Bug tracking has become an important part of a development life-cycle to ensure a high-quality product. Defects are preferred to be dealt with at earlier stages of development because the cost of fixing them in later stages is very high. From detecting to reporting to tracking a bug’s progress, defect management tools come in handy. Following are some of the benefits of using defect management tools:
1) Deliver High-Quality Product
Detect bugs
Fix them
Assign different bugs to each team member
Track problems and analyzes efforts taken by team members to fix a bug or an issue
2) Improve Return on Investment (ROI) by Reducing the Cost of Development
Prioritize bugs
Spot repetitive problems
Focus on important issues
Reduce the cost of development
3) Better Communication, Teamwork and Connectivity
Provide features such as email notifications and chat interfaces
Reduce the communication gap
Inform the right person to test or fix bugs on time
4) Detect Issues Earlier and Understand Defect Trends
Keep a record of defects detected, who fixed them, and how long it took to fix a particular issue
The team can relate bugs to change codes, tests and other data that can be used for the analysis of defect trends
5) Better Service and Customer Satisfaction
Allow end-users to report issues and bugs directly on their applications
Provide an automated response to end-users
While defect management tools are widely accepted, some agile teams are moving away from the idea of defect tracking because of “unnecessary” overhead and ineffective communication between testers and developers.
Along with its advantages, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin:
1) The Problem of Multiple Tools
Some organizations use multiple tools for bug tracking which don’t integrate well. This allows the same bug to be documented at multiple places with slightly different descriptions.
2) Confusions and Difficulties
Confusion over descriptions and lack of information. Sometimes the process overhead required to open a bug is more time-consuming than simply fixing the bug.
3) Misunderstandings in Communication
May sometimes hinder communication if the tool prevents team members from talking and collaborating.
Conclusion
Proper use of defect management tools can improve overall efficiency and save costs and time. It’s a direct solution to the problem of defects. It makes the development process more productive and provides ideas for test process improvement. Therefore, this tool is a must-have.