5 Factors to Consider for A Test Case Management Tool

A test case management tool tracks how software testing is done. 

Software testing costs incur a significant portion of the total costs for the software. Testing involves complex activities. A testing process is modified to make improvements to it.  For all these reasons, businesses need good test case management tools, to organize various testing assets.

We list 5 factors to consider for a good test case management tool:

1. Project Environment

The market has no shortage of products. Before shopping, one must carefully assess their needs. If you wish to buy a pair of shoes, you need to know your shoe size, your desired color and purpose of the shoe (formal, informal, sportswear) as basics before purchasing. You might also consider the frequency of wearing to assess the durability of the product. Lastly, you will try the shoe, to ensure it meets your expected needs of comfort and presentation. Similarly, when you consider a tool for test case management, you have to pay attention to your project, to assess all features you will be needing for its successful implementation. What is your budget to decide between purchasing and leasing options? How quickly does your organization operate? How is the support of your IT team? How often will you be employing it, in the event you have multiple test management tools in use? Do you need a tool to log project tasks or a simple one to track test cases? Answering these questions will give you a clear sense of your project environment.

2. Technical Issues

A good test case management tool should have a rich Application Program Interface (API). An open architecture allows data input from a flexible range of options - help desk support tools, report generators, etc. A test case management tool must also support user authentication. If tests are run on mobile devices, it is important to check the tool has a mobile version to support such an environment.

3. Integration Features

Testing will benefit hugely if the test case management tool integrates with automation testing and bug tracking tools as the testing process will be speeded up by an efficient communication setup. For example, if a defect is caught, the test case management case will log it, without a tester’s manual entry of it in the system. This information will be read by the developer team, who would turn to resolve the issue immediately. Likewise, after bugs are resolved, the team will view the logged update readily, if the test case management tool is equipped with this networking integration.

4. Reporting Features

A good test management tool will support a dashboard that displays how automated tests have been running. The granularity of test information makes the tool more useful. For example, information like comments, expected test results, number of tests and test status packs precise details about the testing process. Graphs, images, and videos aid comprehension of issues. Highlighting points the user in the right direction. A comparative analysis of reports can be made if all tests are recorded in one place. As agile projects are on the rise, a good test case management tool will also accommodate features like story creation, spring backlog, and velocity charts.

5. Support

A test case management tool will have features like live chat, phone calls, video conferences, multiple languages, multiple time zones, product information guides, advanced search, frequently asked questions and raising tickets. These features extend