Introduction
Beta Testing ,the 2nd phase of software testing is the process of conducting a complete analysis of user acceptance evaluation.The testing names such as Beta Testing,User Acceptance Testing,Customer Acceptance Testing,Friendly User Testing,Field Trials,Customer Validation,Customer/pre-release testing ,all refer to the same thing.The process tests the product with the real users prior to release.
Beta Testing is the coordinated process designed to improve the quality of the product by collecting the real-time feedback from the real customers by releasing a version of the product/software just before the sales.The version released for the Beta Testing is known as Beta Version .When Beta Version is released a complete user acceptance evaluation is done and make the necessary changes and release the new version.
how to perform beta testing
Beta Testing process can perform in an infinite number of ways .An effective way of performing Beta Testing is explained below.The steps for a Beta Testing process are similar but the ways of conducting steps will be different depending on the nature and behaviour of the software.
Step 1: planning the test process
The process of beta testing is planned based on the objective of the software developed.Beta Testing should always perform by the people who are not at all related to the software.The identification of goals in advance is very important as on the basis of these goals certain number and characteristics of participants are defined .The time schedule for conducting the testing can be done by analysing the above factors.
Some other significant factors include other than the objective, in the Beta test Planning are given below:
1.An overview of the software’s current state.
2.The target market of the beta testers and the software.
Step 3:The Distribution of the Software
The next phase is to distribute the software to the beta participants.The advantage of this phase is that the participants can use the software as if they purchased the software.In this sense, Beta is more effective ,when a complete package is sent to the beta participants.This should include all the materials such as software,hardware settings,user manuals etc…
Step 4:Collection of the Feedback
This phase is the most important step ,as the feedback should be collected in the most effective way which we found essential for the improvement of the software.There is a list of valuable forms to collect the feedbacks includes bug reports,general comments,quotes,suggestions,surveys and testimonials.Should handle this collecting feedback process by using beta management and communication tools to get a most effective result.
Step 5:Feedback Evaluation
This phase gives a picture of the effective feedbacks from the beta test participants.The feedbacks provide the ways of data manipulation and the software’s behaviour in the eyes of customers.The feedbacks should be systematically reviewed ,analysed and should find out the scenario on which the feedback impacts.
Step 6:Beta test Conclusion
This is the conclusion phase at which providing feedback to the participants about their bug submissions ,thanking them and rewarding them for their support.The beta test can conclude by updating the test participants with the status and the latest version of the software.Also, offering them a warranty or support on their beta version will also be effective.
Types of Beta Testing
There are 5 different types of beta testing available:
1)Traditional Beta Testing:The concept is to deliver the software to the target market and collect the feedback.Improve the product by analysing the feedback collected.
2)Public Beta Testing:Deliver the software to the target market through online channels.Collect the feedback before the official release of the software and make the necessary changes.
3)Technical Beta Testing:The software is released to an internal group of the organisation.This will help to gather feedback from the technical people.
4)Focused Beta Testing:This is the concept of releasing the software for testing a particular feature of the software.The feedback focused on this feature is collected and analysed for necessary changes .
5)Post Release Beta Testing:This concept is to release the product to the market and collect the feedback for analysing.
Advantages of using Beta Testing
Beta Testing is performed by the real users in the real environment and is the final test performed before the shipping of the product.
1.The major advantage of the Beta Testing is the Direct feedback from the customers.
2.Beta Testing does not require any testing environment.This is made available to the public.
3.The software failure risk is reduced as the testing is done through the end users validation.
4.Beta testing is cost effective .
5.Increases the customer satisfaction.
6.Reliability,Security and Robustness are checked during beta testing.
7.Beta Testing concentrates on quality of the products.
8.While the customer’s validation ,the testing checks the possibility of any unidentified issues in the real-time environment.
9.Can do the beta testing for small features of the software by releasing a specific module to the public.
10.Beta releases make it possible to test the application in thousands of machines before the release and ensure quality performance in real environment.
Conclusion
The testing of a software is an endless process,which may occur continuously for ensuring the quality of software.To ensure the quality and performance of the software various testing processes are designed and conducted.Other than all the test levels beta testing is important because of the fact that ,beta testing is conducted by the real users in the real-time environment.The testing process is developed by analysing the behaviour of the software,the nature of the users,target market and the project deadlines.The beta testing feedback can consist of the countless type of user reviews other than the bug report.These feedback forms are helpful to evaluate the performance of the software.