DevOps Testing Services

There are subtle differences in Agile and DevOps Testing – the most prominent differences being continuous testing and engaging test automation at each phase.

Even though both Agile and DevOps advocate a culture, testing in DevOps is more fast-paced than in an Agile setting and relies on automating every possible task from testing to deployment.

Recommendations for successful implementation of DevOps testing:

• Adherence to continuous testing.
• Automating feasible tasks.
• Layered tests (Smoke test, subset of regression tests, full-blown regression tests) to ensure faster feedback at each checkpoint.
• Intelligent regression testing.
• Ability to set up testing environments.
• Execution of automated tests (cross-platform, cross-browser, and cross-device).
• Scaled up performance/load testing.
• Creation of a wholly evolved test automation harness.

Your organization will benefit from Agile testing implementation by enabling close collaboration with stakeholders and developers, thus aiding communication within the team.

Furthermore, you will see a reduction in time-to-live with parallel execution, achieve optimum test coverage with test automation and be able to identify and execute tests for a particular build, yielding quicker feedback.

Continuous Testing with Speed and Quality

Whether starting the process of implementing Agile testing or advancing your capability to a DevOps paradigm, continuous testing is essential to delivering better quality and quicker time-to-market of your applications in today’s competitive environment
Keeping ahead of changing industry trends, Bitwise is well versed in providing test automation tools, technology, and capabilities to enable a smooth transition to Agile and DevOps maturity and accelerate the deployment of highly complex enterprise applications.

What are the Challenges?

First things first. Organizational culture and executive support play an important role. Principles behind the Agile Manifesto highlight the need for self-organizing teams. These teams are expected to take decisions. When Agile teams change the way the software is delivered, it affects the way the organizations do business. Without executive support, this cannot be achieved.

The Agile Manifesto favours delivery of working software over comprehensive documentation. There is an inherent emphasis on a relation between developers and organizations that is based on trust, integrity, and transparency. It may not sound like a huge shift, but is still a significant challenge for many organizations.

It is crucial that the team is trained and aware of Agile concepts and has the necessary tools needed to perform. A team of skilled and experienced developers is more capable of taking decisions, compared to a less skilled team.

And finally, customer commitment. Agile delivery values business user collaboration and direct interaction instead of intermittent communication at fixed points in the life cycle. Effective business involvement reduces the risk of delivered features not meeting customer requirements. (Gartner, Agile Success Factors, David Norton & Matthew Hotle).

So, how can I go Agile?

More accurate question is, which Agile delivery methodology should I choose for my project?

Though all Agile methodologies recommend iterative and incremental delivery of software, the differences lie in the way each methodology is executed and the artifacts produced.

• Scrum: Focuses on self-organizing teams and client-driven adaptive planning. Prioritizes delivering working software in no more than 30 days, over documentation.
• Extreme Programming(XP): Keeps things simple. Focuses on the continuous implementation of best practices such as code reviews (pair programming), refactoring, ongoing testing, and continuous integration.
• Feature Driven Development (FDD): Breaks down the delivery of a larger software by features. Simple processes, short iteration cycles. Suitable for predictable evolution.
• Kanban: Based on Toyota’s just-in-time (JIT) production system. Incredibly simple and still incredibly powerful Kanban boards. Focuses on eliminating bottlenecks.
• Lean Development: Focuses on providing value for money. Recommends avoiding unnecessary errors, amplifying learning, deciding as late as possible and delivering as early as possible.
• DSDM: Developed from a business perspective. Strong emphasis on project management. Plans evolve based on increments.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of various Agile methods based on key parameters.

2. Knowing You Are Delivering The Right Thing

The Product Owner plays a key role in ensuring project success. Translating business needs into project objectives may seem easy on the surface, but it is a tricky task. The person in this role may need to stay constantly involved with the development team for iteration demos and mid-iteration interactions. The Product Owner represents the business and plays a crucial role in not just validating iteration output but also drives the development of UI designs, use cases, and test cases.

This is a hands-on, high involvement job and can turn daunting especially when done in an onsite-offshore setting. BitWise agile projects delivered from offshore, have a designated Proxy Product Owner who is co-located with the team and usually comes from a testing or a business analysis background. The Proxy Product Owner assists in creating use cases and test cases while maintaining close communication with the real Product Owner.

3. You Can’t Predict Defects

That’s why you need to keep some bandwidth available to fix them. Usually, more bug-fixing bandwidth is recommended for later iterations compared to earlier ones. Historical data, if available, plays a crucial role in deciding how much of bandwidth is really required at different stages.

Continuous testing plays a key role in the success of Agile projects. The team needs to be equipped and prepared to handle the amount of testing necessary for the project. The disastrous launch of healthcare.gov in late 2013 is a good case in point.

An important feature of BitWise agile projects is a dedicated iteration for regression testing, usually towards the end of a milestone or project. It has provided incredible value to customers and ensured adequate attention is paid to defects.

4. Do Iterative Changes Affect Product Design?

Design, like integration and testing, is a continuous activity. The iterative approach provides the luxury to plan a design that’s minimum viable and enhance it from there. Bitwise Agile iterations deliver not only code but also design improvements as deliverables.

Unless you are careful and have invested some upfront effort in setting up a clear roadmap and future-proofing the design, it won’t be long before you start worrying about the rework frequent design changes are causing.

5. Timeboxing Research-Oriented Tasks

Having incomplete tasks at the end of an iteration is not a very uncommon scenario. Especially, if the tasks involve technically complex research-oriented work. Apart from derailing team velocity, such tasks may impact a more important metric – customer satisfaction. The sprint retrospective is an opportunity to brainstorm the causes and consider alternative approaches.

So what are the options? Not too many, really. Either it can be moved to the next iteration if it’s more than halfway through or move it back to the product backlog and reprioritize.