Frequently Asked QuestionsDoes Testware focus on specific vertical markets or industry segments?
Does Testware focus on specific development environments, operating systems, technologies...?
How does Testware approach testing engagements?
At what point(s) in the development/testing process can Testware help my company?
How can my company use Testware to address our software testing challenges?
Where does Testware work -- at my company's office or at Testware's office?
Does Testware focus on specific vertical markets or industry segments?
Testware is capable of testing nearly any type of application and does not focus on any specific vertical markets or industry segments.
Our highly trained test specialists -- people that know testing up and down, backwards and forwards -- first learn as much as is necessary about the application under test. Then, they apply their considerable testing knowledge and experience to thoroughly and efficiently test the application.
Does this approach work? In our 10+ years of business, we've successfully tested a broad array of applications in a wide variety of industry segments. (See our experience page for details.) Based on these successes, we'd say our approach works! On balance, we think having expert testers learn about the application under test is a better approach than having business or application experts take a crash course in testing.
In any event, we'll perform an assessment of your testing needs and quickly let you know if Testware is the right testing consulting firm for you. Testware is usually able to help...but we'll admit we're not the right firm in all cases. We don't "blindly" take on every client that comes our way.
Contact us for a frank and honest discussion of your testing needs vs. Testware's strengths and capabilities.
Does Testware focus on specific development environments, operating systems, technologies...?
Testware does not focus on specific development environments, operating systems, technologies, etc. As testing specialists, we know testing backwards and forwards, up and down, every which way. Our development experience (see Testware's history) lets us "look under the covers" at the technologies your application employs and focus the testing effort based on where the real risks lie. Instead of treating your technology as a "black box" and focusing solely on the application's GUI, we'll leverage our programming background to test more thoroughly and efficiently.
Our experience across 10+ years of successful testing engagements for clients in a broad array of industry segments and on a wide variety of technology platforms demonstrates that Testware is equally adept at testing standalone software, client/server systems, e-business systems and websites.
How does Testware approach testing engagements?
Our approach to testing centers around a basic definition of testing -- the process of exercising a product to identify differences between expected and actual behavior. We also bring a few other considerations into the mix:
Risk analysis plays a part in every testing engagement at Testware. With your company's goals, target market and other considerations in mind, we perform a risk analysis of the software under test to create a risk-based "view" into the software. We'll use the risk analysis results to guide the testing effort, making sure the higher risk items are tested first and more thoroughly, relative to the lower risk items.
Test planning is also a part of every testing engagement Testware performs. We document test plans and test cases to serve as the blueprints for the testing effort and to foster a repeatable, effective test process. Ad-hoc testing does have its place, but a total absence of formal, documented test plans is an invitation for disaster.
Flexibility. Testware's collective feet are firmly planted in the real world. We know how things are really done in software. Little or no documentation, not enough time, changing development priorities and dates. Sound familiar? Testware empathizes...and will listen to your needs and deliver testing services and training that allow you to achieve your software and business goals under these less-than-ideal conditions. We've been testing for 10+ years and were developers before becoming testers, so we're quite adept at rolling with the punches, finding critical bugs and getting things done!
All of our service offerings are geared towards helping you find and eliminate software bugs quickly and efficiently. Whether you have Testware tackle one small, specific piece of your overall testing effort or outsource the entire effort to us, we'll aggressively find those pesky bugs lurking in your software and help you produce higher quality software.
At what point(s) in the development/testing process can Testware help my company?
Testware is quite capable of addressing your software testing needs at any point in your product's lifecycle -- design, development, production, maintenance, enhancement, etc.
When would we prefer to start helping you? Ideally, at the very beginning of your development process. In any event, sooner is better than later. An iterative, integrated testing and development approach is truly and honestly in your best interests. Why? Let's draw an analogy between software development and building a large building. To build the building, many steps are involved: formulating blueprints, having the blueprints approved by the relevant professionals, excavating the land, pouring the foundation, then building on that foundation, story after story after story.
Whether you involve Testware from the get-go, at the nth hour or sometime in between, we will assemble a testing solution that is the "right fit" relative to your testing needs and challenges, testing budget, release deadlines and other relevant considerations.
If you're interested in improving your testing process over the long term -- testing more efficiently the next time around -- we can help out there as well.
How can my company use Testware to address our software testing challenges?
There are a number of ways in which we help our clients with their software testing challenges.
Some clients outsource all of their quality assurance/testing functions, from beginning to end, to Testware. This option makes sense for clients that do not have the time, budget or desire to build, train and maintain their own in-house testing organization. Looking for a company that can address all of your testing needs from beginning to end, from analysis to planning, test execution to reporting? Testware can effectively become your testing organization.
Some clients leverage Testware's expertise to address specific parts of their testing needs. This option makes sense for clients that have an internal testing organization that cannot address all of the company's testing needs. Perhaps the organization has too few people, not enough time or lacks particular testing skills. Need help with just performance testing? Test automation? Test planning? Something else? Testware can provide the right testing expertise in these situations to augment your organization's core testing strengths.
Caught in a "How are we going to get this thing tested" crunch? Not blessed with an infinite amount of testing time and personnel? Buying your testing team too much coffee, Jolt cola and pizza to keep them in the building and testing 24/7? Rely on Testware to increase your testing bandwidth -- our experienced personnel can step in, come up to speed quickly and deliver services (and training) to get your company through the testing crunch.
Need help with a "one-off" project? Looking for a testing partner for the long term? As a services company, Testware exists to provide testing services and training to address your software testing needs. Need a team of Testware consultants to test the massive changes made to your website on a weekly basis? We can do that. Need "just one" Testware consultant to test the final two or three builds of your software? We can do that too. However many or few Testware consultants you need, however frequently or infrequently you care to use our services, we're here to help!
Where does Testware work -- at my company's office or at Testware's office?
Testware can provide testing services
Onsite at your facility. One or more Testware consultants deliver testing services at your office, working side-by-side with your personnel.
Offsite at Testware's office. Send us your software via email, FTP or overnight courier, or if it's Web-based, we'll access it over our T1 class Internet connection. We'll put your system through its paces in our in-house testing lab and provide you with status updates and defect reports at the appropriate frequency.
Both onsite at your facility and offsite at our office. Depending on the situation, performing some of the work at Testware and the remainder on-site at your facility might be appropriate. We can certainly do that!
Testware provides testing training exclusively at your office or at a conference center convenient to your office. Please see the training course general information page for further information.