Data may be everywhere, but it isn’t free. It takes a lot of work and infrastructure to turn raw data into useful insights. Research suggests that the cost of handling data is only going to increase, by as much as 50% over five years. The same source suggests that part of that cost comes from confusion — users may spend up to 40% of their time searching for data and up to 30% of their time on data cleansing. The issue here is data trust.
Has your company faced a ransomware attack yet? If not, count yourself lucky, for now. A June 2021 article in Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that ransomware will cost its victims approximately $265 billion annually by 2031. And, according to CRN, “Victims of the 10 biggest cyber and ransomware attacks of 2021 were hit with ransom demands totaling nearly $320 million.”
Quality software starts with code review, but quality doesn’t begin and end with code. Documents and artifacts need proper attention to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. To ensure quality software, it's essential to review the software artifacts left behind from the code review process. If code review is the unglamorous task of eating your vegetables, artifact review might as well be getting your 10,000 steps in. Both can be downright boring, but they're good for you.
When you're in the early stages of launching a startup, rapid iteration and determining product-market fit should be your top priorities. Unless you know exactly what you need to build, you should write code quickly only to discard it later. Working on test automation doesn't really fit in at this early stage. However, as you develop your product and gain customers, you will need to expand your testing infrastructure or risk losing customers and acceleration.
