Every software testing company even for once faced the problem connected with the delays of product release because of different factors. It is a rather typical situation when a client wants to reschedule the product entry to the market, and this is a very right moment for a QA team to tie up the loose ends.
Being a very complex and many-stage process, software testing sometimes makes a tester set the priority and order of tasks. Herein, in a view of human or professional factors or some other reasons, the final version of the product is not ready for the release.
Unfortunately, in most cases the product, which has already seen the world, still has defects. So, the operating bugs' difference between the expected and actual result characterizes the so-called technical backlog.
Having performing regression testing, the testers are always worried about the new bug's appearance. And this is not a surprise because each time a tester the system, there is a probability of new errors detection.
The "technical debt" in terms of QA activity continuously chases software testing companies on one or another stage of the software test procedure. Now it is time to consider the reasons to better understand them and avoid in future.
What Are the Main Reasons Leading to the "Technical Debt"?
- Poor coordinate management within the company;
- Insufficient specification;
- Low level of the communication skills among the testers and all stakeholders of the project;
- Inaccurate bug fixing as well as the whole test process;
- Improperly selected test methodology.
QA activity is a hundred percent not the right place to shelve the problem. The opposite is true: no time like the present. Such pitfalls as everlasting client's requirements, the lack of coverage, and significantly short sprints play the last role in the "technical backlog" development.
What Are the Consequences of the Technical Debt?
- The hiring expenses significantly increase. The performance of acceptance testing may require a higher number of testers and, thus, new costs.
- Too much additional time will be required by release testing.
- With regard to technical delays, the project itself will become more complex adding the new tasks.
- Focusing on one problem moment. The concentration on manual testing tools makes a tester absolutely forget about automated testing .
The above-mentioned impacts are often boiled down to the necessity for benchmark testing. Comparing the versions of the product, a test team may significantly reduce or prevent the negative consequences, one of which can result in technical debt.