One of the key areas in procuring a product or a service from a third party is Due Diligence phase. Let’s talk about how this is done and how Software Testing folks can add value to it.
In the pre-sales of a product, due diligence is so important. In this phase, thorough study of the solution offered as a product or a service that is being offered is done by the procuring organisation. There are several things that are checked during due diligence:
- Features and capabilities of the product or service
- Usability and responsiveness
- Performance guarantees and feasibility
- Security considerations
- Regulatory and compliance aspects
The considerations are pretty much what a Quality or a Testing team would verify and validate after the product is built to, to make sure that the product is doing what it is supposed to do in a manner that’s acceptable to the customer.
As you would recognize, it is more important for the testing folks to get engaged during the due diligence process to understand the customer requirements better and work along with the development to be a customer advocate to clarify customer inputs and feedback, along with spotting any blind spots that the customer themselves might have missed.
I consider this requirements gathering and analysis phase as the most important phase of the product development or service offering. The cost to correct or change course is the lowest here and it is quicker to do so. A deeper understanding of the customer needs is possible at this phase which leads to greater customer satisfaction and a quality product or service.
It is highly recommended to include testing members in the due diligence process so that they can be of great help in the due diligence process. Instead if the development or product owner alone gets engaged in due diligence and then throw the requirements “over the wall” to the testing folks, there are high chances of miscommunication due to multiple “passing on” the information and the interpretations by different folks.
Let’s look at what’s important for the testing folks to be good at, for an effective due diligence engagement:
- Overall Industry and Business domain perspective
- Thorough idea on what the product or service is aiming to achieve and what customer problems are being solved
- Competitor products or services if any and how one’s own product/service will provide unique business value
- Technology stack being proposed and deep knowledge of those technologies
- Design considerations and related customer asks and how to address them. Also remind upfront the internal team if the customer is missing any considerations
- Architecture, testing considerations, test strategy, test setups
The above list covers most of the considerations but in no way conclusive. Specific projects requirements vary and one may have to dig deeper into other areas as required.
To summarize, engaging the testing folks during due diligence is so important, and it is even more important for the testing folks to equip themselves and be ready for a successful due diligence process, towards a quality product/service!
For thorough due diligence engagement for your product/service of your organisation from a quality/testing perspective, please reach out to me for a complimentary initial consultation call. Happy to help!