Improved testing processes in just three days

Parity Software is a leading developer of tailored ERP solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Its highly individualised software presents major challenges in terms of quality assurance. After three days of coaching, Parity was able to improve its testing process to ensure that errors are detected before the software reaches the customer.

Challenge

Testing new functions in a customer’s individualised environment is complicated. Small changes and corrections often lead to problems in other parts of the software. Errors slip through the current test network and are only detected in the production environment or by the customer. As a result, customer support is overloaded when a new version is released. All of these issues delay the market launch of new software versions.

The path to success

Software Testing Workshop

To better understand Parity’s needs, we asked them to answer the following questions before the workshop: What is the software product? What does the release process look like? Which stakeholders are involved in the testing process? We used this information to create the agenda for the Software Testing Workshop.

In a one-day, on-site workshop at Parity’s offices, we carried out one-on-one and group interviews with the most important stakeholders. In the afternoon, our experts evaluated these interviews and pointed out what was working well and where they saw room for improvement. We created a tailored plan of action with concrete recommendations that were prioritised as quick wins, medium-term initiatives or long-term strategic changes.

On the same day, we presented these findings to the entire company and defined the initial improvements that Parity could begin implementing immediately.

Two-day coaching

Three months later, our experts returned to Parity to discuss the progress they had made and help make the recently established testing team a truly professional unit. The two-day workshop was aimed at coaching the software testers and providing them with practical tips and suggestions for efficient testing. Over the course of the two days, we worked with Parity to create a much faster weekly release schedule, along with a corresponding test method and templates for all test artefacts.

Parity managed to switch to a weekly test release cycle in the following week. New functions are now tested and rolled out much faster. Hotfixes are almost non-existent. Great work!