Software dev and QA have a historically complicated relationship. Engineering teams are sprinting to keep up with the astronomical demand for high-quality software and meet target engineering KPIs. But QA delays releases and adds unexpected debugging assignments to already-busy sprint boards. In the words of one engineer from GitLab’s 2021 developer survey, “testing slows down everything.”

In part one of the “How to better incorporate QA into Agile teams” series, we’re diving into how to improve code development through Agile QA integration prior to feature or product release. The biggest problem for software development teams is getting work done under time constraints. 54% of development teams are struggling to keep up with software delivery. Product teams wanted it yesterday, and devs can’t deliver until tomorrow.

When it comes to introducing and scaling automated testing, QA teams can get quickly overwhelmed trying to figure out what processes to automate first, which tests stand to gain the most ROI, and how automation can work with manual testing strategies. Teams often look to general frameworks, like the test automation pyramid, to dive into building their automated testing strategy.

Pressure to rigorously test software under strict launch times leaves over 54% of software teams struggling to meet demands for new and updated products. But even as the software development lifecycle shifts to incorporate testing, it’s hard to iterate quickly. Developers need a standard two-week cycle to ship code over the wall for QA teams to run with, but how long do QA teams need to release a final report?

Digital transformation has been characterized by an insatiable appetite for new content and capabilities. Today, customers expect brands to not only deliver compelling digital experiences, they want those digital experiences to be continuously refreshed, improved, reimagined. It is therefore no surprise that software delivery velocity is becoming the barometer for digital product teams. But this need for speed cannot come at the price of quality.

Yesterday, Testlio officially announced a revolutionary new methodology for software quality: fused testing. This is a major milestone for our company. We are breaking down long-standing tensions between quality, speed, and coverage by seamlessly bringing together manual and automated testing through freelance talent, partnerships, platform capabilities, and strategic services.