QA Revolution: Flatten the Curve and Balance Cost, Quality, and Speed

Klaudia Makiej

October 30, 2024

The world of quality assurance (QA) has changed, and there’s no turning back. Digital transformation is driving the need to produce high-quality software faster, while also keeping costs under control. The old idea of choosing between speed, cost-efficiency, or quality? That’s out the window. Today, you need all three to succeed, and they’ve got to work together.

Digital transformation is still the main driver of this shift, but the rise of AI is ramping up the pressure even more. AI is expected to generate 37% of all code¹ in the next three years, so the pressure is on. Sure, AI speeds up development, but it can also introduce more bugs – which means QA teams need to be on their game, catching issues quickly without derailing costs or timelines.

In this post, we’ll explore how your team can use SmartBear’s testing solutions to meet these demands while striking that balance and achieving success.

Why Getting the Balance Right Matters

But why does getting this balance right matter so much? It’s not just about keeping things running smoothly – there are real consequences when one of these pillars is out of sync. Let’s break it down:

Quality: Testing teams ensure critical bugs are caught before they reach production
Cost: Involving teams earlier helps catch issues sooner, avoiding costly problems near release (keep reading to learn more about what we can “flattening the curve”)
Speed: Testers using automation effectively accelerate releases, increasing confidence

QA is right at the heart of this shift, with the potential to play a key role in driving success. Companies that grasp this and fully leverage their QA teams will stay ahead of the competition. Embracing this change isn’t just about meeting today’s demands; it’s about setting your business up to thrive in the future.

Testing is Still a Bottleneck

Still, even with all the potential, advances in automation and AI stepping in as a helpful testing partner – testing is still one of the biggest roadblocks. 80% of tests are still manual, and 53% of automated tests² need human touch. QA teams are left scrambling to keep up with faster development cycles, constantly under pressure to deliver, and that pressure costs time and money.

It’s time to adopt smarter strategies instead of cutting corners on quality to hit deadlines or overspending to fix bugs late in the process. By increasing automation, shifting testing earlier in the cycle, and using the right tools, you can maintain quality, speed, and cost-efficiency without having to compromise.

Flatten the Curve: The Strategy for Balancing All Three

To keep your team ahead, it’s important to adjust your focus. Shifting left has gained traction, but for a true cost-quality-speed balance, we believe in shifting left and right. What does that mean? Start catching bugs earlier (shift left) and make it easier to address issues in production (shift right). This strategy, which we call “flattening the curve,” reduces the time and cost of fixing bugs by tackling them early and preventing small problems from becoming larger (and more expensive) later in the cycle.

Shifting Left: Finding bugs earlier is cheaper. Bugs found later in the development cycle can cost 640x more³ to fix. By testing earlier, you’re reducing the cost of fixing issues before they snowball
Shifting Right: We also know that not every bug can be caught early. By feeding data from production back into your testing process, you can handle issues more efficiently, reducing the cost of fixing post-deployment bugs
Flattening the Curve: A strategy that combines shift-left and shift-right testing to catch bugs early and efficiently handle production issues, reducing time, cost, and last-minute bottlenecks

How Does This Work in Practice?

Flattening the curve on a day-to-day basis allows your testers to spend less time babysitting automated tests and more time analyzing results. Instead of chasing after bugs once they hit production, your team can catch issues early, in smaller, manageable batches, reducing the need for costly and stressful last-minute fixes. Integrations with tools like Jira provide real-time visibility, ensuring that all stakeholders – whether they’re in QA or development – stay on the same page throughout the process.

Rather than being reactive, your team could move towards a more proactive testing approach. By adopting more advanced testing tools and strategies, they’d be able to maintain quality without being buried in tedious tasks, letting them focus on critical testing challenges, collaborate more efficiently, and ultimately deliver better software that is faster and more cost-effective.

Bar chart titled 'Test Savings: Current Approach vs Modern Methods' comparing costs of different testing approaches. The chart has three bars representing 'Current Approach' at $2.5M, 'Shifting Left' at $1.8M with $700K savings, and 'Flattening Curve' at $400K with $2.1M in savings. A large annotation on the right reads '87% savings compared to current approach' in purple text. The bars are color-coded, with dark blue indicating total cost and light blue indicating savings.

This graph highlights how modern testing strategies can lead to major cost savings for your team. By shifting left and flattening the curve, you could save up to 87%, helping you deliver faster, higher-quality software without going over budget or missing deadlines.

Enhance Your Strategy with SmartBear’s Solutions

This is where SmartBear’s suite of test solutions can make a difference. They’re designed to help your team boost productivity, streamline workflows and reduce redundant tasks, ultimately speeding up your time to market. With solutions that offer clear visibility and fit seamlessly into your existing processes, you can flatten the curve and deliver high-quality software without adding complexity or going over budget.

Here’s how SmartBear’s solutions help you strike the perfect balance between speed, quality, and cost:

Automation: SmatBear TestComplete makes automating tests easy across web, mobile, and more. By cutting down on manual tasks, your team saves time and reduces costs, allowing them to focus on high-value work that boosts both speed and quality
Seamless Collaboration: SmartBear Zephyr Enterprise helps your team work together smoothly from development to QA, reducing bottlenecks and improving communication. This helps you hit deadlines faster without sacrificing quality, keeping both costs and timelines in check
Complete Test Coverage: Whether you need full-scale UI test automation, broader device coverage, or simpler performance testing SmartBear’s solutions ensure your team has everything covered. Fewer bugs mean higher quality software and less time spent on costly fixes down the line
Actionable Insights: With real-time data and customizable dashboards, SmartBear’s solutions provide clear insights into test progress and coverage. This helps you make smarter decisions, improving efficiency and quality while avoiding expensive rework
Integrates with Your Favorite Tools: SmartBear solutions work seamlessly with the platforms you’re already using – whether it’s your development environments, CI/CD pipelines, or project management tools. This keeps your team working efficiently, reducing time and costs, while helping you maintain quality without overhauling your processes

Check out this page for more case studies of how SmartBear’s solutions are helping companies like yours succeed.

See more:

¹Capgemini Research Institute, “Software-driven transformation survey,” 2023

²IDC Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide ALM, Quality and Portfolio Strategies,” 2023

³Consortium for Information & Software Quality, “The Cost of Poor Software Quality in the US: A 2022 Report”