Why Compatibility Testing is at the Core of Digital Transformation

In today’s digital world the importance of compatibility testing is vital to ensure an app or software performs well in all environments and also meets the needs and expectations of its users.

Compatibility testing ensures that an app is responsive to all the major devices on all operating systems, databases, technology platforms, network connections, as well as on all browsers. There are different stages of testing that an app needs to go through in order to ensure perfect performance in all the environments mentioned above.

Compatibility testing is becoming an increasingly complex task to undertake. Companies or organizations those are not being able to keep pace with the demands of compatibility testing will find themselves battling with negative customer reviews, dissatisfied customers, revenue loss, expensive customer support and more.

The fundamental reason for a lot of companies to embrace digital transformation is; to provide maximum satisfaction to their customers. Compatibility testing is the only way to guarantee that customers get the best experience with the digital products of most companies.

Benefits of Compatibility Testing

1.  Issues are Fixed on Time

One of the advantages of compatibility testing is that it provides an opportunity for the issues to be identified and fixed on time before the product gets to the end-users. This is a major advantage as it helps in eliminating huge costs that could be associated with providing customer support when customers begin to find certain defects with the software. Thanks to compatibility testing, issues can be fixed at the developmental phase

2.  Improves the Process of Software Development

Compatibility testing helps to ensure a comprehensive and all-inclusive development process by ensuring that issues are fixed during the process of development. As a result, issues within the development process are fixed to guard against future occurrences.  This ensures that the app or software is produced with the right functionality under a flawless and comprehensive development process.

3.  Makes Businesses Profitable and Customers Happy

The central focus of digital transformation is to cater to the needs and expectations of business owners and customers alike. Businesses are able to get a good return on investment when the newly developed app or software can meet the needs of customers and satisfy them with the desired user experience. To further improve on user experience with an app or software that accommodates different languages, business owners and entrepreneurs can make use of online localization and translation services from The Word Point.

[the_ad id=”2867″]

Categories of Compatibility Testing

• Hardware Compatibility Testing:

This category of compatibility testing is designed to assess the compatibility and accuracy of the newly developed app or software with various other hardware set-ups.

• Operating System Compatibility Testing:

This category of compatibility testing is designed to test the compatibility of the newly developed software in relation to different operating systems. Examples of these operating systems are Windows, UNIX and MAC.

• Software Compatibility Testing:

This category of compatibility testing is designed to assess the compatibility of the newly developed software with different types of software.

• Network Compatibility Testing:

This is designed to assess the performance of the newly developed app or software against different network parameters such as operating speed, bandwidth and capacity.

• Browser Compatibility Testing:

This category of compatibility testing is designed to assess the compatibility of the newly developed software with different browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer.

• Devices Compatibility Testing:

This is designed to assess the performance of the newly developed app or software against different devices like scanners, USB devices, Bluetooth devices and printers.

• Mobile Compatibility Testing:

This category of compatibility testing is designed to assess the compatibility of the newly developed software with the operating systems of different mobile devices like Android, iOS and many more.

• Software Version Testing:

In this mode of testing, a version compatibility test is developed in order to assess the compatibility of the newly developed software with various versions of the software.

Types of Compatibility Testing

• Backward Compatibility Testing:

This type of compatibility testing is designed to check if the new app or software is compatible with older versions from various platforms. Backward compatibility testing is more predictable and easier to carry out by the team members as they are aware of all the variables involved.

• Forward Compatibility Testing:

This type of compatibility testing is designed to check if the new app or software is compatible with newer versions from various platforms. Forward compatibility testing is a bit challenging to carry out by the team members as the team may not be aware of all the variables involved.

Conclusion

The role that compatibility testing plays in the process of achieving digital transformation cannot be over-emphasized.

There are certain predictable errors that a newly developed app or software can have are:

• Problems with CSS colour and style
• Inconsistent display of content
• Navigation problems
• Problems with the user interface
• Alignment issues
• Changes in font size
• Problems with the overall presentation of the app or software

All these issues or defects mentioned above can negatively affect customers’ experience and bring about huge losses to the companies who are trying to embrace digital transformation.

However, with compatibility testing, all these problems or issues can be resolved at the development phase before it gets to the end-users.

From the facts mentioned above, we can easily understand compatibility testing is an invaluable tool for enhancing the goals of digital transformation.