Detect software defects before go-live
3. Digital happiness: Ensure end-user satisfaction and customer experience
4. Brand ambassador: Protect the corporate image and branding
5. Quality at speed: Speed up software releases with good quality
6. Automate: Make QA and testing a smarter automated process
7. Quality enablement: Support everybody in the team to achieve higher quality
Testing – Shift-left or Squish-right
James defines testing as “the process of evaluating a product by learning about it through exploration and experiment”.
Testing is an extensive and exhaustive process, which requires dedicated and committed individuals who can help
stakeholders make the right decisions about a software product and its release. Given the demands for ‘Quality at speed’ and
‘Value at speed’, organizations have embraced a number of new technologies and methodologies. With the primary focus on
‘speed’, testing often has to suffer due to insufficient time and inadequate coverage.

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Shift-leftTesting for Continuous Delivery of Quality and Value at Speed
Cigniti has invited James Bach to speak in our upcoming webinar on how to pitch testing at the right stage of your digital
transformation to see comprehensive results. The session will help the attendees understand the impact of testing at
various stages of digital transformation and how it can help safeguard customers, users, and brands from embarrassing
technical issues.
Register for the webinar and save your spot to listen to James’ insightful presentation live on Feb 17th, 2021.
Being a global leader in the independent software testing and quality engineering services, Cigniti is a strong advocate of
Quality Assurance and its implementation right from the early stages of the software lifecycle. We encourage customer
feedback and believe in including such feedback in our broader testing approach. We take great measures to ensure that
we are fully equipped with state-of-the-art services and have partnered with other experts that specialize in providing
testing services. Talk to us.

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