Why Is Software Testing So Important?

Why test your product? What’s the importance of software testing? In a nutshell, testing is necessary for your business to avoid suffering. Errors can be small, big, or fatal - and none of them are what you’d like to see in your product. Below are some illustrative points that outline the direct benefits of testing.

1.You save money on development

What? So, you pay "extra" employees - testers - and save? Exactly! Testing is a very cost-effective thing that allows for savings in the long run. Software development is comprised of many stages. And eliminating a fresh bug at the initial stage or discovering and fixing it after months of development both require a completely different amount of effort (and, accordingly, cost).

For purposes of illustration: a defect that is found by testers at the stage of testing requirements is five times cheaper than if found after the development stage and at least ten times cheaper than if found at the production stage.

Here is a good example of the testing profitability. You have created a terrific in-demand product, advertised it excellently, and are already wondering what to do with your super-profits. But on the day of release, thousands of users try to log in to your home page and... get an error message! You are losing money because nobody is using the product. You are losing users because they are going to a competitor whose application they can at least log into. You are losing your reputation, and people will have a prejudice against your products. And all this due to an elementary error that testers would surely have found and fixed.

2. Your product is secure

Another headache that testing relieves is security. This is the Internet, guys. If your information is valuable, be aware that someone will try to steal it. The user chooses the platforms they are ready to trust their personal data to - those platforms where the data will remain confidential.

Application security testing allows for identifying and fixing many vulnerabilities. Some may be obvious, but some of them are errors you wouldn’t know about without full test coverage. Or until hackers find them for you.

We also want to remind you that since May 25, 2018, the European Union has a new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force, which has drastically raised the standards for working with the personal data of users. If you don't want to pay huge fines, you should take security testing seriously.

3. Your product works on a high-quality level

Your application or service should operate the way you intended. And the way users expect it. These tasks are not the easiest ones, but it is their fulfillment that distinguishes a fine product. Software development includes many processes, and testing allows you to check each of these stages. Graphics, functionality, interface intuitiveness - by fixing one problem, developers can create another in a new place. Such is the butterfly effect.

This is a normal work situation, but it is testing that keeps this situation from becoming a real disaster. Therefore, it is extremely important to make sure that there are no such loose ends left before entering the market. For this purpose, we conduct regression testing of the product before every release. This allows us to make sure that new changes in the product have not led to a regression in the quality of existing functionality.

Testing also involves checking the compatibility of your product with various devices and operating systems. An iPhone or an ancient monitor, Windows or Linux - your application should be accessible to any user you don't want to lose.

Andersen’s Testing Department has a farm of over 200 various devices, which allows us to test not only the application itself but also all system parameters such as battery discharge rate, CPU utilization, work with different network connections, etc.

4. Your clients are satisfied

The ultimate goal of the product owner is to meet the client’s requirements as much as possible. After all, testing is needed primarily for the sake of users’ convenience. If people like your product, it stays on the market and makes a profit, and you get loyal customers and long-term benefits. A satisfied client will tell family, friends, and perhaps even their dog about you. Do not disregard this type of advertising!

Along with that, a satisfied user is ready to give an excellent rating to your application on Google Play or the App Store, which will attract even more users. But if your product malfunctions (or even works only on full moons), you can forget about grateful users. The modern market is so saturated that customers will not come back to you after the negative experience.

Collecting and analyzing user reviews about the product is one of the important tasks of the testing team. All of the above-described problems can be avoided if you invest in testing at the initial phase of product development. This will bring you benefits and release you from headaches.

Don't save money on testing, otherwise, you will have to pay more for development.