Testing inside Jira: How to choose the perfect test management tool

Jira is now well-known for its issue management/bug tracking capabilities that are enabling Agile teams the world over. It is in fact the go-to tool that keeps them on track and is central to their delivery cycles for several companies.

The widespread adoption and rising popularity of Jira has led to many integrations, apps and plug-ins and a thriving ecosystem on the Atlassian Marketplace. You can find an app for almost any capability that can extend Jira’s use beyond task and workflow management. As the marketplace continues to grow, there is an addition of several new technologies and apps that enables users to optimize their use of Jira and get more out of it.

For instance, many teams use Jira for test management. However, it is not intended or designed for test case management. Several QA managers and Agile teams find that Jira serves their purpose if extended to include advanced test management capabilities like linkage of test assets, requirements traceability etc. As a result, you will find a host of test management apps for Jira on the Atlassian Marketplace. But this begs another question and some analysis of what to look for a test management tool inside Jira?

One way of answering this question is to look at Jira’s current limitations for test case management. What do testers and QAs miss when they start using Jira for test management?

1. Tester challenge: Using a number of tools to streamline management Solution: Seamless one tool experience

The reason why teams opt for a tool that works seamlessly inside Jira is they don’t want to move back and forth, making sense of the status and details. A tool like QTM4J for instance provides a seamless experience of managing the entire test cycle inside Jira. Yet, it offers an architecturally independent interface for better usability and integration possibilities.

1. QA requirement: Comprehensive tool that works like a standalone test management system Solution: Complete test management

It is important you select an app that provides the whole nine yards. Right from authoring, execution and comprehensive management of test cases inside Jira. Can you create, link and track for both manual and automated test cases? Does the tool offer end-to-end test management and powerful test authoring features? Can you leverage versioning to manage multiple versions?

1. Team lead requirement: Inefficient use of time and resources because of duplicating efforts Solution: Reusability

All the features are no good if you can’t reuse your test cases.

The right app will enable you to clone components of test cases. You save time and effort as you don’t need to recreate different assets manually each time. QMetry lets you link one test case with multiple stories or the same stories multiple times across projects. The ability to clone not only test assets but test steps. It also allows you to choose which versions you want to clone and whether you want to clone with the comments or attachments.

It is an efficient way of doing things.

1. Common scenario: As the project complexity grows, test cases are all over the place and there is lack of organization or discipline Solution: Better planning and execution of test cases

A test management app should allow you to organize your test cases better and execute your test strategy. Features like folder-structure management, cross-project access, test plans and test cycles make it easier for QA managers to plan and track their releases well.

For example, if your QA team lead needs to execute test cases multiple times while preserving the execution details of previous cycles, a test cycle feature comes in handy. With QTM4J 4.0 you can create test cycles faster by linking test cases and recording the automated time tracking for execution.

QTM4J also allows you to link multiple test cycles within a test plan to gain complete visibility. A test plan may contain various test cycles from different builds, projects, environments and other attributes.

1. Agile and DevOps team challenge: Lack of integration with other frameworks and CI/CD tools Solution: Continuous Testing powered by Integration and Automation capabilities

Can you import automation test results inside Jira using your test management tool? Support for automation and CI/CD tools is necessary for Continuous Testing and orchestration of the continuous deployment pipeline.

QTM4J enables the import of automation results(JSON/XML/Zip) using Rest APIs and also provides support for various frameworks like Cucumber, TestNG, HP UFT, SpecFlow, QAS etc.

1. Executive challenge: Lack of actionable insights or real-time visibility into quality metrics Solution: Advanced Quality Analytics

It is often difficult to take decisions or know the exact status of coverage, traceability matrix and other analytics in Agile teams. Have you covered all the important features? What is the coverage?

If you can’t measure then you don’t have the visibility into the overall build quality. This is why Quality Analytics play a crucial role in go/no-go decisions. With QMetry’s advanced reporting and dashboard gadgets you can make smarter decisions based on 30+ gadgets featuring coverage analytics, test executions, traceability and many more

These actionable insights into test distribution and productivity cover both manual and automation testing.

Ease of Testing Inside Jira combined with enterprise-grade features
When you can use some of these enterprise-class features in an easy to use, lightweight tool, right inside Jira, it can take your testing efficiency to the next level. The attraction of using the familiar ecosystem of Jira combined with these powerful test management capabilities make it essential for you to shop for the right app. Research thoroughly and analyze the need gaps before you head to the Atlassian Marketplace. Be sure to select an app that provides adequate support and training.