At first glance, one may think that the main tasks of software test services are the startup of a ready program, test execution and bothering developers with the questions: “Why is it not working?” It’s not quite so.

In practice, depending on the product under development and software development model, testers have certain activity before and after the test. If dedicated tester wants to an effective and productive testing, during all the software development life cycle he needs to perform a certain kind of activity.

Tester’s Activity During Software Development Life Cycle

• Planning & control.
• Choosing test conditions.
• Designing test cases & checking results.
• Evaluating exit criteria.
• Reporting on the testing process & closure.
• Finding defects.
• Gaining confidence about the level of quality.
• Providing information for decision-making.
• Preventing defects.

If the defect is detected and eliminated, the quality of the product is increased. The information about found errors that were not yet fixed allows the manager evaluate the risks and make a decision – is the product or a program ready to be released. Detected defects allow software tester analyze the reasons of the defect appearance.

Ideally, the tester should be involved in the project in its early stages for performing requirements analysis, test cases, and review of documentation for errors and prepare the test environment.