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Industry Insights: Testing Matters: Page 2 of 2

You're probably already asking your software vendors how you should report and deal with bugs, and how hard it is to implement solutions or patches. These and other questions about service and support are important because all software has bugs, no product is unbreakable, and you'll want to upgrade when your vendors release new versions of their products. You need a good methodology to deal with problems that certainly will arise.

However, let's step back and rethink the scope of these questions. You're asking vendors about how to fix their broken software. Great. Now how about asking them how they limit the number of programming errors in the first place? Remember to question them about their QA and performance testing procedures.

You may also want to ask vendors how their testing staffs are structured. Are they part of the product development teams, or are they separate? Is testing built into product development, or is it done afterward, if at all? Is software quality part of the development process? What tools and methodologies do the vendors use to evaluate their products' quality?

Getting the answers to these questions will save you time in the long run and will help the vendors perceive the importance of ensuring quality. However, even if a vendor's testing procedures meet high standards, don't use this as an excuse to avoid testing new products in your own environment before rolling them out to the masses.

Mike Lee [email protected]