In a startup, the major strength of the people is that they are multitaskers. Whatever it is, the founders and the core team wear multiple hats and take complete responsibility of getting the ball rolling. From designing to deploying, from development to testing, everything takes place under the hawk eyes of founders and the core members.

In initial stage of startups, many important activities like testing are also done by founders or the startup team themselves. When asked, a founder of a tech product company recently mentioned, "I myself do testing of all the features because I know all the use cases of what should be tested and how it should be tested." So, when we give some thought to it, a successive question surfaced: "How do startups manage test cases?"

Though it is good that the founders and core team themselves take care of the use cases, how do they manage them? How do they make sure that the test cases are properly documented?

However, the question to be asked is whether this approach is scalable as your startup and product features grow. Unfortunately, it is not.

So What Should Your Startup Do?

Your customers are the ones who define your product roadmap and its crucial features. Customer feedback and satisfaction becomes the core of your startup. And it is this feedback that translates to product features down the line. The challenge is managing these additions in your Agile development cycle.

These new additions in features also lead to modifications and introduction of new test cases and as I mentioned, frequent testing cycles. So, how long will you take care of every test case without documentation? At some point in time, you’ll start missing out on things and you’ll think, "Wish we had documented test cases at early stages."

They can not pick up test cases from your head. At that time you’ll need a test management system where all your test cases with the steps, inputs, expected results will be documented.

What Are Test Case Management Systems?

According to Wikipedia, “Test case management tools are used to store information on how testing is to be done, plan testing activities and report the status of quality assurance activities.”

Test case management systems (TCMS) are everything about tests under a single umbrella. You’ll find out what the test procedure was, when was the test performed, who performed it, what the result was, everything in a single management system.

That’s the beauty of a TCMS.

You don’t need to put pressure on your mind to remember when did you perform the test, what test you performed, or what the result was. All you need to do is to just open the tool and find out logs and results.

What Test Management Tools Can Your Startup Use?

If you have decided to use test case management system in your startup, now the next question might be what test case management tool can you use and how to use these tools?

Well, don’t worry. We have already figured out some tools which your startup can use.

1. TestLink

TestLink is an open source test management tool which will help you synchronize requirements and test specifications. With this, you can create test projects and also document test cases. If you have multiple people working on different user roles this can prove to be of help.

2. Squash TM (Test Management)

Squash TM is open source test repository manager which is found in Squash toolkit. With this, you can manage requirements, campaigns, and test cases execution.

With Squash TM you can manage

• Test repository
• Requirements
• Test case
• Campaigns, test execution

3. Kiwi TCMS

It is the leading open source test case management system (TCMS) which can help you manage your test cases, plans, and runs efficiently and also helps you improve testing productivity & easy reporting. It also provides integration with popular issue tracking, easing your process.

4. TestRail

Though this is not an open source tool, it is one of the best alternatives to look for when you talk about test case management tools. You can try it on the cloud as well as download it in your local machine. It helps you create a project, you can add test cases with their steps, start them, add results that you get, integrate with other tools like JIRA, Redmine and invite your team members.

These are some of the many tools which you can use to manage your test cases as a startup.

Now there would be some legitimate Excel and Google sheets fans who would be disappointed with why their favorite tool is not on the list.

I respectfully disagree. It is not the best tool, and someday I will write a post on why.

So, no more keeping things in your brain cloud now. Go ahead and pour the test scenarios in a TCMS, preferably one hosted on an actual digital cloud, and make things more organized and handy.