The current global pandemic (COVID-19) has created new, and amplified existing, issues for IT programmes. Principally the challenge for testing is to achieve effective mitigation of risk when many of the dependencies testing relies on are compromised. While some of these challenges were immediate and had to be overcome within the first days of the lockdown, some still require a solution. And the crisis has highlighted or created gaps in operational models, which directly impede test delivery.
These testing challenges can be broadly categorised into three areas: resourcing, operations and ways of working.
This category is subject to the most change due to tension between demand and supply within departments.
Constraints on capacity and available skills are impacting test delivery due to staff redeployment, illness and child care responsibilities.
Additionally, an increased management overhead for the coordination of remote teams, along with the need for other business areas to take on additional responsibilities to backfill for absent staff, further impairs the ability to deliver.
The ability to carry out the appropriate level of testing for operational readiness is now vital. This includes test coverage for business critical processes, recovery capabilities and GDPR compliance.
Businesses must also support significantly increased numbers of remote workers and, where surge demand occurs, the efficient on-boarding of new hires. A further and important future consideration is how to safely integrate or restart suspended programmes of change.
Project teams are having to explore new approaches to managing their day to day activities to ensure delivery remains on track. This involves tracking progress against plan and identifying opportunities to remove factors that impede efficient delivery of remote teams.
New ways of remote working, which leverage the technologies available, will need to be developed – actively promoting daily team collaboration and connectedness is an investment most successful organisations will make.
By leveraging alternative suppliers and their tools, businesses are able to maintain and enhance their service offering in a number of ways.
We are committed to supporting our clients through this period of extended uncertainty. Our teams are already working to provide guidance and support to UK businesses, and we developed a number of practical guides on how you can manage the impact of COVID-19 and build long-term resilience in your organisation. Learn more about how you can prepare your business for the impact of COVID-19.
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