As the new year begins, we hope to achieve greater success than in previous years. However, this journey will not be easy and requires careful planning to reach our goals. It's important to start by setting clear and achievable objectives that align with your company's top priorities. From there, we must develop a well-structured action plan that outlines the practical steps needed to accomplish these goals. There are many factors that can impact our planning process, both internal and external, and it's important to consider and evaluate their impact on our actions. In this blog post, we will discuss 5 key factors to consider when planning your software testing efforts for 2023.
Last Year’s Reflection
In order to start setting up new plans for the new year, you should first take a look backward on your 2022 plans, QA measurement, and lessons learned. The process of reviewing the past year can give you a clear sense of what your plans were, what you have managed to complete, and what you weren’t able to execute. This could help you understand which of the software testing tasks that were originally planned, should now be part of your new year scope when creating a test plan. If you are using a test management platform, you could easily track bottlenecks in the QA process using comprehensive graphs and reports that cover planned vs executed test cases, requirements coverage, issues status, etc.
Moreover, last year's reflection could better prepare you for the year ahead. You can gain valuable insights from lessons learned, look for unexpected elements that made you deviate from your original plans, and take unplanned actions. Also, try to identify processes that haven't generated sufficient benefit to you, and optimize them in 2023 plans. For example with PractiTest, QA Managers can make smarter tactical testing decisions based on Test Value Score, and advanced AI functionality that estimates the value of each test to your QA efforts.
Market Economic Condition
An important external factor you have to consider when planning your QA work for 2023 is the market economic status. In 2022, the world has face a high degree of economic uncertainty due to the high inflation rate. This unstable economic environment forced companies to reduce substantially budget expenses, which converted into sacking a meaningful amount of their workforce, which may reflect on companies software testing work. Companies will have to handle an increasing software testing process, with less testers or business-users taking part in it. QA Managers should effectively divide the testing workload over fewer employees, without damaging the testing coverage. This economic uncertainty will remain a part of our lives for the initial part of 2023, at least, so you should take it into consideration when making your 2023 plans.
Professional Trainings
The software testing world is constantly evolving and it's important for testers to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, innovations, and best practices. Good QA testers are passionate about their work and actively seek to improve their skills. While testers and other QA professionals often have heavy workloads, it's important to prioritize professional development and make time for training in the new year. This is essential not only for individual growth, but also for the success of the entire team.
There are multiple ways to effectively keep updated with recent software testing tricks and tips. The most traditional way is attending a software testing conference, either physically or virtually such as the free OnlineTestConf. This could help you and your team members benefit from listening to top QA thought leaders sharing valuable insights and practical tips from their rich experience. However, if you are short on time, or don't have the financial resources, and looking for a less 'committing’ way to learn, you can participate in QA Webinars. This will allow you to discover more about a particular trending software testing topic from QA experts in a short, focused session.
Needed Tools
Automation has become a big, integral part of our software testing processes, allowing companies to increase overall QA efficiency with fast test execution and less human error risk. In 2023, the usage of test automation will probably continue to grow, requiring QA Managers to take into account different automation tools in their planning. Additionally to the various automation tools used for unit testing, load testing, and mobile testing, you might want to consider other QA tools such as test management platform to optimize and control all your testing efforts in one place, including automation processes. According to your needs, testing environment, and available resources, identify and evaluate the required tools from different options available on the market.
Unified Processes
One important factor to consider when planning your software testing efforts for the new year is the integration of processes. QA processes often involve multiple tools and require collaboration between various staff members from different departments. As we move into 2023, we may see even more involvement from developers and business users in the software testing process. It's essential to align all team members and tools into unified processes in order to reach your goals. A good way to ensure success is to establish a Testing Center of Excellence (CoE), which can help you gain more control over your testing processes and facilitate the sharing of knowledge among professionals from different groups within your organization.
