How to Accelerate Software Release Cycles and Improve Quality

Crowdtesting is a popular term in the digital industry today since, in the highly competitive software development industry, managing high speed and quality is a distinctive factor. Usually striving to release upgrades and software versions before their competitors, developers and programmers work under huge pressure to speed up the software release cycles without compromising the product quality. As such, the software industry needs to strike the right balance between the developers and the QA team to manage quality, quick upgrades, and proper bug fixing.

Crowdtesting can run on any device, like mobile apps, SaaS, desktop apps, digital products, and any sort of website program. The testing includes feature testing, accessibility testing, functional testing, and usability testing to increase the release speed and identify  errors, bugs, or areas of improvement during the various stages or at the end of development. The following images will define the entire Software Release Management Cycle process, from development and QA testing to deployment and tracking.

Software release cycles: what it is and how to speed it up 

Software Release Management is an optimization process of a release cycle. As a crucial part of product success and consumer satisfaction, the software release cycle needs to become more efficient. It helps in releasing new updates quickly and effectively with minimizing any downtime or impact on users and customers. 

In this regard, the engineering experts emphasize on following key areas to optimize the delivery cycle and quick release to market: 

• Requirements understanding: Before developing solutions, it is necessary to assess goals and project expectations to avoid dynamic changes needed in the final hours of the delivery cycle. However, precise planning is needed with clear timelines to avoid changes in the major development and processes to help the engineering team accelerate product delivery.
  
  
• Work in short sprints: Rather than aiming for a complete project, working on multiple sprints during the entire delivery cycle will not only enhance the team’s productivity but, at the same time, ensure quick delivery without compromising quality.
  
  
• QA early introduction into the process: Early involvement of the QA team will not only help with strict observations over the specification documents, but also with early test cases within the sprint that will ensure quick product delivery. Also, integrating early unit testing will identify multiple defects and bugs early on in the process rather than in later stages of product development.
  
  
• Shorter release cycles: Automating the key features to avoid repetition and avoiding unnecessary processes will drive project growth and, at the same time, manage quality and on-time releases.
  
  
• Optimizing infrastructure: By eliminating the communication gaps and improving coordination throughout the project delivery cycle, optimal performance and speed can be achieved. Also, by assigning dedicated project managers, scrum masters,  the facilitators for an Agile development team who are responsible for managing the exchange of information between team members, and testing experts’, obstacles can be removed at any stage of the project. 

So, by following the above criteria, speed up of software release cycles is possible.

The benefits of using crowdtesting in software release cycles

Crowdtesting is a popular QA test to leverage a dispersed and short-term workforce for effective and rapid testing of apps. Due to the following advantages, crowdtesting can be used in software release cycles:

• Enhances flexibility: Crowdtesting, regardless of the size or scale of the product, can improve the product quality at a faster pace.
  
  
• Cost-effectiveness: Rather than depending on the in-house testing team, crowdtesting has become a more cost-effective strategy during the product release cycle.
  
  
• A wide range of test coverage: For a wide range of platforms and devices, crowdtesting is the most suitable. It easily identifies the bugs, which is rather difficult for traditional testing mechanisms. Crowdtesting expedites the product release cycle and improves website performance through its mechanisms.
  
  
• Improved and faster results than internal testing team’s only: Crowdtesting in alignment with in-house QA teams improves the speed and performance of software release cycles.