Improving Workflow Management with Issue Tracking Software - rayparker56/softwaretesting GitHub Wiki

Between the increasing demands of the end-users, client requirements, and internal issues of the team, a proficient issue tracking tool is needed to satisfy all stakeholders. The collaborative features of the issue tracking system not only declutter the unorganized pile of projects and tickets, but it also facilitates all teams of all sizes in achieving their goals much faster.

Why do Companies Need Issue Tracking Software?

As the size and complexity of application development grow invariably, the limitations of using manual spreadsheets for tracking issues and managing them becomes very apparent. Embedding issue tracking tools in large scale projects from the initial phase, on the other hand, ensures timely delivery of a high-quality application.

Issue tracking system is essentially a software application that operates on a ticketing system that logs in every issue that is reported by the computer user, tracks and allocates the issue, and then follows its progress until it is resolved by the team. Ranging from development inquiry to a bug report in the application to a simple customer question, issues can vary in nature, size, and priority. An effective issue tracking software allows the team to measure the severity and impact of every issue and then prioritize and allocate it in that hierarchy. In a scenario, when ten different users report ten different issues caused by the same bug, ten separate tickets are generated by the issue tracking software; it records and tracks the status of its issue until its fixed and the affected users no longer experience the same issue in the application.

Key Steps in the Issue Management Process

1. Detecting the problem – the first step in the process is the identification of the problem, and with the automation of the tracking tool, the system is able to run efficiently and unsupervised while the software developers can focus on other important tasks.

2. Reporting the problem – before the automated issue tracking system, the issue-reporting task was tedious and time-consuming. However, with the right issue tracking tools available, developers are able to analyze all aspects of the issues and report them with just a few clicks.

3. Analyzing and fixing the issue – after each test cycle that is performed, the issue tracking system allocates issue to the right team member and follows its trajectory until it is resolved. The software application is tested repeatedly with the issue tracking system, and if there are any remaining issues in the modified product, then the cycle begins all over again.

4. Formulating the issue list – with the help of the issue tracking system, the developers are able to document all the issues and their relevant history as well for future use. To avoid similar issues in the future, the automated tracking system allows developers to see the issue lists in many different forms, including several different forms of visualization. One of the main benefits of list formulations is that the developers can refer to the list at any time to see the progress of the work, and the nature and quantity of issues that occurred at different stages of the project.