Innovation Without Compromise

Many of us see “innovation” as an overused buzzword, but in truth, it is the lifeblood of every successful company. In the digital world we live in today, innovation is occurring faster than we’ve ever seen before. Where companies were once releasing new code every three-six months, some are now releasing new code three-six times every day.

The pace of innovation is exciting from a customer standpoint, but can companies deliver the level of software quality customers demand? Per Dynatrace, 73% of CIOs don’t think so. This presents the ultimate dilemma for engineers everywhere who are being forced to choose between software quality and speed of delivery.

QA is Playing Catch-Up with Technology

Where the divide between the evolution of QA and technology began is not difficult to find. About 40 years ago, the first personal computers were launched. Nearly 20 years later, the Internet boom occurred. From there, we’ve seen smartphones take over the world and a whole Internet of Things keep consumers connected at all times of the day.

Technological growth has been exponential, but QA has largely evolved at a linear pace. The number of devices, browsers, and operating systems has exploded in the past ten years, while QA teams have remained largely the same size. Yes, more and more companies are implementing test automation into their SDLCs, but this can only get you to a certain point.

It’s at that point where the gap between your goals and capabilities grows wider. The difference isn’t about pure speed, but rather agility and adaptability. How then do we harness that agility?

Bridging the Gap Through the Consumer

In today’s digital ecosystem, customer experience is king. So while it’s your job to deliver the experience you think consumers want, it’s also your job to tweak the experience based on the feedback you get. The real challenge lies in collecting and acting on that feedback in an expeditious manner.

Too many companies are stuck playing catch-up because they wait until production to collect customer feedback. This immediately puts your experience on the hot seat. By bringing the customer into the fold earlier in the SDLC, you allow yourself an opportunity to make quicker, more impactful changes that will improve the quality of your experience.

Seems easy enough, right? Well, this is where organizations tend to falter. It’s one thing to gain access to your target customers, but another to collect their feedback quickly and in an actionable format.

There are few solutions that can help you bridge this gap between QA capabilities and your end goals. Applause is one of them. Find out more about how you can introduce both speed and quality into your SDLC. It’s all here in our new ebook, “Keeping Pace with Innovation”.