Testing, Testing... 1, 2, 3

A Disciplined Testing Methodology & Practice - Testing Center of Excellence

I've been working with several clients lately on building a Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE). The term CoE in general term is overused and growing trite. That said, the concept of a centralized team that institutes standardized processes for QA is extraordinarily valuable. Consider that approximately 40% of budget on major projects is spent on testing and imagine the financial and time saving potential. 

Here are a few ideas to keep in mind as you're considering this kind of initiative. 

1. Shift left: Focus on defect prevention & early detection. 

Do you think it's easier to fix a defect when noticed in requirements gathering or after a product is built? Makes sense right, find the problems as early as possible in the process. That means, QA must be involved early in the software development life cycle (SDLC) and at every step along the way. 

2. Simplify processes, tools, and methods. 

Standardizing on tools, process and methods is one of the largest impact a Center of Excellence can have across the enterprise. It enables leaders to utilize data and fact based decision processes and empowers line of business owners and executive management to see the value of the QA team. 

3. Operationalize and automate repeatable tasks. 

Manual testing processes are notoriously inefficient. Regression testing is the first thought most of us have when we think about automation but significant efficiency can also be found with test data creation, test lab management tasks and automated reporting. 

4. Focus on the customer experience. 

It's very easy to get caught only looking at functional testing. However, users expect far more than a functional application. Today, they expect an intuitive experience that aligns with their needs. 

Like many initiatives of this nature, they are simple in theory but not easy in practice. I hope these brief tips help you along the journey.