At the recent DAFTIC event, leaders from defense agencies and industry came together to discuss innovative ways to transform government using technology. One of the biggest challenges that defense agencies are currently facing is how to develop software quickly and securely in support of mission readiness. However, traditional manual testing processes can act as a bottleneck in the deployment process delaying critical software from reaching the warfighter. Government Technology Insider spoke with Tom Wiri, Senior Account Executive at Tricentis, and Andy Nguyen, Defense Solutions Architect Tricentis, who attended the DAFITC event to learn best practices that agencies could use to deploy software that supports mission readiness.
Nguyen on How Manual Testing Acts as a Bottleneck to Development Cycles
Even though manual testing can be ineffective and time-consuming, many agencies still use this method because often times they lack the time and resources to integrate a new technology solution. While this can seem more effective, in the long run it can result in workers feeling dissatisfied and burned out, meaning that agencies are constantly having to hire and train new employees. Automated testing can help to break this never-ending cycle of burnout while providing agencies with faster testing cycles, better employee experiences, and the ability to more rapidly deploy software that supports mission readiness.
Nguyen explained that when it comes to supporting the users’ needs defense agencies don’t have time to waste on ineffective and time-consuming manual testing cycles. “On average, manual testing takes about eight weeks to complete, which doesn’t efficiently provide the users with the software they need to pivot and respond quickly to evolving challenges,” Nguyen explained. “Automated testing can help to speed up testing cycles and free up time for developers to focus on troubleshooting and addressing complex challenges to deploy software with speed and relevance.”
Wiri on Boosting Employee Confidence and Competence with Low Code Certification
While automated testing can speed up development cycles, there are some tasks that require human input. By automating testing cycles that are repetitive and predictable, employees can focus on complex tasks and testing that require critical thinking and creative problem solving. In tandem, agencies can boost employee confidence and competence by certifying them to use low code test case creation tools. Low code training helps free up time and enables people who aren’t developers to work on vital projects and deliver them on time and within budget. Low code testing can help to make the development testing process as easy as possible and can help to expand government resources while saving time and money.
“When trying to improve test cycles, the go-to approach is often to ‘try and go find some more certified & qualified contractors in a short timeframe, that also hopefully coincides with our deadlines,’ which doesn’t necessarily improve speed and efficiency,” Wiri said. “But if those same people that are certified to use low code, then they get many more cases done in the pipeline at a much quicker rate. By leveraging automated testing and training government employees to use low code, agencies can reduce testing cycles from five weeks to one day, giving them a competitive advantage over our adversaries.”
In the commercial world, time to market is about dollars and cents. In the realm of defense agencies, it’s about time to rollout of critical software which is about saving assets and protecting the nation. It’s critical that defense agencies leverage best development practices in order to deploy software that supports mission readiness. By integrating automated testing and providing employees with low code testing training, defense agencies can take testing cycles from five weeks to one day.
Learn strategies agencies can use to deploy software that supports mission readiness here.
