DevOps Testing: Advantages and Best Practices
The main function of DevOps is to create responsive software through the active merger of operations and development teams. In simple terms, DevOps can be defined as a method involving tools to bring together Dev and Ops for fulfilling regular software deliveries. For organizations, DevOps allow them to reciprocate in an agile manner based on varying business needs.
Testing experts and professionals view DevOps as a cultural swing which has initiated the amalgamation of QA, development and operations. Therefore, there isn’t any single product that can specifically be tagged as the perfect DevOps tool. In order to associate with different stages of a DevOps toolchain, there usually a collection of tools involved. It is imperative to note the tools used for each stage do vary for different organizations, type of applications and skill level of the testers.
Business Advantages of DevOps Testing
The technological benefits of DevOps testing while treating your applications always act as the prime focus. Below mentioned are some of the vital advantages of DevOps testing for your organization that shouldn’t be missed.
1. Greater Team Collaborations
To be honest, DevOps builds a strong foundation to refine business agility through an active collaboration and enhanced communication among distributed teams within an organization. Hence, the presence of an encouraging DevOps structure involves all team members who feel responsible for fulfilling timelines and quality standards.
2. Quick Detection of Defects
The availability of a well defined DevOps environment supports knowledge sharing. As a result, the build quality gets strengthened through the deployment of continuous monitoring and constant code testing. Furthermore, teams conveniently pass on feedbacks in order to spot early defects for immediate corrections.
3. Improved Delivery Time
Currently, DevOps testing is held by three strong pillars:
- Automation
- Instant Feedback Cycle
- Continuous Delivery
These components ensure that the software development process gets streamlined in an efficient manner. Interestingly, DevOps supports collaborative methodologies to maintain continuous feedback; this empowers the testing teams to fix defects in time and manage faster releases.
Smart DevOps Testing Practices
If the approach and practice to implement DevOps testing isn’t right, the whole process can fall into darkness. With a view to avoid failure, here are three important DevOps testing practices you can follow:
1. Deploy Agile Methodology
In relation to software development, you can define ‘methodology’ as a way to refine the development process. The team of testers and developers can abide a set of instructions to create a plan and systematically manage the process. Presently, a large number of organizations are following Agile methodology in relation to their development process.
It should be understood that Agile enables continuous integration. Hence, its direct implementation permits the software development process to be cut down into smaller tasks. Furthermore, Agile conveniently addresses a difficult problem by cutting it short into controllable pieces of modules. The ease of handling iterations results in greater product quality that is one of the prime benefits of DevOps.
2. Selection of Accurate Tools
The selection of DevOps tools is one of the fundamental factors before carrying out any practice. It should be remembered that each of these tools must be consistent in accordance with software developers as well as the operational team. Below mentioned are some of the varied categories of DevOps tools that are preferred for diverse practices.
- Continuous Delivery Tools
- Version Control Tools
- Continuous Testing Tools
- Monitoring Tools
- Agile Tools
3. Process Documentation
Documentation is very important for DevOps since it is based on an active collaboration between different teams that are part of a software lifecycle. To be clear, the operations team monitors and analyzes several applications and systems simultaneously; therefore, there is a need to safe keep data on a timely basis. The primary documents covered are mainly business rules and their methods of implementation. With correct documentation you can structure a useful reference based on which the system can easily maintain a smooth process.
For attaining precise knowledge related to DevOps and its practices, you can connect with software testing company, ImpactQA. The team of skilled professionals will surely update you about the latest practices along with industrial trends.
