Top 3 Things to Look For in a Bug Tracking Solution

Ask any software developer or quality assurance specialist and they'll confirm: Bugs can cost businesses big money. According to Tricentis, companies across the world lost $1.1 trillion in 2016 due to software failures. That may sound like an exaggeration, but think about how many critical processes rely on software and how everyday business operations might be impacted if a disruptive bug reared its head.

Bug tracking software is a prerequisite for any organization that uses proprietary platforms and internal applications on a regular basis. What should you look for in a bug tracking solution to ensure you achieve the best coverage possible? Let's take a look:

1. Connect the dots between issues

QA members often work in siloed environments, keeping their heads down and running tests to ensure software performs normally. The problem with this approach, among other things, is that it's difficult to see the forest for the trees. That is, you may not be able to see the bigger picture, including how different bugs may be interconnected.

A good bug tracker will enable users to submit issues for the same problem, thereby giving teams a better sense of how pervasive it is. That one-off bug may reflect a much deeper and systemic issue that will only become more expensive to fix the longer it goes unchecked.

Team members can even make connections between multiple issues, with cascading updates so everyone is able to keep tabs on the remediation process.

Bug tracking software should help your team connect the dots between issues and put all the pieces together.

2. Automatically assign bugs as they arise

Whether you're part of a QA, customer service, or help desk team, issues often come in faster than you can reasonably keep up. Without a streamlined process to assign bugs to the right people for review and response, problems can linger in the system for an untold amount of time. Deeply entrenched software errors can be extremely difficult to fix, costing businesses much more in the long run than if they had been addressed right away.

Auto assignment features prevent such costly scenarios by using predefined criteria to direct various issues to the right personnel. Teams avoid getting backed up and overwhelmed by a flood of incoming bugs and problems.

Even the most diligent personnel lose track of identified bugs every now and then. It could just be a matter of handling other prioritized tasks first and putting other items on the back burner, but delayed issues can easily become forgotten ones very quickly.

Bug tracking software should have a sophisticated notification system to flag an issue that has idled for too long and needs to be addressed immediately. Escalation features go a step further, enabling users to define certain criteria detailing when a problem needs to be passed along to a superior. This way, nothing ever truly slips through the cracks and even the most forgetful team members can stay on top of their workload.