Agile Beta Tests

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Introduction to Agile Beta Tests

Agile Beta Tests are tests of software products developed and maintained under the Agile development model. Due to the Agile model's credo "Release Early, Release Often", actual Agile beta test phases are generally short but very consistent and predictable. Agile Betas often occur in an "Evergreen" model, with a consistent pool of candidates receiving new early builds with each Sprint (a single release phase within the Agile model) as they are released, providing feedback for a very short period prior to the final release version being made available to a wider audience.

Unique Agile Beta Test Traits

  • Quick Phases - The single most defining feature of a Agile Betas is the short period of time available for the beta phase.
  • Evergreen Betas - Many Agile Betas run literally year-round, with participants always using the product one build ahead of the general customer-base.
  • Consistent Participant Pool - Due to the short beta period, Agile beta programs often utilize a single group of participants for all projects. This substantially cuts the participant learning curve required for new Beta releases.
  • Engineer Participation - Given the long-term relationship between Agile developers and their participants, developers in Agile beta programs are often more hands-on in dealing and communicating directly with participants throughout the beta phase.

Agile Beta Test Challenges

  • Short Testing Phase - The extremely brief beta phases common to Agile Betas make it very difficult to recruit new candidates, and very difficult to collect, evaluate, and distribute feedback from the existing participant pool (with enough time left over to act on the feedback).
  • Limited Participant Pools - Given the short time period available for beta, testing on a wide enough audience to cover many product's full target markets is nearly impossible.
  • Fresh Perspective - While most beta tests offer fresh customer perspective, Agile Betas often fall into the trap of relying on Veteran users who’ve been involved in the product’s previous Beta’s for potentially years. While these users are extremely valuable, they lack the perspective of a new user and thus may fail to catch issues that would cause problems for new users.

Centercode Has The Perfect Solutions for Agile Beta Testing

How Centercode Connect™ Software Can Help

  • Private Beta Portal - Centercode Connect provides you and your customers with a centralized base of operations for your beta projects. From here you can coordinate all communication and feedback with ease, either matching new projects to Sprints, or maintaining evergreen projects with growing feedback pools.
  • System Integrations - While Connect offers powerful defect tracking features of its own, chances are you’re already comfortable with the system of your choice (BugZilla, etc). Connect can easily integrate with your systems, to ensure bugs found in your beta are flowing through your preferred channels.
  • Tasks (and Task Templates) - Connect’s Tasks allow you to direct your participants toward specific bug fixes and new features in each build. Doing so stresses those aspects as part of your beta, ensuring your fixes are release-ready. In addition, Task Templates allow you to quickly deploy regression tasks to ensure new features and fixes don’t break other features and functionality.
  • Collaborative Wiki - Connect's Wiki functionality allows participants to contribute directly to content such as manuals and marketing messages, producing valuable and always-current materials while saving even more time in short release cycles.

How Centercode Managed Betas and Services Can Help

  • Fresh Eyes - Our community is loaded with both tech savvy and novice users.
  • Offset Your Resources - If your timeline is extremely tight, or your programmers are the ones expected to run the beta, outsourcing your project to our expert Team of Beta Test Managers can produce amazing results.
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